Naval History and Heritage Command

An Indian tribe, found today chiefly in Oklahoma and North Carolina.

III

The third Cherokee (No. 458) was built in 1891 by John H. Dialogue & Sons, Camden, N.J., as Edgar F. Luckenbach (later renamed Luckenbach No. 2); purchased by the Navy; delivered at New York 12 October 1917; and commissioned 5 December 1917.

Outfitted for distant service at New York and at the Philadelphia Navy Yard, Cherokee cleared Newport, R.I., 24 February 1918 for Washington, D.C. On 26 February, in a heavy gale, she foundered about 12 miles off Fenwick Island Light Vessel, with the loss of 30 of her crew. The tanker British Admiral rescued 12 survivors, two of whom died before the tanker reached port.