The USS Accomac, originally built as the steam tug El Toro in 1891, was a small harbor tug constructed at Newport News, Virginia, by the Newport News Shipbuilding company for the Southern Pacific Railroad’s Morgan Line. Designed by naval architect Horace See, El Toro featured a quadruple expansion steam engine—an unusual and advanced propulsion system for its time—comprising cylinders of varying diameters (9.75 in, 13.5 in, 18.75 in, and 26 in) with a 22-inch stroke, driving a 7-foot propeller. The vessel was primarily designed as a fire boat with towing capabilities, equipped with two Worthington fire and bilge pumps and a large two-furnace steel boiler measuring approximately 9.5 feet in diameter. El Toro was delivered on 20 May 1891 and served as the flagship of the New York Naval Reserve, notably ferrying the commander to exercises. Due to the impending Spanish-American War, the U.S. Navy purchased her on 26 March 1898, commissioning her as USS Algonquin on 2 April 1898 under Commander Walter S. Crosley. The transition involved hastily fitting out the vessel, which had initially been an uncrewable old tug. After a challenging voyage, including weather damage and near sinking incidents, Algonquin joined the fleet at Key West in April 1898, performing towing and logistics missions in Cuba, including towing captured vessels and transporting dispatches and laundry. In June 1898, she was renamed Accomac, after her Virginia namesake. Her service included operations at Key West, Cuba, and later as a yard tug at Port Royal, South Carolina, and Pensacola, Florida. Notably, she sank the steamer Florence Witherbee in a collision off Pensacola in 1907. In 1911, she transferred to the Boston Navy Yard, where she remained until her decommissioning. Throughout her service life, the vessel was reclassified several times, receiving hull designations YT-18 in 1920 and YTL-18 in 1944, indicating her role as a district and small harbor tug. She served through both World Wars, primarily at Boston, until she was placed out of service in April 1946. Subsequently sold in October 1946, she was likely scrapped, marking the end of her versatile naval career as a dependable harbor tug with a history spanning over five decades.

This description has been generated using GPT-4.1-NANO based on the Vessel's wikidata information and then modified by ShipIndex.org staff.