Built in 1918, by the Buffalo Dry Dock Company of Buffalo, New York (hull #902) as the AT-19 (Comanche) for the United States Navy.

However, the tug was later redesignated as the AT-19 (Sagamore).

In 1948, she was acquired by the McAllister Brothers Towing Company of New York, New York. Where the tug was renamed as the John E. McAllister.

In 1954, the tug went out of documentation and was scrapped. She was a single screw tug, rated at 2,150 horsepower.