_underway_in_the_Atlantic_Ocean_on_25_February_1944_(80-G-419678).jpg)
Recent from talks
USS Tatum
Knowledge base stats:
Talk channels stats:
Members stats:
USS Tatum
USS Tatum (DE-789/APD-81) was a Buckley-class destroyer escort in service with the United States Navy from 1944 to 1946. She was scrapped in 1960.
Tatum was laid down by the Consolidated Steel Corp. on 22 April 1943; launched on 7 August 1943, sponsored by Mrs. Cecile Cofield Tatum, and commissioned on 22 November 1943.
After shakedown training in the vicinity of Bermuda, the destroyer escort performed escort duty along the east coast until 25 March when she departed Tompkinsville, N.Y., in the screen of a convoy bound for England. She reached Plymouth on 19 April and returned – via Milford Haven, Wales, and Belfast, Northern Ireland – to New York City on 12 May.
Her second and third transatlantic voyages took the ship to North Africa. She departed the east coast on 28 May in the screen of the escort carriers Kasaan Bay, Tulagi, and Mission Bay headed for French Morocco. Upon delivering planes at Casablanca, the warships returned to the United States on 17 June 1944, and Tatum moored at Bayonne, N.J. She joined Kasaan Bay and Tulagi once again on 28 June as they weighed anchor for Algeria. The ships made Oran on 10 July; and, the next day, Tatum got under way to pick up SS Cross Keys at Casablanca and escort her to Bizerte, Tunisia. The destroyer escort returned to Oran on the 16th and, four days later, cleared port once again to protect the British aircraft carriers HMS Hunter and HMS Stalker during their passage to Malta. On the 23d, Tatum dropped 130 depth charges on a submarine contact but apparently scored no kill. The force reached Malta on 25 July. Augmented by Kasaan Bay and Tulagi, the unit steamed to Alexandria, Egypt, and then returned to Malta where they arrived on 3 August.
The next day, Tatum reported to Naples where she embarked the commander of a landing craft convoy for the impending invasion of southern France. Tatum stood out of Naples on 9 August, joined the landing craft in the Gulf of Pozzuoli, and escorted them to the staging area at Ajaccio, Corsica. Before dawn on the 15th, the convoy arrived off Saint-Tropez where Tatum transferred the convoy commander to LCI-196. She then patrolled off Cape Camarat until the following afternoon. From 17 July until early autumn, Tatum protected convoys shuttling between Corsica, Sardinia, and southern France. On 16 October, she departed Marseille in the screen of a convoy bound for Bizerte and Oran. During the early part of November, Tatum escorted another convoy from Oran to Marseille then screened the Army transport Mariposa to Naples and returned to Oran on 15 November. Tatum got underway again on 24 November to screen a convoy back to the United States, arriving at New York on 11 December.
On 12 December 1944, she began conversion to a high-speed transport at Tompkinsville. On 15 December 1944, she was officially redesignated APD-81.
Tatum (APD-81) cleared Tompkinsville on 6 March 1945, steamed to the Chesapeake Bay for training until the 14th, and stood out of Hampton Roads on the 16th in company with Prentiss. Following port calls at Panama and San Diego, Tatum entered Pearl Harbor on 12 April 1945. She conducted more training in the Hawaiian Islands before getting underway with a convoy headed, via the Marshalls and Carolines, for the Ryūkyūs.
Tatum arrived off Okinawa's Hagushi beaches on 19 May and reported for duty with the antiaircraft and antisubmarine pickets stationed around the island. At dusk on 29 May, the warship was proceeding to her radar picket station when she was attacked by four enemy planes. As the first intruder swooped in across her bow, Tatum's guns opened up and scored hits on his wing and fuselage. He banked sharply and headed for the ship's starboard side. About 40 feet from her, the plane's left wing and tail struck the water, jarring loose his bomb. It skipped off the surface, struck and careened off the underside of a gun sponson, and pierced Tatum's hull and two of her longitudinal bulkheads. The dud came to rest with its nose protruding eight inches into the passageway inboard of the executive officer's stateroom. The plane also skimmed over the water into Tatum, dented her hull, and knocked out her director fire control and communications with the engine room.
Hub AI
USS Tatum AI simulator
(@USS Tatum_simulator)
USS Tatum
USS Tatum (DE-789/APD-81) was a Buckley-class destroyer escort in service with the United States Navy from 1944 to 1946. She was scrapped in 1960.
Tatum was laid down by the Consolidated Steel Corp. on 22 April 1943; launched on 7 August 1943, sponsored by Mrs. Cecile Cofield Tatum, and commissioned on 22 November 1943.
After shakedown training in the vicinity of Bermuda, the destroyer escort performed escort duty along the east coast until 25 March when she departed Tompkinsville, N.Y., in the screen of a convoy bound for England. She reached Plymouth on 19 April and returned – via Milford Haven, Wales, and Belfast, Northern Ireland – to New York City on 12 May.
Her second and third transatlantic voyages took the ship to North Africa. She departed the east coast on 28 May in the screen of the escort carriers Kasaan Bay, Tulagi, and Mission Bay headed for French Morocco. Upon delivering planes at Casablanca, the warships returned to the United States on 17 June 1944, and Tatum moored at Bayonne, N.J. She joined Kasaan Bay and Tulagi once again on 28 June as they weighed anchor for Algeria. The ships made Oran on 10 July; and, the next day, Tatum got under way to pick up SS Cross Keys at Casablanca and escort her to Bizerte, Tunisia. The destroyer escort returned to Oran on the 16th and, four days later, cleared port once again to protect the British aircraft carriers HMS Hunter and HMS Stalker during their passage to Malta. On the 23d, Tatum dropped 130 depth charges on a submarine contact but apparently scored no kill. The force reached Malta on 25 July. Augmented by Kasaan Bay and Tulagi, the unit steamed to Alexandria, Egypt, and then returned to Malta where they arrived on 3 August.
The next day, Tatum reported to Naples where she embarked the commander of a landing craft convoy for the impending invasion of southern France. Tatum stood out of Naples on 9 August, joined the landing craft in the Gulf of Pozzuoli, and escorted them to the staging area at Ajaccio, Corsica. Before dawn on the 15th, the convoy arrived off Saint-Tropez where Tatum transferred the convoy commander to LCI-196. She then patrolled off Cape Camarat until the following afternoon. From 17 July until early autumn, Tatum protected convoys shuttling between Corsica, Sardinia, and southern France. On 16 October, she departed Marseille in the screen of a convoy bound for Bizerte and Oran. During the early part of November, Tatum escorted another convoy from Oran to Marseille then screened the Army transport Mariposa to Naples and returned to Oran on 15 November. Tatum got underway again on 24 November to screen a convoy back to the United States, arriving at New York on 11 December.
On 12 December 1944, she began conversion to a high-speed transport at Tompkinsville. On 15 December 1944, she was officially redesignated APD-81.
Tatum (APD-81) cleared Tompkinsville on 6 March 1945, steamed to the Chesapeake Bay for training until the 14th, and stood out of Hampton Roads on the 16th in company with Prentiss. Following port calls at Panama and San Diego, Tatum entered Pearl Harbor on 12 April 1945. She conducted more training in the Hawaiian Islands before getting underway with a convoy headed, via the Marshalls and Carolines, for the Ryūkyūs.
Tatum arrived off Okinawa's Hagushi beaches on 19 May and reported for duty with the antiaircraft and antisubmarine pickets stationed around the island. At dusk on 29 May, the warship was proceeding to her radar picket station when she was attacked by four enemy planes. As the first intruder swooped in across her bow, Tatum's guns opened up and scored hits on his wing and fuselage. He banked sharply and headed for the ship's starboard side. About 40 feet from her, the plane's left wing and tail struck the water, jarring loose his bomb. It skipped off the surface, struck and careened off the underside of a gun sponson, and pierced Tatum's hull and two of her longitudinal bulkheads. The dud came to rest with its nose protruding eight inches into the passageway inboard of the executive officer's stateroom. The plane also skimmed over the water into Tatum, dented her hull, and knocked out her director fire control and communications with the engine room.
Recent media