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NavSource Online: Service Ship Photo Archive

IX-56
ex
 USS Navajo (AT-52) (1920 - 1942)
 USS Navajo (Fleet Tug No. 52) (1908 - 1920)


IX-56 WWII-International Radio Call Sign:
November - Delta - November - Juliet
 NDNJ


AT-52 1931-International Radio Call Sign:
Negative - Easy - Mike - Roger
 NEMR

Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons


Precedence of awards is from top to bottom, left to right
Top Row - World War I Victory Medal (with Armed Guard clasp)
Bottom Row - American Campaign Medal - Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal - World War II Victory Medal
Navajo Class Fleet Tug:
  • Built in 1907 at Neafie-Levy Philadelphia, PA. as the tug General Hubbard for the Hammond Lumber Co. of San Francisco, Calif.
  • Acquired by the Navy, 21 November 1907
  • Commissioned, USS Navajo (Fleet Tug No. 52), 18 March 1908, CHBOSN. August Rettig, in command
  • Designated (AT-52), 17 July 1920
  • Decommissioned and struck from the Naval Register, 24 April 1937
  • Restored to the Naval Register, 14 January 1942
  • Placed in service as IX-56, 15 March 1942
  • Placed out of service and struck from the Naval Register, 7 February 1946 (IAW Navy Bulletin 46-316)
  • Final Disposition, sold for scrapping, 23 November 1948, to Commercial Equipment Co., for $1,790.00
    AT-52 Specifications:
    Displacement 800 t.
    Length 141' 4"
    Beam 27' 6"
    Draft 14' 1"
    Speed 12 kts.
    Complement 52
    Armament two 3-pdrs
    Propulsion
    one vertical triple-expansion steam engine
    single propeller, 935shp
    Click On Image
    For Full Size Image    		 Size Image Description Source
    USS Navajo (Fleet Tug No. 52)
    Navajo 1708k USS Navajo in dry dock #1 at Mare Island Navy Yard, Vallejo, CA. in May 1908. Note the five target rafts are in the forward end of the dry dock.
    US Navy photo.    		 Darryl Baker
    Navajo 84k Salvage of USS F-4 (SS-23), April-August 1915. Salvage pontoons on the surface, off Honolulu, Hawaii, circa 29 August 1915, after the final lifting of the sunken submarine in preparation for towing her into Honolulu harbor. Note wooden protective sheathing around the pontoons. Salvage equipment was devised by Naval Constructor Julius A. Furer. The tug at right is probably USS Navajo.
    US Navy photo # NH 74732 from the collections of the US Naval Historical Center, Courtesy of Donald M. McPherson, 1972.    		 Robert Hurst
    Navajo 104k Salvage of USS F-4 (SS-23), April-August 1915. All salvage pontoons on the surface, off Honolulu, Hawaii, circa 29 August 1915, with preparations under way to tow the sunken submarine into Honolulu harbor. The tug at right is probably USS Navajo.
    US Navy photo # NH 43499 from the collections of the US Naval Historical Center, Halftone photograph, copied from "Transactions of the Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers", Volume 24, 1916, Figure 13.    		 US Naval Historical Center
    Navajo 109k USS Navajo moored pierside, date and location unknown.
    US Naval History and Heritage Command photo # NH 83836, courtesy Shipscribe.com.    		 Mike Green
    Navajo 124k USS Navajo moored pierside in a warm weather port with awnings spread. Date and location unknown.
    US National Archives, RG-19-N, box 57, photo # 19-N-10568, a US Navy Bureau of Ships photo now in the collections of the US National Archives, courtesy Shipscribe.com.    		 Mike Green
    IX-56
    Navajo
    80-G-43151    		 160k IX-56 alongside USS Oklahoma (BB-37), 26 January 1943 while serving as a floating messing facility for personnel involved in the salvage of the capsized battleship.< br>US Naval History and Heritage Command S-082-C(2) photo # 80-G-43151, 80-G-43064 and Unknown, courtesy Shipscribe.com. Mike Green
    Navajo
    80-G-43064    		 192k
    Navajo
    Unknown    		 130k
    USS Navajo (AT-52) / IX-56
    Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships (DANFS)
    Commanding Officers
    01CHBOSN. Rettig, August18 March 1908 - 15 May 1910
    02LT. Bowen Sr., Harold Gardiner,(temporary) :VADM15. May 1910 - 24 April 1911
    03CHGUNNER. Babson, Charles Bradford24 April 1911 - 14 November 1911
    04CHBOSN. Metters, Frederick William14 November 1911 - 6 November 1916
    05BOSN. Piercey Ernest Richard6 November 1916 - 9 October 1917
    06LT. Rassler, Louis Herman9 October 1917 - 9 November 1920
    07CHBOSN. Greene, Charles Leo9 November 1920 - 1 August 1922
    08BOSN. Speaker, Albert1 August 1922 - 29 August 1922
    Courtesy Wolfgang Hechler and Ron Reeves
    Additional Resources and Web Sites of Interest
    National Association of Fleet Tug Sailors
    Back to the Navsource Photo Archives Main Page Back To The Service Ship Photo Index Back To The Fleet Tug (AT) Photo Index Back To The Miscellaneous Unclassified (IX) Photo Index
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    This page is created and maintained by Gary P. Priolo
    All pages copyright NavSource Naval History
    Last Updated 9 October 2020