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Navsource Online: Destroyer Escort Photo Archive

USS Tatum (DE 789 / APD 81)


Flag Hoist / Radio Call Sign:
N - Z - T - A
Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons


Precedence of awards is from top to bottom, left to right
Top Row: Combat Action Ribbon - American Campaign Medal - Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal w/ 1 star
Second Row: European-Africa-Middle East Campaign Medal w/ 1 star - World War II Victory Medal - Navy Occupation Service Medal
Specifications:
Class: Buckley
Type: TE (turbine-electric drive, 3" guns)
Displacement: 1400 tons (light), 1740 tons (full)
Length: 300' (wl), 306' (oa)
Beam: 36' 9" (extreme)
Draft: 10' 6" (draft limit)
Propulsion: 2 "D" Express boilers, G.E. turbines with electric drive, 12000 shp, 2 screws
Speed: 24 kts
Range: 6,000 nm @ 12 knots
Armament: 3 x 3"/50 Mk22 (1x3), 1 twin 40mm Mk1 AA, 8 x 20mm Mk 4 AA, 3 x 21" Mk15 TT (3x1), 1 Hedgehog Projector Mk10 (144 rounds), 8 Mk6 depth charge projectors, 2 Mk9 depth charge tracks
Complement: 15 / 198
Tatum (DE 789) Building and Operational Data:
  • 22 April 1943: Keel laid by the Consolidated Steel Corp., Ltd., Orange, Tex.
  • 7 August 1943: Launched and christened, sponsored by Mrs. Cecile Cofield Tatum
  • 22 November 1943: Commissioned, Lcdr William C. D. Bellinger in command
  • 12 December 1944: Conversion to APD commenced at Tompkinsville, Staten Island, N.Y.
  • 15 December 1944: Reclassified APD 81, conversion completed 6 March 1945
  • 15 November 1946: Decommissioned at Green Cove Springs, Fla.
  • 1 June 1960: Stricken from the NVR
  • 8 May 1961: Sold for scrapping to the Southern Scrap Metal Co., New Orleans, La.
    Click On Image
    For Full Size Image    		 Size Image Description Contributed
    By And/Or Copyright
    Tatum 97k undated wartime image (U.S. Navy photo) -
    Tatum 369k 29 January 1944: Boston Harbor - Taken during Tatum's post shakedown yard period at the Boston Navy Yard. (U.S. Navy photo #CP-DE-789 19-LCM from the National Archives and Records Administration, courtesy of  Chris Wright) Ed Zajkowski
    View the USS Tatum (DE 789 / APD 81) DANFS history entry
    located on the Naval History and Heritage Command web site.
    Crew Contact And Reunion Information
    Contact Name: Laurice M. Tatum
    Address: 4719 Quarter Staff Road, Birmingham, Ala. 35223
    Phone: (205) 967-2479
    E-mail: Laurice Tatum
    Note About Contacts

    Contact information is compiled from various sources over a period of time and may, or may not, be correct. Every effort has been
    made to list the newest contact. However, our entry is only as good as the latest information that's been sent to us. We list only
    a contact for the ship if one has been sent to us. We do NOT have crew lists, rosters, or deck logs available. Please see the Frequently
    Asked Questions section on NavSource's Main Page for that information.

    Additional Resources
    Navsource APD Pages, USS Tatum (APD 81)
    Destroyer Escort Sailors Association
    Tin Can Sailors Shipmate Registry - USS Tatum
    The Destroyer History Foundation
    To The DE Photo Index Page Back To The Main Photo Index

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    This Page Created And Maintained by Mike Smolinski
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    by Paul R. Yarnall, All Rights Reserved.
    Page Last Updated 14 August 2011