USS Hoga - (YT-146)
International Radio Call Sign: November-Alpha-Uniform-Echo
USS Hoga is a Woban class district harbor tug. Her name is translated from the Sioux word for fish. Built in New York, she was commissioned in May 1941 in Norfolk, VA, and soon made her way to Pearl Harbor. When the Japanese attack commenced on the morning of December 7, Hoga was underway quickly working to save lives and ships in the chaos of the harbor. She picked up sailors floating in the water, and provided assistance to the damaged ships USS Vestal and USS Oglala. As the fight raged, the battleship USS Nevada got underway, making for sea and firing back at the enemy aircraft. With her captain ashore, Lieutenant Commander Francis J. Thomas took command of the battleship. Nevada was heavily damaged, and with the ship in danger of sinking,Thomas ran her aground at Hospital Point to avoid blocking the channel. Hoga was dispatched to aid the battleship. With the assistance of another tug, the massive Nevada was refloated and moved to a more secure position where she would not sink in the channel. Hoga was fitted with firefighting gear, which enabled her to battle the fires on Nevada. For the next 2 days, she continued to fight fires along Battleship Row, and following that assisted with the ongoing cleanup of the battle-scarred Navy base.
The tug Hoga served the remainder of the war at Pearl Harbor, and in 1948 was loaned to the Port of Oakland as a fireboat. She was renamed Port of Oakland, and later City of Oakland, and served for decades on the waterfront, fighting fires. In 1989 National Landmark Status was awarded to the boat for her role in the Pearl Harbor attack. She was returned to the Navy in 1994, struck from the Naval Register, and placed in reserve in the National Defense Reserve Fleet at Suisun Bay. She was made available for donation as a museum, and in 2005, Arkansas Inland Maritime Museum was selected, where she finally arrived on November 23rd 2015!
