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History
United States
Name	USS Tesota
Namesake	The tesota tree
Ordered	as YN-95
Builder	Canulette Shipbuilding Co., Slidell, Louisiana
Laid down	11 December 1943 as Tesota (YN-95)
Launched	29 July 1944
Commissioned	16 January 1945 as USS ATA-217
Decommissioned	7 May 1946, at Mare Island Naval Shipyard, Vallejo, California
Reclassified	AN-71, 20 January 1944; USS ATA-217, 10 August 1944
Stricken	21 May 1946
Fate	Burned off Mexico, 17 February 1949
General characteristics
Type	Palo Blanco-class auxiliary fleet tug
Displacement	1,275 tons
Length	194 ft 6 in (59.28 m)
Beam	34 ft 7 in (10.54 m)
Draft	14 ft 1 in (4.29 m)
Propulsion	diesel-electric, single screw, 2,500hp
Speed	12.1 knots
Complement	57 officers and enlisted
Armament	two single 40 mm AA gun mounts

USS ATA-217 was an ATA-214-class tug of the United States Navy built near the end of World War II. Originally laid down as Tesota (YN-95), a net tender of the Ailanthus class, she was redesignated as AN-71, a net layer, before launch. Before completion, the name Tesota was cancelled and the ship was named ATA-217, an unnamed auxiliary ocean tug.

Career

ATA-217 was laid down as the net tender Tesota (YN-95) on 11 December 1943 at Slidell, Louisiana, by the Canulette Shipbuilding Company; was reclassified a net laying ship and redesignated AN-71 on 20 January 1944; and was launched on 29 July 1944. However, the name Tesota was canceled on 10 August 1944, and the ship was reclassified an auxiliary ocean tug and re-designated ATA-217 on the same day. She was commissioned on 16 January 1945. Following a short shakedown cruise early in February 1945, the tug departed Norfolk, Virginia, for Hawaii and arrived at her home port, Pearl Harbor, on 1 March. After serving there for more than a year, the ship proceeded to the West Coast of the United States.

ATA-217 was decommissioned at Mare Island, California, on 7 May, and was struck from the Navy List on 21 May 1946. ATA-217 was transferred to the U.S. Maritime Commission on 25 March 1947 and was sold the same day to Martinolick Shipbuilding Co., San Francisco, California.

References

•  This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships .The entry can be found here.
• Photo gallery of USS ATA-217 at NavSource Naval History