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NavSource Online: Service Ship Photo Archive

USS Hamlin (AV-15)

International Radio Call Sign:
November - Alpha - Xray - Papa
 NAXP
Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons


Precedence of awards is from top to bottom, left to right
Top Row - American Campaign Medal
Bottom Row - Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal (3) - World War II Victory Medal - Navy Occupation Service Medal (with Asia clasp)
Kenneth Whiting Class Seaplane Tender:
  • Laid down, 19 July 1943, at Todd Pacific Shipyards, Inc., Tacoma, WA.
  • Launched, 11 January 1944
  • Commissioned USS Hamlin (AV-15), 26 June 1944, CAPT. Gordon Alexander McLean, USN in command
  • During World War II USS Hamlin was assigned to the Asiatic-Pacific Theater and participated in the following campaigns:

    Asiatic-Pacific Campaigns
    Campaign and Dates Campaign and Dates
    Iwo Jima operation
    Assault and occupation of Iwo Jima, 19 February to 8 March 1945     		3d Fleet operations against Japan, 10 to 25 July 1945
    Okinawa Gunto operation
    Assault and occupation of Okinawa Gunto, 26 March to 30 June 1945     		 

  • Following World War II USS Hamlin was assigned to Occupation service in the Far East from 2 September t o15 December 1945
  • Decommissioned, 18 January 1947 at San Diego, CA
  • Laid up in the Pacific Reserve Fleet, San Diego, CA.
  • Custody transferred to the Maritime Administration, September 1962 for lay up in the National Defense Reserve Fleet, Suisun Bay, Benecia, CA.
  • Struck from the Naval Register, 1 July 1963
  • USS Hamlin earned three battle stars for service in World War II
  • Title passed to the Maritime Administration, 1 July 1963
  • Final Disposition, sold for scrapping, 7 November 1972, to National Metal & Steel Corp. (PD-X-949), for $87,500.00, Withdrawn from the Reserve Fleet the same day
    Specifications:
    Displacement 8,510 t.(lt) 12,610 t.(fl) 14,000 t.(lim)
    Length 492'
    Beam 69' 6"
    Draft 23' 9" (lim)
    Speed 18.7 kts.
    Complement
    Officers 113
    Enlisted 964
    Largest Boom Capacity 20 t.
    Armament
    two single 5"/38 dual purpose gun mounts
    two quad 40mm AA gun mounts
    two twin 40mm AA gun mounts
    sixteen single 20mm AA gun mounts
    Fuel Capacities
    NSFO 9,675Bbls
    Diesel 760Bbls
    Gasoline 312,475 Gals
    Propulsion
    one Allis Chalmers steam turbine
    two Foster and Wheeler D-type boilers, 465psi 765°
    double Falk Main Reduction Gears
    three turbo-drive Ship's Service Generators, 500Kw 450V A.C.
    one propeller, 8,500shp
    Click On Image
    For Full Size Image    		 Size Image Description Contributed
    By
    Hamlin 205k Miss Constance Taffinder christening the seaplane tender Hamlin (AV-15), 11 January 1944. She was the daughter of Rear Admiral S. A. Taffinder, Commandant of the 13th Naval District. Dale Hargrave
    Hamlin
    09411505
    BUSHIPS 19-NN-AV-15-348    		 148k Launching of seaplane tender Hamlin (AV-15), 11 January 1944, at Todd Pacific Shipyards, Inc., Tacoma, WA.
    U.S. Navy Bureau of Ships photo # 19-NN-AV-15-348 from the collections of the US National Archives, Identifier # 7577345 and
    U.S. Navy Bureau of Ships photo # 19-NN-AV-15-347. from the collections of the US National Archives Identifier # 7577344.    		 Robert Hurst
    Hamlin
    09411506
    BUSHIPS 19-NN-AV-15-347    		 146k
    Hamlin 94k USS Hamlin (AV-15) at anchor, 13 February 1945, in Tanapag Harbor, Saipan. Hamlin is painted in Measure 32/8Ax camouflage.
    US National Archives Photo # RG-80-G-306648, (taken from USS Chandeleur (AV-10)). A US Navy photo now in the collections of the US National Archives, courtesy Shipscribe.com.    		 Mike Green
    Hamlin 142k USS Hamlin (AV-15) at anchor in Ulithi Harbor, Carolines, circa October-December 1944.
    US National Archives Photo # 80-G-K-2587, a US Navy photo now in the collections of the US National Archives.    		 US Naval History and Heritage Command
    Hamlin 238k USS Hamlin (AV-15) R Div, date unknown. Bill Lewis
    USS Hamlin (AV-15)
    Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships (DANFS)
    Commanding Officers
    01CAPT. McLean, Gordon Alexander, USN (USNA 1926) :RADM26 June 1944 to December 1945
    02CDR. McKeel, William C., USNRDecember 1945 to March 1946
    03CAPT. Shafer, David William, USN (USNA 1927)March 1946 - 18 January 1947
    Courtesy Wolfgang Hechler
    Crew Contact And Reunion Information
    U.S. Navy Memorial Foundation - Navy Log
    Additional Resources and Web Sites of Interest
    US Navy Patrol Squadrons - USS Hamlin (AV-15)
    MARAD Vessel History Database
    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
    All pages copyright NavSource Naval History
    Last Updated 21 October 2022