USS Tidewater ( AD - 31 ) USS " Tidewater " ( AD - 31 ) was a named for the Tidewater region of Virginia . " Tidewater " was laid down on 27 November 1944 at the Charleston Navy Yard ; launched on 30 June 1945 ; sponsored by Mrs . Robert N . S . Baker ; and commissioned at Charleston Navy Yard on 19 February 1946 with Captain Frank H . Ball in command . Service history . Since World War II ended some five months before the destroyer tender was placed in commission , she remained active only long enough to complete sea trials . She did not report for duty with the active fleet , but was decommissioned and ordered to the reserve group berthed at Charleston . There , she became accommodation ship for members of the staff of the Commander , Submarine Group 3 . That duty continued through the outbreak and first 15 months of hostilities in Korea . By that time , the increased need for ships to support United Nations land forces fighting in that Asian country brought the destroyer tender into her first real active service . On 2 October 1951 , " Tidewater " was recommissioned at Charleston , with Captain Harold S . Harnly in command . " Tidewater " , however , did not participate directly in the hostilities that brought her back to active duty . Instead , between late 1951 and early 1954 , she operated exclusively along the eastern seaboard of the United States . After shakedown training in the Chesapeake Bay area , she reported for duty with Destroyer Flotilla ( DesFlot ) 4 in February 1952 . At her home port , Norfolk , Virginia , she supported the destroyer s of DesFlot 4 with her repair facilities . Over the next two years , the ship departed that port on a number of occasions to participate in various exercises . During the fall of 1952 , Tidewater joined ships of other NATO powers in Exercise " Mainbrace " for six weeks of training . The following February , she joined other Navy ships in the Caribbean for her first of many annual " Springboard " exercises , after which she resumed duty at Norfolk tending the destroyers of DesFlot 4 . In July 1953 , the destroyer tender moved south to Charleston to render her services to the ships of the Mine Force . She returned to Norfolk in mid - August and entered the naval shipyard for overhaul on the 12th . At the completion of overhaul , she put to sea for the Caribbean and refresher training on 2 November . " Tidewater " returned to Norfolk on 1 December and resumed tending destroyers until February 1954 when she headed south to participate in her second " Springboard " exercise . Upon completion of that duty , the destroyer tender headed across the Atlantic for her first deployment with the 6th Fleet in the Mediterranean . With that assignment , " Tidewater " set a pattern which endured for the remainder of her Navy career . Over the next 13 years , she made 10 deployments to the Mediterranean , alternating that service with 2nd Fleet duty along the Atlantic coast of the United States . During each tour of duty with the 6th Fleet , she made port calls at various harbors along the length of the " middle - sea " littoral . While serving on her fourth deployment in the summer of 1960 , the destroyer tender had the honor to play host to Queen Frederica of Greece . Her eighth deployment to the Mediterranean came in the spring of 1967 , just before the outbreak of the Six - Day War between the Arabs and Israel . During that brief conflict , " Tidewater " hurried to Souda Bay in Crete , where she served as an advanced base ship for 6th Fleet units standing watch in the eastern Mediterranean for the duration of hostilities . The Tidewater was relieved by the in Rota , Spain , August 1967 . When not in the Mediterranean , she busied herself in support of the warships of the Atlantic Fleet from her base at Norfolk and at other ports along the eastern seaboard . When in the area , she joined in various exercises , most frequently in Operation " Springboard " , the annual Caribbean - based exercise conducted by the ships of the Atlantic Fleet . She also underwent periodic overhauls to refurbish herself and modernize her equipment . The most significant of those occurred in June 1962 when , at the conclusion of her fifth Mediterranean tour , she entered Norfolk Naval Shipyard for an extensive overhaul which included the installation of a helicopter pad and concomitant equipment to expand her logistics support capabilities . " Tidewater " completed her tenth Mediterranean deployment on 2 May 1969 . She resumed tender duty with the warships of the Atlantic Fleet out of Norfolk and remained so occupied through the end of the year and into 1970 . In August 1970 , she received word that she would be decommissioned the following spring . She served as flagship for the Commander , Cruiser - Destroyer Group 4 , from 10 September until 13 November , at which time she began preparations for inactivation . Transfer to Indonesian Navy . On 4 January 1971 , the United States Navy agreed to lease " Tidewater " to the Indonesian Navy upon decommissioning . Accordingly , when she was placed out of commission at Norfolk on 20 February she was turned over to the Indonesian Navy and recommissioned as KRI " Dumai " ( 652 ) , Colonel Mardianus Aruf in command . " Dumai " was purchased outright under the Security Assistance Program by Indonesia on 1 March 1980 , struck from the Naval Vessel Register ( date unknown ) , and deleted by the Indonesian Navy in 1984 , her final fate unknown .