The first Tonkawa to bear the name, she was laid down as ATR-103 on 30 January 1944 at Orange, Texas, by the Levingston Shipbuilding Co.; launched on 1 March 1944; sponsored by Mrs. R. F. Parker; redesignated ATA-176 on 15 May 1944; and commissioned on 19 August 1944.

After a brief shakedown cruise in the Gulf of Mexico, the auxiliary ocean tug stood out of Galveston, Texas, on 22 September bound, via Miami, Florida, for the Panama Canal Zone.

Assigned to the Service Force, Pacific Fleet, the tug got underway on 30 December 1944 for Hollandia and arrived on 5 January 1945.

On 20 October 1945, the auxiliary tug stood out of Manila to search for a U.S. Army barge that had been reported adrift to the northwest.

After operations in the Philippines, she called at Guam in April 1946 and left Apra Harbor on 2 May towing AFD-3 to Midway Island.

She was transferred to Taiwan in April 1962 under the Security Assistance Program (SAP) and renamed ROCS Ta Sueh (ATA-547).