Cherokee-class tugboat

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 205 feet (62 m) length, 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
Ta Feng, ex-USS Narragansett at Keelung harbor, September 28, 2019
USS Cree (ATF-84) underway in 1970
Class overview
Operators:  United States Navy
Preceded by: Bagaduce class
Succeeded by: Abnaki class
Built: 1938–1943
In service: 1940–1994 (US)
Completed: 28
Active: 4
Lost: 4
General characteristics
Type: Fleet tugboat
Displacement: 1,235 long tons (1,255 t)
Length: 205 ft (62 m)
Beam: 38 ft 6 in (11.73 m)
Draft: 18 ft (5.5 m)
Propulsion: Diesel-electric, 1 shaft, 3,600 hp (2,685 kW) [1]
Speed: 16.5 knots (30.6 km/h; 19.0 mph)
Complement: 85+
Armament:

The first three vessels, Navajo, Seminole and Cherokee, were constructed from 1938 to 1940 at the Staten Island Shipyard division of Bethlehem Steel Corporation. 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 number Commissioned Decommissioned Fate/status
Navajo AT-64 26 January 1940 n/a Sunk, 12 September 1943
Seminole AT-65 8 March 1940 n/a Sunk, 25 October 1942
Cherokee AT-66 26 April 1940 29 June 1946 Transferred to United States Coast Guard; sunk as a target, 1992
Apache AT-67 12 December 1942 27 February 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 January 1943 15 January 1947 Transferred to Argentina, 1961; wrecked 10 January 1976
Chippewa AT-69 14 February 1943 26 February 1947 Sunk as an artificial reef, 8 February 1990
Choctaw AT-70 21 April 1943 11 March 1947 Transferred, to Colombia, 1 March 1978; fate unknown
Hopi AT-71 31 March 1943 9 December 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 June 1943 n/a Sold to Dominican Republic, 1972; sold for scrap, 12 December 1994
Menominee AT-73 25 September 1942 15 November 1946 Transferred to Indonesia, 26 January 1961; fate unknown
Pawnee AT-74 7 November 1942 January 1947 Sold for scrap, 9 November 1971
Sioux AT-75 6 December 1942 15 August 1973 Transferred to Turkey, 15 August 1973; active as of 2019
Ute AT-76 13 December 1942 30 August 1974 Sunk as a target, 4 August 1991
  • AT-77
  • AT-78
  • AT-79
  • AT-80
 cancelled
Bannock AT-81 28 June 1942 25 November 1955 Sold for scrap, late 1950s
Carib AT-82 24 July 1943 24 January 1947 Transferred to Colombia, 14 February 1978; sunk as a target, June 2007
Chickasaw AT-83 4 February 1943 30 June 1965 Transferred to Taiwan, 1 May 1976; decommissioned, 16 Jul 1999
Cree AT-84 28 March 1943 n/a Sunk as a target, 27 August 1978
Lipan AT-85 29 April 1943 31 March 1988 Sunk as a target, 22 January 1990
Mataco AT-86 29 May 1943 1 October 1977 Sold for scrap, 1 April 1979
Moreno AT-87 30 November 1942 18 August 1946 Sunk as a target, 6 October 1988
Narragansett AT-88 15 January 1943 21 December 1946 Transferred to Taiwan, 20 June 1991; active as of 2019
Nauset AT-89 2 March 1943 n/a Sunk, 9 September 1943
Pinto AT-90 1 April 1943 11 July 1946 Transferred to Peru, 1 May 1974; active as of 2019
Seneca AT-91 30 April 1943 July 1971 Sunk as a target, 21 July 2003
Tawasa AT-92 17 July 1943 31 March 1975 Sold for scrap, 1 August 1976
Tekesta AT-93 16 August 1943 14 April 1950 Transferred to Chile, May 1960; Sunk as a target, 5 July 1999
Yuma AT-94 31 August 1943 11 November 1955 Transferred to Pakistan, 25 March 1959; decommissioned in 1993; fate unknown after.
Zuni AT-95 9 October 1943 1 February 1994 Sunk as an artificial reef, 10 May 2017
Chilula* AT-153 5 April 1945 19 June 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. "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.


This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.