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.[1]
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 carriersKasaan 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 Britishaircraft carriersHMSHunter and HMSStalker 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.[2]
The next day, Tatum reported to Naples where she embarked the commander of a landing craftconvoy 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 St. 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 Marseilles in the screen of a convoy bound for Bizerte and Oran. During the early part of November, Tatum escorted another convoy from Oran to Marseilles then screened the ArmytransportMariposa 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.[2]
Pacific War
On 12 December 1944, she began conversion to a high-speed transport at Tompkinsville. On 15 December 1944, she was officially redesignated APD-81.[1]
Tatum arrived off Okinawa'sHagushi 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 40feet 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.[2]
Meanwhile, the second and third planes were setting up for their attack. Tatum drove one of them off with gunfire, but the other pilot continued on toward the ship until a hail of gunfire caused him to lose control of his aircraft. He banked sharply to the right, passed by Tatum's port side, and splashed about 100yards astern. Within seconds, his cautious comrade renewed his attack. He dove on the fast transport, barely missing the port wing of her bridge, and Tatum's antiaircraft fire followed him up as he climbed, did a wing-over, and prepared to come in again. His third and final attack carried him across the ship's fantail and into the water about 50feet from her starboard quarter.[2]
The fourth plane apparently had been holding back waiting for his colleagues to open a favorable route of attack. He then circled, banked to his left, and dove at Tatum. Her barrage ripped off part of his left wing, and he plummeted toward the water, splashing into the sea about 30feet from her port bow. Then an underwater explosion rocked Tatum severely but caused no damage.[2]
Tatum as a high-speed transport.
Despite considerable damage to the fast transport, her crew had all essential equipment back in operation within 15minutes. Relieved by Walter C. Wann later that evening, she stopped at Hagushi to take on a bomb disposal officer and moved two miles out to sea where the dud was disarmed and dropped overboard. Tatum returned to Hagushi the following morning; then moved to Kerama Retto for repairs.[2]
Tatum underwent temporary repairs and departed the Okinawa area on 11 June to escort a convoy to Ulithi. From there, she screened Briareus to San Pedro Bay, Leyte, where her permanent repairs were completed; and Tatum conducted exercises with Texas, Mississippi, Gainard, and Barber. On 18 August, she departed San Pedro Bay to escort Idaho and Mississippi to Okinawa, entering Buckner Bay on the 21st.[2]
Tatum spent eight more months in the Far East, assisting in various phases of the post war occupation and reconstruction. Between 9 and 11 September, she screened a task unit carrying occupation officials from Buckner Bay to Wakanoura Wan, Honshū, Japan. She remained there until 19 September, assisting in the evacuation of Allied prisoners of war. From there, she shifted to Nagasaki where she supplied boats for the evacuation pool. On 25 September, Tatum put to sea for Buckner Bay where she arrived the following day. Three weeks later, the high-speed transport sailed for the Philippines. At Manila, she joined a convoy of troopships bound for French Indochina and arrived at Haiphong on 2 November. After embarking soldiers of the Chinese 52d Army, the convoy got underway on the 4th for Chinwangtao where it arrived on the 12th and disembarked the troops.[2]
Tatum continued to shuttle passengers between Chinese ports until mid-April 1946. On the 12th, she stood out of Hong Kong to return to the United States. After stops at Guam, in the Marshalls, and at Pearl Harbor, the ship reached San Pedro, California, on 9 May 1946. On the 18th, she resumed her voyage east and arrived at Philadelphia, Pa., on 3 June. By 5 July, she was in the Charleston (S.C.) Navy Yard undergoing inactivation overhaul.
Decommissioning and fate
In mid-October 1946, the high-speed transport was towed to Green Cove Springs, Florida where she was placed out of commission on 15 November 1946. Tatum remained out of commission, in reserve, until 1 June 1960 when her name was struck from the Navy List. On 8 May 1961, she was sold for scrap to the Southern Scrap Metal Co., New Orleans, Louisiana[2]
Namesake
Laurice Aldridge Tatum was born on 7 December 1894 in Chambers County, Alabama. He enlisted in the Navy at Atlanta, Georgia, on 29 June 1917 as a hospital apprentice. Following training at San Francisco, he served at the Naval Hospital in Fort Lyon, Colorado, and in the receiving ship at Norfolk, Virginia. On 15 October 1918, he was transferred to USSAlabama, on which he served until 28 May 1919. Pharmacist's Mate 2d Class Tatum completed his enlistment at the Naval Hospital in Philadelphia and was honorably discharged at Atlanta, Ga., on 18 August 1919.
Late in August 1940, Lieutenant Commander Tatum reported to Naval Air Station Norfolk, Virginia, for active duty. He was serving on USSWasp on 15 September 1942, as that aircraft carrier and USSHornet were covering the movement of reinforcements from Espiritu Santo to Guadalcanal. When Wasp was torpedoed by an Imperial Japanese Navysubmarine, Lt. Comdr. Tatum was among those trapped in the carrier's forecastle, cut off from the rest of the ship by raging flames. Rather than trying to save himself by jumping overboard, Tatum remained in the carrier to aid and comfort the wounded. He apparently went down with the ship when she sank. He was posthumously awarded the Silver Star.
USS Kasaan Bay (CVE-69) was the fifteenth of fifty Casablanca-class escort carriers built for the United States Navy during World War II. She was named after Kasaan Bay, a name assigned to the bay by the local Haida Indians. The bay is located within Prince of Wales Island, which at the time was a part of the Territory of Alaska. The ship was launched in October 1943, commissioned in December, and served as a transport carrier in both the Atlantic and the Pacific, as well as taking part in Operation Dragoon, the Allied invasion of occupied Southern France. Her aircraft provided air support and strategic bombing capabilities, disrupting German supply lines, and earning Kasaan Bay a battle star. Postwar, she participated in Operation Magic Carpet. Ultimately, she was broken up in March 1960.
USS Tulagi (CVE-72) was a Casablanca-class escort carrier of the United States Navy.
USS Mission Bay (CVE-59) was a Casablanca-class escort carrier of the United States Navy. She was named after Mission Bay, located northwest of San Diego. Launched in May 1943, and commissioned in September, she served as a transport carrier, ferrying aircraft to bases in Europe, Africa, and Asia. She also participated in the Battle of the Atlantic, protecting convoys and conducting antisubmarine patrols. Notably, she escorted President Roosevelt on-board the cruiser Quincy as he returned from the Yalta Conference. She was decommissioned in February 1947, when she was mothballed in the Atlantic Reserve Fleet. Ultimately, she was sold for scrapping in April 1959.
USS Goldsborough (DD-188/AVP-18/AVD-5/APD-32) was a Clemson-class destroyer in the United States Navy during World War II. She was the second Navy ship named for Rear Admiral Louis M. Goldsborough (1805–1877). Entering service in 1920, the ship had a brief active life before being placed in reserve in 1922. Goldsborough was reactivated for World War II and was used as an aircraft tender, destroyer and high speed transport in both Atlantic and Pacific theaters. Following the war, the ship was sold for scrapping in 1946.
USS Schmitt (DE-676) was a Buckley-class destroyer escort in the United States Navy, commissioned in 1943. In late 1944, she was converted to a high speed transport and was redesignated APD-76. She was retired in 1949 and transferred to the Republic of China Navy in 1969, where she served as ROCS Lung Shan (PF-44) until 1976, when she was scrapped.
USS Bunch (DE-694) was a Buckley-class destroyer escort of the United States Navy, named after Kenneth Cecil Bunch, killed in action on 6 June 1942 while flying as radioman-gunner in an SBD Dauntless dive bomber during the Battle of Midway. Bunch was a native of Norman County, Minnesota.
USS Russell (DD-414) was a World War II-era Sims-class destroyer in the service of the United States Navy, named after Rear Admiral John Henry Russell. She was among the most decorated US Naval vessels of World War II.
USS Barr (DE-576/APD-39), originally a Buckley-class destroyer escort, and later a Charles Lawrence-class fast transport of the United States Navy named for Pvt. Woodrow Wilson Barr of Keyser, West Virginia.
USS Loy (DE-160/APD-56), a Buckley-class destroyer escort in service with the United States Navy from 1943 to 1947. She was converted to high-speed transport (APD) in late 1945. Following her decommissioning, she spent another 19 years in reserve before being sold for scrap in 1966.
USS Barber (DE-161/APD-57) was a Buckley-class destroyer escort in service with the United States Navy from 1943 to 1946. In 1969, she was sold to Mexico where she served until 2001.
USS Bowers (DE-637/APD-40) was a Buckley-class destroyer escort of the United States Navy, was named in honor of Ensign Robert K. Bowers (1915-1941), who was killed in action aboard the battleship USS California during the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on 7 December 1941. The ship was laid down on 28 May 1943 at San Francisco, California, by the Bethlehem Steel Company; launched on 31 October, sponsored by Mrs. Eunice Bowers, the mother of Ensign Bowers; and commissioned on 27 January 1944. The ship served in World War II in the Pacific
USS Thomas E. Fraser (DD-736/DM-24) was a Robert H. Smith-class destroyer minelayer in the United States Navy.
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USS Tills (DE-748) was a Cannon-class destroyer escort in service with the United States Navy from 1944 to 1946 and from 1950 to 1968. She was sunk as a target in 1969.
USS Runels (DE-793/APD-85) was a Buckley-class destroyer escort of the United States Navy, in service from 1944 to 1947. She was finally sold for scrap in 1961.
USS Paul G. Baker (DE-642) was a Buckley-class destroyer escort in service with the United States Navy from 1944 to 1946. She was scrapped in 1970.
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USS Kinzer (APD-91), ex-DE-232, was a United States Navy high-speed transport in commission from 1944 to 1946.
USS Register (APD-92), ex-DE-233, was a United States Navy high-speed transport in commission from 1945 to 1946.
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