Please report any broken links or trouble you might come across to the Webmaster. Please take a moment to let us know so that we can correct any problems and make your visit as enjoyable and as informative as possible.

NavSource Online: Service Ship Photo Archive
Patch at right contributed by Mike Smolinski

IX-518
ex
 USS Proteus (AS-19) (1944 - 1992)

International Radio Call Sign:
November - Uniform - Juliet - Romeo
 NUJR
Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons



Precedence of awards is from top to bottom, left to right
Top Row - Navy Unit Commendation - Navy Meritorious Unit Commendation (2) - Navy Battle "E" Ribbon (4)
Second Row - American Campaign Medal - Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal, - World War II Victory Medal
Third Row - Navy Occupation Service Medal (with Asia clasp) - National Defense Service Medal (2) - Humanitarian Service Medal (2)
Fulton Class Submarine Tender:
  • Laid down, 15 September 1941, at Moore Dry Dock Co., Oakland, CA.
  • Launched, 12 November 1942
  • Commissioned USS Proteus (AS-19), 31 January 1944, CAPT. Robert W. Berry in command
  • Decommissioned in 1959 at Charleston Naval Shipyard, Charleston, SC., for conversion to a Fleet Ballistic Missile Submarine Tender
  • Recommissioned, 8 July 1960
  • Decommissioned in September 1992
  • Struck from the Naval Register, (date unknown)
  • Reinstated in the Naval Register, and converted to a Berthing Auxiliary by George G. Sharp Inc., New York City, N.Y.
  • Placed in service at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard, Bremerton, WA. in 1994 as Miscellaneous Unclassified IX-518
  • Placed out of service September 1999
  • Laid up in the National Defense Reserve Fleet, Suisun Bay, Benecia, CA.
  • Sold for scrapping to ESCO Marine, Brownsville, TX.
  • Withdrawn from reserve, 7 June 2007, for tow to ESCO Marine, Brownsville, TX.
  • Struck from the Naval Register, 13 March 2001
  • Final Disposition, dismantled at ESCO Marine, Brownsville, TX.
    Original Specifications:
    Displacement 9,734 t.(lt) 15,034 t. (fl)
    Length 529' 6"
    Beam 73' 4"
    Draft 23' 6"
    Speed 18.5kts.
    Complement 1,487
    Armament
    As Built
    four single 5"/38 gun mounts
    eight 40mm guns
    twenty-three 20mm guns
    Propulsion diesel electric, twin screws, 12,000hp
     IX-518 Specifications:
    Displacement 15,000 t.
    Length 574' 6"
    Beam 73'
    Draft 23' 6"
    Click On Image
    For Full Size Image    		 Size Image Description Contributed By
    /Source By
    USS Proteus (AS-19)
    Proteus 99k USS Proteus (AS-19) with submarines of Submarine Squadron 20 alongside in Tokyo Bay, on VJ-Day, 2 September 1945.
    Names of the submarines present, their commanding officers and the commanding officers of SubRon20 and USS Proteus are printed at the bottom of the image.
    US Navy photo # NH 90519 from the collections of the US Naval Historical Center, Courtesy Capt. Joseph F. Enright USN Ret.         		US Naval Historical Center
    Proteus 37k USS Proteus (AS-19) in original configuration
    US Navy photo         		Hyperwar US Navy in WWII
    Proteus 70k USS Proteus (AS-19) in original configuration
    US Navy photo    		 Hyperwar US Navy in WWII
    Proteus 305k USS Proteus (AS-19) underway in the harbor at Charleston, SC., date unknown.
    US Navy photo    		 Courtesy Randy Guttery
    Tendertales Web Site
    Proteus 32k USS Proteus (AS-19) lies in drydock at Charleston cut in half to add a new mid-section that will equip her with special shops and gear to serve as a Fleet tender to the Navy's first squadron of nuclear submarines.
    US Navy photo    		 Joe Radigan MACM USN Ret. and Robert Hall
    Proteus 105k Overhead view of USS Proteus (AS-19) after completion of her conversion to a FBM submarine tender while enroute to her new assignment at Holy Loch, Scotland, in February 1961. Photo from "Warship Boneyards" by Kit and Carolyn Bonner, Treasure Island Museum. Robert Hurst
    Proteus 73k USS Proteus (AS-19) tends to two of her brood at Holy Loch Scotland. USS Betelgeuse (AK-260) (moored to her port side) shuttled between Charleston and Holy Loch bringing everything needed to operate the tender, maintain the subs and provide for the well being of crew and dependents.
    US Navy photo from "All Hands" magazine October 1962    		 Joe Radigan MACM USN Ret.
    Proteus 97k USS Proteus (AS-19) tending an FBM submarine at Holy Loch, Scotland, date unknown.
    US Navy photo from "All Hands" magazine January 1963    		 Joe Radigan MACM USN Ret.
    Proteus 119k USS Proteus (AS-19) in FBM Tender configuration
    US Navy photo         		Larry Bohn
    Proteus 112k Transfer of a Polaris Missile between USS Proteus (AS-19) and USS Patrick Henry (SSBN-599) at Holy Loch, Dunoon, Scotland, 1961
    US Navy photo         		.
    Proteus 338k USS Proteus (AS-19) being assisted by Saco (YTB-796) into her berth at Naval Base Guam, 24 May 1980.
    DVIC photo # DN-SC-88-08187 from the collections of the Defense Visual Information Center.    		 Bill Gonyo
    Proteus 83k USS Proteus (AS-19) tending submarines at Polaris Point, Apra Harbor, Guam , date unknown.
    US Navy photo    		 .
    Proteus 319k USS Proteus (AS-19) tending submarines at Polaris Point, Apra Harbor, Guam, circa early 1970s Ben Brooks
    Proteus 884k USS Proteus (AS-19) moored in the harbor at Sydney, Australian, circa December 1972 to January 1973. Photo by Norman K. Palosky PH1, USN Ret.
    Proteus 86k USS Proteus (AS-19) displaying a WWII camouflage scheme during two month deployment to Australia to commutate 50th anniversary of the Battle of the Coral Sea
    US Navy photo    		 .
    Proteus 114k USS Proteus (AS-19) moored pierside at Victoria Quay, Naval Base Fremantle, Australia in 1984. Jack Treutle
    Proteus 106k USS Proteus (AS-19) in dry dock at Guam, 1985. Photo by Larry Lee
    Proteus 94k USS Proteus (AS-19) moored pierside, date and location unknown. Yucel M. Umar GMC Turkish Navy (Ret)
    IX-518
    Proteus 24k Ex-USS Proteus (AS-19) reclassified as berthing and messing barge IX-518 moored at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard, circa 1994.
    US Navy photo    		 .
    Proteus 85k IX-518 moored at Suisun Bay National Defense Fleet, Benecia, CA., in October 1999. Photo from "Warship Boneyards" by Kit and Carolyn Bonner, authors collection. Robert Hurst
    Proteus 24k IX-518 moored at a scrapping pier at ESCO Marine, Brownsville, TX., 1 August 2007 ©Michael Martin, Brownsville, TX.
    View the Proteus (AS-19)
    DANFS history entry located at the US Naval Historical Center
    Views of Proteus (AS-19)'s
    Conversion to a Fleet Ballistic Missile Submarine Tender
    Crew Contact And Reunion Information
    U.S.Navy Memorial Foundation
    Fleet Reserve Association
    Additional Resources and Web Sites of Interest
    Submarine Tenders of the United States Navy
    Back To The Navsource Photo Archives Main Page Back To The Service Force Ship Type Index Back To The Submarine Tender (AS) Photo Index Back To The Miscellaneous (IX) Photo Index
    Comments, Suggestions, E-mail Webmaster.
    This page is created and maintained by Gary P. Priolo
    © 2006 Gary P. Priolo © 1996 - 2009 NavSource Naval History. All Rights Reserved.
    Last Updated 1 May 2009