# 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. 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.
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.

## 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 | Bethlehem Staten Island | 8 Mar 1940 | n/a | Sunk, 25 October 1942 |
| Cherokee | AT-66 | Bethlehem Staten Island | 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 | Charleston Shipbuilding and Drydock Company | 20 Jan 1943 | 15 Jan 1947 | Transferred to Argentina, 1961; wrecked 10 January 1976 |
| Chippewa | AT-69 | Charleston Shipbuilding and Drydock Company | 14 Feb 1943 | 26 Feb 1947 | Sunk as an artificial reef, 8 February 1990 |
| Choctaw | AT-70 | Charleston Shipbuilding and Drydock Company | 21 Apr 1943 | 11 Mar 1947 | Transferred, to Colombia, 1 March 1978; fate unknown |
| Hopi | AT-71 | Charleston Shipbuilding and Drydock Company | 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 | Charleston Shipbuilding and Drydock Company | 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 | United Engineering Company | 7 Nov 1942 | Jan 1947 | Sold for scrap, 9 November 1971 |
| Sioux | AT-75 | United Engineering Company | 6 Dec 1942 | 15 Aug 1973 | Transferred to Turkey, 15 August 1973; decommissioned in 2017, sunk as target 2023 |
| Ute | AT-76 | United Engineering Company | 13 Dec 1942 | 30 Aug 1974 | Sunk as a target, 4 August 1991 |
| | AT-77AT-78AT-79AT-80 | cancelled | cancelled | cancelled | cancelled |
| Bannock | AT-81 | Charleston Shipbuilding and Drydock Company | 28 Jun 1942 | 25 Nov 1955 | Sold for scrap, late 1950s |
| Carib | AT-82 | Charleston Shipbuilding and Drydock Company | 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 | United Engineering Company | 28 Mar 1943 | n/a | Sunk as a target, 27 August 1978 |
| Lipan | AT-85 | United Engineering Company | 29 Apr 1943 | 31 Mar 1988 | Sunk as a target, 22 January 1990 |
| Mataco | AT-86 | United Engineering Company | 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 | Cramp Shipbuilding | 15 Jan 1943 | 21 Dec 1946 | Transferred to Taiwan, 20 June 1991; decommissioned, 1 October 2021 |
| Nauset | AT-89 | Cramp Shipbuilding | 2 Mar 1943 | n/a | Sunk, 9 September 1943 |
| Pinto | AT-90 | Cramp Shipbuilding | 1 Apr 1943 | 11 Jul 1946 | Transferred to Peru, 1 May 1974; active as of 2019 |
| Seneca | AT-91 | Cramp Shipbuilding | 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 | Commercial Iron Works | 16 Aug 1943 | 14 Apr 1950 | Transferred to Chile, May 1960; Sunk as a target, 5 July 1999 |
| Yuma | AT-94 | Commercial Iron Works | 31 Aug 1943 | 11 Nov 1955 | Transferred to Pakistan, 25 March 1959; decommissioned in 1993; fate unknown after. |
| Zuni | AT-95 | Commercial Iron Works | 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.