USS Challenge (ATA-201)

USS Challenge (ATA-201) was a Sotoyomo-class auxiliary fleet tug acquired by the United States Navy for service during and after World War II.

Challenge was planned and authorized as Rescue Ocean Tug ATR-128 and was reclassified Auxiliary Fleet Tug ATA-201, 15 May 1944. She was laid down on 3 August 1944 at Gulfport Boiler & Welding, Port Arthur, Texas, launched on 23 September 1944, delivered to the Navy on 22 November 1944, commissioned as USS ATA-201 on 15 September 1944.

East Coast activity
Challenge served on the U.S. East Coast. Very little data is available. However, Navy records indicate she towed USS Bangust (DE-739) from Green Cove Springs, Florida, to Charleston, South Carolina, in 1947.

Final disposition
Challenge was decommissioned on 23 December 1947 and struck from the Naval Vessel Register on 1 September 1962. The ship was named USS Challenge (ATA-201) on 16 July 1948. She was sold for scrapping on 1 October 1976 by the Defense Reutilization and Marketing Service.