included towing missions from Hawaii to Johnston and Kanton Island islands and duty in the Aleutians. In the fall of 1954, the tug began peacetime deployments to the Far East and, for the remainder of her Navy career, she alternated between assignments in the western Pacific with the 7th Fleet and operations out of her home port, Pearl Harbor. During the first 12 years of that period, the tug's Far Eastern itinerary included mostly Japanese, Korean, and Philippine ports of call while her operations out of Pearl Harbor took her to the waters off the coast of Alaska and surrounding the Aleutians, as well as to islands in the Central Pacific. Vietnam Service, transfer to Chile and fate Late in 1964, American involvement in the conflict in South Vietnam increased dramatically. As a consequence, Arikara began to visit the Vietnamese coast more frequently. By the fall of 1966, the tug found herself calling at such places as Vũng Tàu and Da Nang to provide towing and other support services for Navy units engaged in fighting communist insurgency and North Vietnamese aggression in South Vietnam. Her deployments to Asian waters along with the concomitant service in Vietnam continued into 1970. Late in February of that year, Arikara returned to Pearl Harbor from her final tour of duty with the 7th Fleet. She served actively in the Hawaiian Islands and in Alaskan waters for another 16 months. On 1 July 1971, the tug was decommissioned and simultaneously transferred to Chile as a loan under the military assistance program. She was commissioned in the Chilean Navy as Aldea (ATF-63). She was decommissioned by the Chilean Navy on 14 August 1992 and later sunk as a target. Arikara earned three battle stars during World War II, five battle stars during the Korean War, and three battle stars for service in the Vietnam War. References External links NavSource Online: AT-98 / ATF-98 Arikara Arikara crew site Abnaki-class tugs Ships built in Charleston, South Carolina 1943 ships World War II auxiliary ships of the United States Korean War auxiliary ships of the United States Cold War auxiliary ships of the United States Vietnam War auxiliary ships of the United States Ships transferred from the United States Navy to the Chilean Navy Abnaki-class tugs of the Chilean Navy Ships sunk as targets