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. 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 , 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.
The first three vessels, , and , 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.
Ships Ship nameHullBuilderFate/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 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; decommissioned in 2017, sunk as target 2023 Ute AT-76 13 Dec 1942 30 Aug 1974 Sunk as a target, 4 August 1991 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
Type V ship – Tugs List of auxiliaries of the United States Navy
References