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NavSource Online: Service Ship Photo Archive

AV-4 Curtiss

Flag Hoist/International Radio Call Sign:
November - Echo - Foxtrot - Zulu
Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons




Precedence of awards is from top to bottom, left to right
Top Row - Combat Action Ribbon (retroactive) - American Defense Service Medal (with Fleet clasp)
Second Row - American Campaign Medal - Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal (7) - World War II Victory Medal
Third Row - Navy Occupation Service Medal (with Asia clasp) - National Defense Service Medal - Korean Service Medal
Fourth Row - Antarctic Service Medal - United Nations Service Medal - Republic of Korea War Service Medal (retroactive)
Curtiss Class Seaplane Tender:
  • Laid down, 25 March 1938, at New York Shipbuilding Corp., Camden, N.J.
  • Launched, 20 April 1940
  • Commissioned USS Curtiss (AV-4), 15 November 1940, CDR. S. P. Ginder in command
  • Decommissioned, 24 September 1957
  • Laid up in the Reserve Fleet
  • Struck from the Naval Register, 1 July 1963
  • Final Disposition, sold for scrapping, February 1972.
  • Curtiss earned seven battle stars for World War II service
    Specifications:
    Displacement 8,671 t.
    Length 527' 4"
    Beam 69' 3"
    Draft 21' 11"
    Speed 20 kts.
    Complement 1,195
    Armament
    as built
    four single 5"/38 gun mounts
    four quad 40mm AA gun mounts
    added during WWII
    two twin 40mm AA gun mounts
    twelve single 20mm AA gun mounts
    Propulsion geared turbines, two shafts
    Click On Image
    For Full Size Image    		 Size Image Description Source
    Curtiss 96k Curtiss (AV-4) soon after her launching on 20 April 1940 at New York Shipbuilding Corp., Camden, N.J.
    New York Shipbuilding Corp. photo    		 David Buell
    Curtiss 96k Curtiss (AV-4) underway soon after her completion, in 1940
    US Navy photo # NH 55535 from the collections of the US Naval Historical Center.    		 US Naval Historical Center
    Curtiss 20k Curtiss (AV-4) ablaze, at Pearl Harbor, 7 December 1941.
    US Navy photo    		 Haze Gray and Underway web site
    Curtiss 15k Curtiss (AV-4) at Pearl Harbor, 7 December 1941. .
    Curtiss 87k The damaged Curtiss (AV-4), at left, and Medusa (AR-1), at right, at their moorings soon after the Japanese raid on Pearl Harbor, 7 December 1941.
    Note that Curtiss (AV-4) has been fitted with an air search radar.
    US National Archives photo # 80-G-32733, a US Navy photo now in the collections of the National Archives    		 US Naval Historical Center
    Curtiss 54k Curtiss(AV-4) underway, 1942, location unknown.
    US Navy photo    		 Hazegray and Underway web site
    Curtiss 153k Aft plan view of Curtiss (AV-4) at Moore Drydock Co., Oakland, 9 October 1943.
    Navy Yard Mare Island photo # 7022-43.    		 Darryl Baker
    Curtiss 76k Broadside view of Curtiss (AV-4) off San Francisco, 11 October 1943.
    Navy Yard Mare Island photo # 7031-43.    		 Darryl Baker
    Curtiss 55k Bows on view of Curtiss (AV-4) off San Francisco, 11 October 1943.
    Navy Yard Mare Island photo # 7033-43. The tug alongside Curtiss is unidentified.    		 Darryl Baker
    Curtiss 88k Curtiss (AV-4) in her post war configuration.
    US Navy photo    		 Haze Gray and Underway web site
    Curtiss 35k Curtiss (AV-4) underway, date and location unknown.
    US Navy photo    		 Hyperwar US Navy in WWII
    Curtiss 67k Curtiss (AV-4) underway, date and location unknown.
    US Navy photo    		 Hyperwar US Navy in WWII
    Curtiss 109k Curtiss (AV-4) In San Diego Bay during the later 1940s or early 1950s. She is flying a Vice Admiral's flag from her mainmast. A pilot boat is at right, and LSM-462 is in the left distance.
    US Navy photo # NH 97415 from the collections of the US Naval Historical Center    		 US Naval Historical Center
    Curtiss 54k Curtiss (AV-4) plays 'mother hen' to seaplanes flying patrol missions in the Korean theater.
    US Navy photo from "All Hands" magazine, March 1953    		 Joe Radigan MACM USN Ret.
    Curtiss 128k Curtiss (AV-4) underway in 1954. Note large number of boats stowed on board
    US Navy photo # NH 97416 from the collections of the US Naval Historical Center.
    Note - The caption as provided by the Navy for this photo may be in error as a helo deck was installed in the Fall of 1953 according to Walter J. Handelman who served as Deck Officer from 1953 to 1955 aboard USS Curtiss.    		 US Naval Historical Center
    Curtiss 87k Curtiss (AV-4) underway at San Diego enroute to sea, circa 1956.
    US Navy photo    		 David Buell for his father Benton E. Buell, ENC, USN (later CWO4) USS Curtiss
    View the Curtiss (AV-4)
    DANFS history entry located at the US Naval Historical Center
    Crew Contact And Reunion Information Web Sites
    U.S.Navy Memorial Foundation
    Fleet Reserve Association
    Additional Resources and Web Sites of Interest
    USS Curtiss (AV-4) Association
    Pearl Harbor Action Report
    NAVSEA World War II War Damage Report
    Back To The Navsource Photo Archives Main Page Back To The Service Ship Type Index Back To The Seaplane Tender (AV)Photo Index
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    This page is created and maintained by Gary P. Priolo
    © 2005 Gary P. Priolo © 1996 - 2008 NavSource Naval History. All Rights Reserved.
    Last Updated 16 November 2007