USS Avoyel (ATF-150) was an built for the United States Navy during World War II. She was the only U.S. Naval vessel to bear the name. Avoyel was laid down 25 March 1944 by the Charleston Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company of Charleston, South Carolina; launched on 9 August 1944; sponsored by Mrs. George E. Goodman; and commissioned at Charleston Navy Yard on 8 January 1945. Service history Following shakedown training in Chesapeake Bay, the tug reported to Norfolk Navy Yard, Portsmouth, Virginia, for post-shakedown availability. Upon completion of the yard period, the tug was ordered to proceed to the Hudson River, which had frozen to a depth of two to three feet. Though not designed as an icebreaker, Avoyel was able to clear a path to Long Island so that ammunition barges could be moved down the river. When this assignment was finished, the vessel returned to Norfolk. In early March, the tug sailed for New Orleans, Louisiana, where she picked up a tow and pulled it to Gulfport, Mississippi, for loading. Avoyel departed the gulf coast on 20 March, bound for the Pacific. She transited the Panama Canal and continued on to the South Pacific. The ship paused at Bora Bora, Society Islands, to refuel before reaching Seeadler Harbor, Manus Island, on 13 May. Upon her arrival there, the tug reported to Commander, Service Force 10, for duty. On 15 May, the tug was redesignated ATF-150. During the remaining months of World War II, Avoyel carried out various towing operations among the Philippine Islands; Hollandia, New Guinea; Ulithi, Caroline Islands; Guam, Mariana Islands; Okinawa; and Eniwetok, Marshall Islands. Following the Japanese capitulation on 15 August, the tug got underway with Task Group 95.4 to clear mines from the waters of the Yellow Sea, off the coast of Korea. Avoyel sank several mines with rifle fire; and, on 7 September, Allied occupation forces began steaming through the cleared area toward the Korean mainland. The tug anchored at Sasebo, Japan, on 16 September, and operated in the Sasebo area for the next four months, performing towing jobs and making resupply and refueling runs. On one occasion, Avoyel lost her 3,000-pound starboard anchor and 54 fathoms of chain in the East China Sea. This was temporarily replaced, however, with a comparable anchor salvaged from a wrecked Japanese vessel. During this period, Avoyel detonated a total of 47 mines swept clear of