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NavSource Online: Service Ship Photo Archive

USS Tangier (AV-8)

Flag Hoist/International Radio Call Sign:
November - Alpha - Xray - Foxtrot
NAXF
Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons



Precedence of awards is from top to bottom, left to right
Top Row - Combat Action Ribbon (retroactive) - China Service Medal (extended)
Second Row - American Defense Service Medal (with Fleet clasp) - American Campaign Medal - Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal (3)
Third Row - World War II Victory Medal - Navy Occupation Service Medal (with Asia clasp) - Philippines Liberation Medal


Tangier Class Seaplane Tender:
  • Laid down, 18 March 1939, as SS Sea Arrow under Maritime Commission contract (MC hull 51) at Moore Dry Dock Co., Oakland, CA.
  • Launched, 15 September 1939
  • Delivered to the US Navy, 8 July 1940
  • Commissioned in ordinary, 8 July 1940, CDR. Clifton A. F. Sprague in command
  • Placed in full Commission after conversion as USS Tangier (AV-8), 25 August 1941
  • During World War II USS Tangier was assigned to the Asiatic-Pacific Theater and participated in the following actions/campaigns:

    Asiatic-Pacific Campaigns
    Campaign and Dates Campaign and Dates
    Pearl Harbor, 7 December 1941 Western New Guinea operations
    Supporting and consolidating operations designated by Com 7th Flt, 1 August to 17 September 1944
    Morotai landings, 14 September 1944
    Bismarck Archipelago operations
    Admiralty Islands landings, 31 March to 17 April 1944
     

  • Following World War II USS Tangier was assigned to Occupation service in the Far East and China service for the following periods;

    Navy Occupation Service Medal

    China Service Medal (extended)
    9 October to 23 November 19457 December 1945 to 6 February 1946
    9 February to 23 March 1946 

  • Decommissioned, circa January 1947 at Philadelphia, PA.
  • Laid up in the Atlantic Reserve Fleet, Philadelphia Naval Shipyard Group
  • Struck from the Naval Register, 1 June 1961
  • USS Tangier earned three battle stars during World War II
  • Sold for conversion for commercial use, 10 January 1962, to Union Minerals and Alloys Corp., New York, N.Y. (MARAD contract PD-X-611 of 21 December 1961) for $177,689.89
  • Resold to Sea-Land Service in 1962, renamed SS Detroit, converted to a car carrier/container ship
  • Final Disposition, scrapped at Valencia, Spain in December 1974
    Specifications:
    Displacement 11,760 t.(lt) 14,200 t.(fl)
    Length 492' 1"
    Beam 69' 6"
    Draft 23' 9"
    Speed 18.7kts. (trial)
    Complement
    Officers - 120
    Enlisted - 955
    Largest Boom Capacity 30 t.
    Armament
    one single 5"/38 cal dual purpose gun mount
    four single 3"/50 cal dual purpose gun mounts
    four twin 40mm AA gun mounts
    Propulsion
    one De Laval geared turbine
    two Foster & Wheeler D-type boilers, 465psi 765°
    double De Laval Main Reduction Gear
    Ships Service Generators
    two turbo-drive 300Kw 120V/240V D.C.
    two Diesel-drive 500Kw 120V/240V D.C.
    single propeller, 8,500shp

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    USS Tangier (AV-8)
    Tangier 84k USS Tangier (AV-8) off Mare Island Navy Yard, Vallejo, CA, circa August 1941. Tangier was in overhaul at Mare Island from 29 August to 16 September 1941.
    US Navy photo # NH 50131, from the collections of the US Naval Historical Center
    US Naval Historical Center
    Tangier 107k USS Tangier (AV-8) anchored off Mare Island Navy Yard, Vallejo, CA, circa August 1941.
    US National Archives photo # 19-N-25362, from the Bureau of Ships Collection now in the US National Archives.
    US Naval Historical Center
    Tangier 76k USS Tangier (AV-8) anchored off Mare Island Navy Yard, Vallejo, CA, circa August 1941. Note OS2U seaplanes on deck, aft.
    US National Archives photo # 19-N-25360, from the Bureau of Ships Collection now in the US National Archives.
    US Naval Historical Center
    Tangier 55k USS Tangier (AV-8) at anchor, circa 1941, location unknown.
    US Navy photo
    Robert Hurst
    Tangier 256k A Japanese bomb explodes approximately 20 feet off the starboard side of USS Tangier (AV-8), forward of the bridge, during the Pearl Harbor air raid, 7 December 1941.
    US Navy photo, the original photograph was in the CinC Pac report of the Pearl Harbor Attack, 15 February 1942, Volume 3, in 1990.
    Robert Hurst
    Tangier 39k View of the west side of Ford Island during the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, 7 December 1941. Visible are (left to right): USS Tangier (AV-8), the capsized USS Utah (AG-16), USS Curtiss (AV-4) in the distance directly behind Utah, USS Medusa (AR-1), and the stern of USS Raleigh (CL-7), which is listing after a torpedo hit.
    USAAF photo. U.S. National Park Service Pearl Harbor gallery.
    Robert Hurst
    Tangier
    09410832
    214k USS Tangier (AV-8) in berth F-10 at Ford Island, circa 7 to 9 December 1941. The capsized USS Utah (AG-16) astern of Tangier, in berth F-11, rolled over during the attack on 7 December after being struck by at least two or possibly three Japanese torpedos.
    US National Archives photo # 80-G-32666, a US Navy photo now in the collections of the US National Archives.
    Rick Davis
    Tangier 81k USS Tangier (AV-8) anchored at Noumea, New Caledonia, 14 April 1942. Note PBY-5 and an OS2U-2 on the seaplane deck, aft.
    US Navy photo # NH 97470, from the collections of the US Naval Historical Center
    US Naval Historical Center
    Tangier
    09410833
    186k USS Tangier (AV-8) anchored at Noumea harbor, New Caledonia, 8 May 1942
    US National Archives photo # 80-G-61910, a US Navy photo now in the collections of the US National Archives.
    Rick Davis
    Tangier 552k USS Tangier (AV-8) at anchor off San Francisco on September 2, 1942.
    File name: AV 8 5301-9-42, Navy Photo, 9/2/42
    Darryl Baker
    Tangier 528k USS Tangier (AV-8) at anchor off San Francisco on September 2, 1942.
    File name: AV 8 5302-9-42, Navy Photo, 9/2/42
    Darryl Baker
    Tangier 37k USS Tangier (AV-8) underway, date and location unknown.
    US Navy photo
    Haze Gray & Underway
    Tangier 114k USS Tangier (AV-8) at anchor, circa 1943. The radar tower over the bridge and the small funnel extension were probably fitted during a refit at Oakland, California, in July to September 1942.
    US National Archives photo # 19-N-40106, RG-19 LCM, a US Navy Bureau of Ships photo now in the collections of the US National Archives.
    Robert Hurst
    Tangier 81k Aft plan view of USS Tangier (AV-8) berthed at San Francisco, 15 February 1944.
    Navy Yard Mare Island photo # 1070.
    Darryl Baker
    Tangier 110k Amidships looking forward plan view of USS Tangier (AV-8) berthed at San Francisco, 15 February 1944.
    Navy Yard Mare Island photo # 1072.
    Darryl Baker
    Tangier 98k Bow on view of USS Tangier (AV-8) off San Francisco, 17 February 1944.
    Navy Yard Mare Island photo # 1053.
    Darryl Baker
    Tangier 87k Stern view of USS Tangier (AV-8) off San Francisco, 17 February 1944.
    Navy Yard Mare Island photo # 1055.
    Darryl Baker
    Tangier 77k Broadside view of USS Tangier (AV-8) off San Francisco, 17 February 1944.
    Navy Yard Mare Island photo # 1056.
    Darryl Baker
    Tangier 170k A USS Tangier (AV-8) liberty party on Los Negros Island, Admiralties, 14 June 1944. Their ship is anchored in the right distance. Note beer drinkers in the foreground, swimmers beyond and motor launch delivering more men to the pier, where they are collecting two bottles of beer apiece as they come ashore. A PBY seaplane is moored in the left center distance.
    US National Archives photo # 80-G-237133, a US Navy photo, now in the collections of the US National Archives.
    Scott at LBS Products
    Tangier 86k USS Tangier (AV-8) in the south Pacific area, July 1944.
    US Navy photo # NH 50132, from the collections of the US Naval Historical Center
    US Naval Historical Center
    Tangier 118k USS Tangier (AV-8) anchored in the south Pacific area, July 1944. Note PBY patrol seaplane flying past, beyond her bow.
    US Navy photo # NH 97471, from the collections of the US Naval Historical Center
    US Naval Historical Center
    Tangier 184k USS Currituck (AV-7) (upper), and USS Tangier (AV-8) (lower) moored at Morotai October 1944, while supporting seaplane operations in connection with the Leyte invasion. Note aircraft rescue boats tied up alongside Tangier, and OS2U float planes on both ships' seaplane decks.
    US National Archives photo # 80-G-1022364, a US Navy photo now in the collections of the National Archives
    US Naval Historical Center
    Tangier 96k USS Tangier (AV-8) (center), and USS Coos Bay (AVP-25) (left), seen from USS Chandeleur (AV-10) as Tangier steams out of Ominato, Japan, 16 October 1945.
    US National Archives photo # 80-G-266022, a US Navy photo, now in the collections of the National Archives.
    US Naval Historical Center
    Tangier 361k USS Tangier (AV-8) crew members playing ball on the after deck while John L Pippin looks on, date and location unknown. John Pippin, Jr. for his father John L. Pippin USS Tangier
    Tangier 171k USS Tangier (AV-8) under way, date and location unknown.
    US Navy photo.
    Tommy Trampp
    BB-44 California 138k Reserve Fleet Basin, Philadelphia Naval Shipyard, Pennsylvania. Photographed on 19 May 1955 with numerous cruisers, escort carriers, and auxiliaries in reserve. The nearest ship is the never-completed
    Hawaii (CB-3), which lacks her previously-installed three 12" gun turrets.
    The cruisers outboard of Hawaii are (in unknown order)
    Honolulu (CL-48),
    Columbia (CL-56),
    Denver (CL-58),
    Galveston (CL-93), and
    Portsmouth (CL-102).
    To their left are
    Tranquility (AH-14),
    Sanctuary (AH-17), and
    Pocono (AGC-16).
    Behind Hawaii (from left to right) are
    Montpelier (CL-57),
    Houston (CL-81),
    Huntington (CL-107),
    Savannah (CL-42),
    Cleveland (CL-55), and
    Wilkes-Barre (CL-103).
    Beyond them (from left to right) are
    Wichita (CA-45),
    Oregon City (CA-122),
    Chester (CA-27), and
    New Orleans (CA-32).
    The cruisers on the left side of the basin (from front to rear) are
    Minneapolis (CA-36),
    Tuscaloosa (CA-37),
    San Francisco (CA-38),
    Augusta (CA-31),
    Louisville (CA-28), and
    Portland (CA-33).
    Among the other ships in reserve in the basin are
    Fomalhaut (AE-20),
    Webster (ARV-2),
    Albemarle (AV-5),
    Tangier (AV-8),
    Pocomoke (AV-9),
    Chandeleur (AV-10),
    Abatan (AW-4),
    Mission San Carlos (AO-120),
    Prince William (CVE-31),
    Anzio (CVE-57),
    Block Island (CVE-106),
    Palau (CVE-122), and
    San Carlos (AVP-51).
    Moored in the shipyard at the extreme left are
    Tennessee (BB-43),
    California (BB-44), and
    Cabot (CVL-28).
    US Navy Photo # 80-G-668655, now in the collections of the US National Archives.
    Robert Hurst
    Tangier 120k WWII Pearl Harbor Survivor - I Am Well And Safe Postcard sent March 9 1943 by Pearl Harbor survivor Harris Jenkins Ingram, C.S.K. USNR. This "I am Well" and "Safe" card was sent to his family by him from USS Tangier (AV-8). Ingram was aboard USS Tangier during the Pearl Harbor Attack and continued his service in the ship through the end of World War II. Tommy Trampp
    Tangier 34k USS Tangier (AV-8) World War II Good Luck coin. Tommy Trampp
    Merchant Service Sea-Land Services
    Tangier 99k Ex-USSTangier (AV-8) in merchant service as SS Detroit berthed at Bremerhaven, Germany the first time she called at that port, 4 May 1963. Photo by Gerhard L. Mueller-Debus
    Tangier 265k SS Detroit under way in harbor, circa 1970, location unknown.
    © B. Rohbrecht
    Gerhard L. Mueller-Debus
    Tangier 317k SS Detroit berthed at Bremerhaven, Germany, July 1971 Photos by Gerhard L. Mueller-Debus
    Tangier 338k

    USS Tangier (AV-8)
    Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships (DANFS)
    Commanding Officers
    01CDR. Sprague, Clifton Albert Frederick, USN (1919) :VADM8 July 1940 to 25 April 1942
    02CDR. De Baun, George Harbord, USN (USNA 1921A) :RADM25 April 1942 to 1 September 1942
    03CDR. Switzer, Wendell Gray (Windy), USN (USNA1921) :VADM1 September 1942 to 27 August 1943
    04CAPT. Young, Howard Leyland (Brigham), USN (USNA 1923 :RADM27 August 1943 to 1 January 1944
    05CDR. Oliver, Richard Maxey, :RADM1 January 1945 - 1 January 1945
    06CDR. Fleming Jr., Morton Klyne, USN (USNA 1926) :RADM1 January 1945 - 15 September 1945
    07CAPT. Quackenbush Jr., Robert Stewart, USN (USNA 1927) :RADM15 September 1945 to January 1946
    Courtesy Wolfgang Hechler and Ron Reeves

    Crew Contact And Reunion Information
    U.S. Navy Memorial Foundation - Navy Log

    Additional Resources and Web Sites of Interest
    Pearl Harbor Action Report
    US Navy Patrol Squadrons - USS Tangier (AV-8)
    MARAD Vessel History Database
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    This page is created and maintained by Gary P. Priolo
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    Last Updated 5 March 2021