USS Cherokee (ID-458)

Luckenbach Number 2 (American Tug, 1891) In port, probably when inspected by the Third Naval District in 1917.
History
United States
Name	USS Cherokee (ID-458)
Namesake	Cherokee
Builder	John H. Dialogue & Sons
Laid down	As Edgar F. Luckenbach
Launched	1891
Acquired	12 October 1917
Commissioned	5 December 1917
Fate	Sank 26 February 1918
General characteristics
Type	Tug
Displacement	272 long tons (276 t)
Length	120 ft (37 m)
Beam	24 ft 6 in (7.47 m)
Draft	15 ft (4.6 m)
Speed	12 kn (14 mph; 22 km/h)
Complement	42
Armament	1 × 3 in (76 mm) gun

USS Cherokee was a tugboat built in 1891 by John H. Dialogue & Sons in Camden, New Jersey, as Edgar F. Luckenbach (later renamed Luckenbach No. 2). The ship was purchased by the United States Navy and delivered at New York on 12 October 1917; and commissioned on 5 December 1917. She was renamed Cherokee, the third US Navy ship of that name, after the Cherokee Native American tribe, and given the identification number 458.

Outfitted for distant service at New York and at the Philadelphia Navy Yard, Cherokee cleared Newport, Rhode Island on 24 February 1918 for Washington, D.C. On 26 February, in a heavy gale, she foundered about 12 miles off Fenwick Island Light Vessel, with the loss of 30 of her crew. The tanker British Admiral rescued 12 survivors, two of whom died before the tanker reached port.

 This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be found here.

• Luckenbach Number 2 (American Tug, 1891)
• New Jersey Scuba Diver
• Divesafety Cherokee page

38°50′N 74°48′W / 38.84°N 74.8°W / 38.84; -74.8