Cherokee-class tugboat

Class of armed tugboats

USS Cree (ATF-84) underway in 1970

Class overview
Builders|

* Charleston SB & DD, SC (9)
* United Engineering Co., CA (8)
* Cramp Shipbuilding, PA (5)
* Commercial Iron Works, OR (4)
* Bethlehem Staten Island, NY (3)

Operators|

* United States Navy
* United States Coast Guard
* Argentine Navy
* Chilean Navy
* Colombian National Navy
* Dominican Navy
* Indonesian Navy
* Pakistan Navy
* Peruvian Navy
* Republic of China Navy
* Turkish Navy
* Brazilian Navy

Preceded by| Bagaduce class
Succeeded by| Abnaki class
Built| 1938–1943
In service| 1940–1994 (US)
Completed| 29
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|

* 1 × 3"/50 caliber gun
* 2 × twin 40 mm guns
* 2 × 20 mm guns

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 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

[edit]

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

[edit]

* Sotoyomo-class tugboat
* Type V ship – Tugs
* List of auxiliaries of the United States Navy

## References

[edit]

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.

* v
* t
* e

Navajo / Cherokee-class fleet tugs

* Navajo
* Seminole
* Cherokee
* Apache
* Arapaho
* Chippewa
* Choctaw
* Hopi
* Kiowa
* Menominee
* Pawnee
* Sioux
* Ute
* Bannock
* Carib
* Chickasaw
* Cree
* Lipan
* Mataco
* Moreno
* Narragansett
* Nauset
* Pinto
* Seneca
* Tawasa
* Tekesta
* Yuma
* Zuni

Other operators

United States Coast Guard|

* Ute
* Lipan
* Cherokee
* Tamaroa (ex-Zuni)

Argentine Navy|

* Comandante General Zapiola (ex-Arapaho)

Chilean Navy|

* Yelcho (ex-Tekesta)

Republic of China Navy|

* Ta Wan (ex-Apache)
* Ta Han (ex-Hopi)
* Ta Tung (ex-Chickasaw)
* Ta Feng (ex-Narragansett)

Colombian National Navy|

* Pedro de Heredia (ex-Choctaw)
* Sebastián de Belalcázar (ex-Carib)

Dominican Navy|

* Macorix (ex-Kiowa)

Indonesian Navy|

* Rakata (ex-Menominee)

Italian Coast Guard|

* Bannock

Pakistan Navy|

* Madadgar (ex-Yuma)

Peruvian Navy|

* Guardian Rios (ex-Pinto)

Turkish Navy|

* Gazal (ex-Sioux)

* Preceded by: USS Acushnet
* Followed by: Abnaki class

* List of auxiliaries of the United States Navy

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