USS Cree (ATF-84) underway in 1970
Class overview
Builders
Operators
Preceded byBagaduce class
Succeeded byAbnaki class
Built1938–1943
In service1940–1994 (US)
Completed29
Active4
Lost4
General characteristics
TypeFleet tugboat
Displacement1,235 long tons (1,255 t)
Length205 ft (62 m)
Beam38 ft 6 in (11.73 m)
Draft18 ft (5.5 m)
PropulsionDiesel-electric, 1 shaft, 3,600 hp (2,685 kW) [1]
Speed16.5 knots (30.6 km/h; 19.0 mph)
Complement85+
Armament

The Cherokee class of fleet tugboats, originally known as the Navajo class, were built for the United States Navy prior to the start of World War II.[2] They represented a radical departure from previous ocean-going tug designs, and were far more capable of extended open ocean travel than their predecessors. This was due in large part to their length of 205 feet (62 m), 38 feet (12 m) beam, and substantial fuel-carrying capacity. They were also the first large surface vessels in the United States Navy to be equipped with Diesel-electric drive.[2]

USS Tawasa towed a nuclear bomb used as a nuclear depth charge as it was detonated in Operation Wigwam in 1955
A ship docking in harbor
Ta Feng, ex-USS Narragansett at Keelung harbor, September 28, 2019

The first three vessels, Navajo, Seminole and Cherokee, were constructed from 1938 to 1940 at the Bethlehem Staten Island division of Bethlehem Steel. Navajo and Seminole joined the Pacific fleet in 1940, and Cherokee went to the Atlantic fleet. Navajo was en route to San Diego from Pearl Harbor on 7 December 1941, and immediately reversed course to Pearl Harbor once news broke of the Japanese attack. She became a critical element of salvage operations there, as did her sister ship Seminole, in the days following the attack.

Following the loss during World War II of the first two ships of the class, Navajo and Seminole, the class was renamed from its original pre-war name of Navajo class to Cherokee class, the name of the third ship laid in 1939, which still survived.[3]

Ships

Ship name Hull Builder Comm. Decomm. Fate/status
Navajo AT-64 Bethlehem Staten Island 26 Jan 1940 n/a Sunk, 12 September 1943
Seminole AT-65 8 Mar 1940 n/a Sunk, 25 October 1942
Cherokee AT-66 26 Apr 1940 29 Jun 1946 Transferred to United States Coast Guard; sunk as a target, 1992
Apache AT-67 Charleston Shipbuilding and Drydock Company 12 Dec 1942 27 Feb 1974 Transferred to Taiwan, 1 June 1974; stranded in action 1985; after rebuild currently active (only the bridge and the mast are retrieved)
Arapaho AT-68 20 Jan 1943 15 Jan 1947 Transferred to Argentina, 1961; wrecked 10 January 1976
Chippewa AT-69 14 Feb 1943 26 Feb 1947 Sunk as an artificial reef, 8 February 1990
Choctaw AT-70 21 Apr 1943 11 Mar 1947 Transferred, to Colombia, 1 March 1978; fate unknown
Hopi AT-71 31 Mar 1943 9 Dec 1955 joined the Atlantic Reserve Fleet. turned over to the Maritime Administration 27 March 1962 and moved to the National Defense Reserve Fleet, James River, Va., where she remains, following permanent transfer to the Maritime Administration 1 July 1963, into 1967.
Kiowa AT-72 7 Jun 1943 n/a Sold to Dominican Republic, 1972; sold for scrap, 12 December 1994
Menominee AT-73 United Engineering Company 25 Sep 1942 15 Nov 1946 Transferred to Indonesia, 26 January 1961; sunk as a target in 2004[4]
Pawnee AT-74 7 Nov 1942 Jan 1947 Sold for scrap, 9 November 1971
Sioux AT-75 6 Dec 1942 15 Aug 1973 Transferred to Turkey, 15 August 1973; active as of 2019
Ute AT-76 13 Dec 1942 30 Aug 1974 Sunk as a target, 4 August 1991
  • AT-77
  • AT-78
  • AT-79
  • AT-80
 cancelled
Bannock AT-81 Charleston Shipbuilding and Drydock Company 28 Jun 1942 25 Nov 1955 Sold for scrap, late 1950s
Carib AT-82 24 Jul 1943 24 Jan 1947 Transferred to Colombia, 14 February 1978; sunk as a target, June 2007
Chickasaw AT-83 United Engineering Company 4 Feb 1943 30 Jun 1965 Transferred to Taiwan, 1 May 1976; decommissioned, 16 Jul 1999
Cree AT-84 28 Mar 1943 n/a Sunk as a target, 27 August 1978
Lipan AT-85 29 Apr 1943 31 Mar 1988 Sunk as a target, 22 January 1990
Mataco AT-86 29 May 1943 1 Oct 1977 Sold for scrap, 1 April 1979
Moreno AT-87 Cramp Shipbuilding 30 Nov 1942 18 Aug 1946 Sunk as a target, 6 October 1988
Narragansett AT-88 15 Jan 1943 21 Dec 1946 Transferred to Taiwan, 20 June 1991; decommissioned, 1 October 2021
Nauset AT-89 2 Mar 1943 n/a Sunk, 9 September 1943
Pinto AT-90 1 Apr 1943 11 Jul 1946 Transferred to Peru, 1 May 1974; active as of 2019
Seneca AT-91 30 Apr 1943 Jul 1971 Sunk as a target, 21 July 2003
Tawasa AT-92 Commercial Iron Works 17 Jul 1943 31 Mar 1975 Sold for scrap, 1 August 1976
Tekesta AT-93 16 Aug 1943 14 Apr 1950 Transferred to Chile, May 1960; Sunk as a target, 5 July 1999
Yuma AT-94 31 Aug 1943 11 Nov 1955 Transferred to Pakistan, 25 March 1959; decommissioned in 1993; fate unknown after.
Zuni AT-95 9 Oct 1943 1 Feb 1994 Sunk as an artificial reef, 10 May 2017
Chilula* AT-153 Charleston Shipbuilding and Drydock Company 5 Apr 1945 19 Jun 1991 Sunk as a target, 1997

(*)Note: The reason for the gap in numbering from AT-95 to AT-153 is unknown.

See also

References

This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships.

  1. ^ "Huge Diesel Electric Tugs Attend Fleet At Sea" Popular Mechanics, December 1940
  2. ^ a b "Navajo class". Uboat.net. Retrieved 22 July 2015.
  3. ^ Polmar, Norman (2005). The Naval Institute Guide To The Ships And Aircraft Of The U.S. Fleet (18th ed.). Annapolis, Maryland: United States Naval Institute. p. 282. ISBN 978-1591146858.
  4. ^ "KRI Nanggala-402, Submarine Purchased 1982 From Germany, Most Senior In Indonesian Navy". VOI – Waktunya Merevolusi Pemberitaan. 21 April 2021. Archived from the original on 22 April 2021. Retrieved 23 April 2021.

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