The first three vessels,, and, were constructed from 1938 to 1940 at the Bethlehem Staten Island division of Bethlehem Steel. Navajo and Seminole joined the Pacific fleet in 1940, and Cherokee went to the Atlantic fleet. Navajo was en route to San Diego from Pearl Harbor on 7 December 1941, and immediately reversed course to Pearl Harbor once news broke of the Japanese attack. She became a critical element of salvage operations there, as did her sister ship Seminole, in the days following the attack.
Following the loss during World War II of the first two ships of the class, Navajo and Seminole, the class was renamed from its original pre-war name of Navajo class to Cherokee class, the name of the third ship laid in 1939, which still survived.[2]
| Ship name | Hull | Builder | Fate/status | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AT-64 | 26 Jan 1940 | n/a | Sunk, 12 September 1943 | |||
| AT-65 | 8 Mar 1940 | n/a | Sunk, 25 October 1942 | |||
| AT-66 | 26 Apr 1940 | 29 Jun 1946 | Transferred to United States Coast Guard; sunk as a target, 1992 | |||
| AT-67 | 12 Dec 1942 | 27 Feb 1974 | Transferred to Taiwan, 1 June 1974; stranded in action 1985; after rebuild currently active (only the bridge and the mast are retrieved) | |||
| AT-68 | 20 Jan 1943 | 15 Jan 1947 | Transferred to Argentina, 1961; wrecked 10 January 1976 | |||
| AT-69 | 14 Feb 1943 | 26 Feb 1947 | Sunk as an artificial reef, 8 February 1990 | |||
| AT-70 | 21 Apr 1943 | 11 Mar 1947 | Transferred, to Colombia, 1 March 1978; fate unknown | |||
| AT-71 | 31 Mar 1943 | 9 Dec 1955 | joined the Atlantic Reserve Fleet. turned over to the Maritime Administration 27 March 1962 and moved to the National Defense Reserve Fleet, James River, Va., where she remains, following permanent transfer to the Maritime Administration 1 July 1963, into 1967. | |||
| AT-72 | 7 Jun 1943 | n/a | Sold to Dominican Republic, 1972; sold for scrap, 12 December 1994 | |||
| AT-73 | 25 Sep 1942 | 15 Nov 1946 | Transferred to Indonesia, 26 January 1961; sunk as a target in 2004[3] | |||
| AT-74 | 7 Nov 1942 | Jan 1947 | Sold for scrap, 9 November 1971 | |||
| AT-75 | 6 Dec 1942 | 15 Aug 1973 | Transferred to Turkey, 15 August 1973; active as of 2019 | |||
| AT-76 | 13 Dec 1942 | 30 Aug 1974 | Sunk as a target, 4 August 1991 | |||
| cancelled | ||||||
| AT-81 | 28 Jun 1942 | 25 Nov 1955 | Sold for scrap, late 1950s | |||
| AT-82 | 24 Jul 1943 | 24 Jan 1947 | Transferred to Colombia, 14 February 1978; sunk as a target, June 2007 | |||
| AT-83 | 4 Feb 1943 | 30 Jun 1965 | Transferred to Taiwan, 1 May 1976; decommissioned, 16 Jul 1999 | |||
| AT-84 | 28 Mar 1943 | n/a | Sunk as a target, 27 August 1978 | |||
| AT-85 | 29 Apr 1943 | 31 Mar 1988 | Sunk as a target, 22 January 1990 | |||
| AT-86 | 29 May 1943 | 1 Oct 1977 | Sold for scrap, 1 April 1979 | |||
| AT-87 | 30 Nov 1942 | 18 Aug 1946 | Sunk as a target, 6 October 1988 | |||
| AT-88 | 15 Jan 1943 | 21 Dec 1946 | Transferred to Taiwan, 20 June 1991; decommissioned, 1 October 2021 | |||
| AT-89 | 2 Mar 1943 | n/a | Sunk, 9 September 1943 | |||
| AT-90 | 1 Apr 1943 | 11 Jul 1946 | Transferred to Peru, 1 May 1974; active as of 2019 | |||
| AT-91 | 30 Apr 1943 | Jul 1971 | Sunk as a target, 21 July 2003 | |||
| AT-92 | 17 Jul 1943 | 31 Mar 1975 | Sold for scrap, 1 August 1976 | |||
| AT-93 | 16 Aug 1943 | 14 Apr 1950 | Transferred to Chile, May 1960; Sunk as a target, 5 July 1999 | |||
| AT-94 | 31 Aug 1943 | 11 Nov 1955 | Transferred to Pakistan, 25 March 1959; decommissioned in 1993; fate unknown after. | |||
| AT-95 | 9 Oct 1943 | 1 Feb 1994 | Sunk as an artificial reef, 10 May 2017 | |||
| Chilula | AT-153 | 5 Apr 1945 | 19 Jun 1991 | Sunk as a target, 1997 |
(*)Note: The reason for the gap in numbering from AT-95 to AT-153 is unknown.