Cherokee-class tugboat

{{Infobox ship image

|Ship image=USS Cree (ATF-84) underway c1970.jpg

|Ship caption=USS Cree (ATF-84) underway in 1970

}}

{{Infobox ship class overview

|Name=

|Builders=* Charleston SB & DD, SC (9)

|Operators=* {{Navy|United States}}

{{coast guard|United States}}
{{Navy|Argentina}}
{{Navy|Chile}}
{{Navy|Colombia}}
{{Naval|Dominican Republic}}
{{Navy|Indonesia}}
{{Naval|Pakistan}}
{{Navy|Peru}}
{{Navy|Taiwan}}
{{Navy|Turkey}}
{{naval|Brazil}}

|Class before={{sclass|Bagaduce|tugboat|4}}

|Class after={{sclass|Abnaki|tugboat|4}}

|Subclasses=

|Cost=

|Built range= 1938–1943

|In service range=1940–1994 (US)

|In commission range=

|Total ships building=

|Total ships planned= 33

|Total ships completed=29

|Total ships cancelled=

|Total ships active=2

|Total ships laid up=

|Total ships lost=2

|Total ships retired=25

|Total ships preserved=

}}

{{Infobox ship characteristics

|Hide header=

|Header caption=

|Ship type=Fleet tugboat

|Ship displacement= {{convert|1235|LT|t|0|lk=in}}

|Ship length= {{convert|205|ft|m|abbr=on}}

|Ship beam= {{convert|38|ft|6|in|m|abbr=on}}

|Ship height=

|Ship draft={{convert|18|ft|m|abbr=on}}

|Ship depth=

|Ship hold depth=

|Ship propulsion=Diesel-electric, 1 shaft, {{convert|3600|hp|0|abbr=on}} [https://books.google.com/books?id=19kDAAAAMBAJ&dq=Popular+Science+1933+plane+%22Popular+Mechanics%22&pg=PA865 "Huge Diesel Electric Tugs Attend Fleet At Sea"] Popular Mechanics, December 1940

|Ship sail plan=

|Ship speed= {{convert|16.5|kn|lk=in}}

|Ship range=

|Ship endurance=

|Ship complement= 85+

|Ship sensors=

|Ship EW=

|Ship armament=* 1 × 3"/50 caliber gun

2 × twin 40 mm guns
2 × 20 mm guns

|Ship armor=

|Ship aircraft=

|Ship aircraft facilities=

|Ship notes=

}}

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.{{cite web|title=Navajo class|url=http://uboat.net/allies/warships/class/455.html|website=Uboat.net|accessdate=22 July 2015}} 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 {{convert|205|ft}}, {{convert|38|ft}} 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.

File:USS Tawasa (ATF-92).jpg as it was detonated in Operation Wigwam in 1955]]

File:ROCN ATF-555 right side and Keelung Customs Building 20190928 night.jpg at Keelung harbor, September 28, 2019]]

The first three vessels, {{USS|Navajo|AT-64|2}}, {{USS|Seminole|AT-65|2}} and {{USS|Cherokee|AT-66|2}}, 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.{{cite book |last=Polmar |first=Norman |year=2005 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8MwyTX-iA2wC&q=Navajo+class+tugboat&pg=PA282 |title=The Naval Institute Guide To The Ships And Aircraft Of The U.S. Fleet |edition=18th |location=Annapolis, Maryland |publisher=United States Naval Institute |isbn=978-1591146858 |pages=282}}

Ships

class="wikitable sortable"

!Ship name

!Hull

!Builder

!{{tooltip|Comm.|Commissioned}}

!{{tooltip|Decomm.|Decommissioned}}

!Fate/status

Navajo

| AT-64

| rowspan="3" | 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

| rowspan="6" | 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

| rowspan=4 | United Engineering Company

| 25 Sep 1942

| 15 Nov 1946

| Transferred to Indonesia, 26 January 1961; sunk as a target in 2004{{Cite web|title=KRI Nanggala-402, Submarine Purchased 1982 From Germany, Most Senior In Indonesian Navy|url=https://voi.id/en/news/46133/kri-nanggala-402-submarine-purchased-1982-from-germany-most-senior-in-indonesian-navy|date=21 Apr 2021|website=VOI – Waktunya Merevolusi Pemberitaan|access-date=23 April 2021|archive-date=22 April 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210422025025/https://voi.id/en/news/46133/kri-nanggala-402-submarine-purchased-1982-from-germany-most-senior-in-indonesian-navy|url-status=dead}}

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