Very special thanks to Michael Hansen mhansen2@cox.net for allowing us to use his transcription of the history of the Tidewater
from the "Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships," (1981) Vol. 7, pp.188-189., which can also be found at the Internet Web Site:
Naval Vessel Register http://www.nvr.navy.mil/nvrships/details/AD31.htm
If you have any other history info you would like to submit for this page, contact: CherylJ@touchtheheart.com
TIDEWATER
That region of the Commonwealth of Virginia on the
coastal plain and along the shores of the Chesapeake Bay as
well as along the James, York, Rappahannock, and Nansemond
Rivers. It was the region of the United States first
settled permanently by English colonists at the beginning of
the 17th century.
AD-31
Displacement: 16,800 t. (fully loaded)
Length: 492
Beam: 700
Draft: 276
Speed: 18.0 k.
Complement: 1,017
Armament: 1 5; 8 40mm; 12 20mm
Class: SHENANDOAH
TIDEWATER (AD-31) was laid down on 27 November 1944 at
the Charleston Navy Yard, launched on 30 June 1945;
sponsored by Mrs. Robert N. S. Baker; and commissioned at
Charleston, S.C., on 19 February 1946, Capt. Frank H. Ball
in command.
Since World War II ended some five months before the
destroyer tender was placed in commission, she remained
active only long enough to complete sea trials. She did not
report for duty with the active fleet but was decommissioned
and ordered to the reserve group berthed at Charleston.
There, she became accommodation ship for members of the
staff of the Commander, Submarine Group 3. That duty
continued through the outbreak and first 15 months of
hostilities in Korea. By that time, the increased need for
ships to support United Nations land forces fighting in that
Asian country brought the destroyer tender into her first
real active service. On 2 October 1951, TIDEWATER was
recommissioned at Charleston, S.C., Capt. Harold S. Harnly
in command.
TIDEWATER, however, did not participate directly in the
hostilities that brought her back to active duty. Instead,
between late 1951 and early 1954, she operated exclusively
along the eastern seaboard of the United States. After
shakedown training in the Chesapeake Bay area, she reported
for duty with Destroyer Flotilla (DesFlot) 4 in February
1952. At her home port, Norfolk, Va., she supported the
destroyers of DesFlot 4 with her repair facilities. Over
the next two years, the ship departed that port on a number
of occasions to participate in various exercises. During
the fall of 1952, TIDEWATER joined ships of other NATO
powers in Exercise "Mainbrace" for six weeks of training.
The following February, she joined other Navy ships in the
Caribbean for her first of many annual "Springboard"
exercises, after which she resumed duty at Norfolk tending
the destroyers of DesFlot 4. In July 1953, the destroyer
tender moved south to Charleston to render her services to
the ships of the Mine Force. She returned to Norfolk in
mid-August and entered the naval shipyard for overhaul on
the 12th. At the completion of overhaul, she put to sea for
the Caribbean and refresher training on 2 November.
TIDEWATER returned to Norfolk on 1 December and resumed
tending destroyers until February 1954 when she headed south
to participate in her second "Springboard" exercise. Upon
completion of that duty, the destroyer tender headed across
the Atlantic for her first deployment with the 6th Fleet in
the Mediterranean.
With that assignment, TIDEWATER set a pattern which
endured for the remainder of her Navy career. Over the next
13 years, she made 10 deployments to the Mediterranean,
alternating that service with 2d Fleet duty along the
Atlantic coast of the United States. During each tour of
duty with the 6th Fleet, she made port calls at various
harbors along the length of the "middle-sea" littoral.
While serving on her fourth deployment in the summer of
1960, the destroyer tender had the honor to play host to
Queen Fredricka of Greece. Her eighth deployment to the
Mediterranean came in the spring of 1967, just before the
outbreak of the Six-Day War between the Arabs and Israel.
During that brief conflict, TIDEWATER hurried to Suda Bay,
Crete, where she served as an advanced base ship for 6th
Fleet units standing watch in the eastern Mediterranean for
the duration of hostilities.
When not in the Mediterranean, she busied herself in
support of the warships of the Atlantic Fleet from her base
at Norfolk, Va., and at other ports along the eastern
seaboard. When in the area, she joined in various
exercises, most frequently in Operation "Springboard," the
annual Caribbean-based exercise conducted by the ships of
the Atlantic Fleet. She also underwent periodic overhauls
to refurbish herself and modernize her equipment. The most
significant of those occurred in June 1962 when, at the
conclusion of her fifth Mediterranean tour, she entered
Norfolk Naval Shipyard for an extensive overhaul which
included the installation of a helicopter pad and
concomitant equipment to expand her logistics support
capabilities.
TIDEWATER completed her 10th Mediterranean deployment
on 2 May 1969. She resumed tender duty with the warships of
the Atlantic Fleet out of Norfolk and remained so occupied
through the end of the year and into 1970. In August 1970,
she received word that she would be decommissioned the
following spring. She served as flagship for the Commander,
Cruiser-Destroyer Group 4, from 10 September until
13 November, at which time she began preparations for
inactivation. On 4 January, the United States Navy agreed
to lease TIDEWATER to the Indonesian Navy upon
decommissioning. Accordingly, when she was placed out of
commission at Norfolk on 20 February 1971, she was turned
over to the Indonesian Navy and recommissioned as DUMAI,
Col. Mardianus Aruf in command. Since then, DUMAI has
remained active with the Indonesian Navy.
[Originally DUMAI (pennant number 562) was used as both
a destroyer tender/depot ship and to maintain offshore
drilling rigs. By 1976 or 77, most of her equipment had
been removed and she was used as an accommodation ship for
oil-rig personnel. Purchased outright by Indonesia on
1 March 1980, DUMAI was deleted in 1984.]
Internet Web Site: Naval Vessel Register www.nvr.navy.mil/nvrships/details/AD31.htm
Janes Fighting Ships, 1973-74, p.166; 1974-75, p.172; 1977-78, p.230; 1985-86, p.242.
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