The 205 foot navy tug Chippewa was built by Charleston Shipbuilding Company and launched on July 25, 1942, and commissioned in February of 1943. She was named after a tribe of Indians that lived around Lake Superior. The Chippewa was the fourth Navy vessel to bear her name. Her hull number was AT-69; she was 205 feet long, had a 38.6 foot beam and displaced 1,240 gross tons. She was built by Charleston Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Co., in Charleston, South Carolina. On May 15, 1944, she was reclassified ATF-69. She was stationed in Trinidad and worked mainly in the Caribbean. The Chippewa made her last voyage towing the SS War Bonnet from Boston to Bermuda to Norfolk where she arrived in December of 1945. On February 26, 1947, she was commissioned into the reserves and in January of 1989, she was committed to the Navy Experimental Dive Unit to use as an explosive training project. 

It was decided that the Chippewa would be sunk and become part of the Panama City artificial reef program. One requirement was to make sure the tug landed upright on the bottom. To assure this extensive preparations and modifications were made to the ship's watertight boundaries.

On February 8, 1990, the Chippewa was moored over her pre-determined reef site. An intricate network of 37 explosive charges, varying from one to six pounds were set off and the tug was sent to the bottom. The Chippewa now sits perfectly upright with a three degree list to port, in 95 to 105 feet of water, ten miles offshore. Divers will reach her main deck at 70 feet. She is to date the largest intact vessel sunk in the Bay County Artificial Reef Program. The tug's tower comes to within 50 feet of the surface.

Photo: The U.S.S. Chippewa was a 205 foot navy tug built by Charleston Shipbuilding Company. photo courtesy Chief Gary Ashton, Navy Experimental Dive Unit.