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 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

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
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 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

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

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.
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.