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

USS Oyster Bay (AGP-6)

Flag Hoist/International Radio Call Sign:
November - Bravo - Sierra - Victor
NBSV

Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons

Precedence of awards is from top to bottom, left to right
Top Row - Combat Action Ribbon (3-retroactive, 27 April 44, 21 November 44, 26 November 44) - American Campaign Medal - Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal (4)
Bottom Row - World War II Victory Medal - Philippines Presidential Unit Citation - Philippines Liberation Medal (1)

USS Oyster Bay (AGP-6) was transferred to Italy and renamed Pietro Cavezzale (A5301)

Barnegat Class Small Seaplane Tender

Laid down, 17 April 1942, as Oyster Bay (AVP-28) at Lake Washington Shipyard, Houghton, WA.

Launched, 23 May 1942

Reclassified Motor Torpedo Boat Tender AGP-6, 1 May 1943

Commissioned USS Oyster Bay (AGP-6), 17 November 1943, LCDR. Walter W. Holroyd, USNR, in command

During World War II Oyster Bay was assigned to the Asiatic-Pacific Theater and participated in the following campaigns:

Campaign and Dates	Campaign and Dates
Asiatic-Pacific Campaigns
Eastern New Guinea operations Designated Duty in connection with motor torpedo boat operations 21 February to 9 March 1944 and 18 April to 2 May 1944	Western New Guinea operations Designated Duty in connection with motor torpedo boat operations, 26 April to 13 October 1944 Morotai Landings, 16 September to 3 October 1944
Bismarck Archipelago operation Admiralty Islands landings, 9 to 13 March 1944 Designated Duty in connection with motor torpedo boat operations, 14 March to 17 April 1944	Leyte operation Leyte landings, 28 October to 29 November 1944 Battle of Surigao Strait, 24 to 26 October 1944

Decommissioned, 29 March 1946, at San Francisco, CA.

Struck from the Naval Register, 12 April 1946

Transferred, 12 August 1946, to the Maritime Commission for lay up in the National Defense Reserve Fleet, Stockton Group

Reacquired by the Navy and reinstated in the Naval Register, 3 January 1949 as (AVP-28)

Laid up in the Pacific Reserve Fleet, Stockton, CA.

Withdrawn from reserve and transferred to Italy, 23 October 1957

Commissioned into the Italian Navy as Pietro Cavezzale (A5301)

Struck from the Naval Register, 12 April 1946

Decommissioned by the Italian Navy in October 1993

Final Disposition struck by the Italian Navy, 31 March 1994, and sold for scrapping in February 1996

USS Oyster Bay earned four battle stars for World War II service

Specifications:
Displacement 1,766 t.(lt) 2,800 t.(fl)
Length 310' 9"
Beam 41' 1"
Draft 13' 6"
Speed 18.2 kts (trial)

Complement

Officers 36

Enlisted 304

Largest Boom Capacity 10 t.

Armament

two single 5"/38 cal dual purpose gun mount

four twin 40mm AA gun mounts

four twin 20mm AA gun mounts

Fuel Capacities

Diesel 2,000 Bbls

Gasoline 82,650 Gals

Propulsion

two Fairbanks Morse 38D8 1/8 Diesel engines

double Fairbanks Morse Main Reduction Gears
Ship's Service Generators
two Diesel-drive 200Kw 450V A.C.
one Diesel-drive 100Kw 450V A.C.

two propellers, 6,400shp

Click On Image For Full Size Image	Size	Image Description	Source
*USS Oyster Bay* (AGP-6)**
09432830	304k	*Namesake* Oyster Bay - An inlet in Nassau County on Long Island Sound on the north shore of Long Island,New York. The town of Oyster Bay is on its shore.	Tommy Trampp
	79k	*USS Oyster Bay* (AGP-6)** off Puget Sound Navy Yard, 28 November 1943, shortly after commissioning. US National Archives photo # 19-N-54733, a US Navy photo from the Bureau of Ships Collection now in the US National Archives.	US Naval History and Heritage Command
	213k	*USS Oyster Bay* (AGP-6)** off Puget Sound Navy Yard, 28 November 1943, shortly after commissioning. US National Archives photo # 19-N-54734, a US Navy photo from the Bureau of Ships Collection now in the US National Archives.	Robert Hurst and Carl Musselman, courtesy Margaret Sunderman in honor of her husband, David Sunderman USS Oyster Bay
	93k	*USS Oyster Bay* (AGP-6)** off Puget Sound Navy Yard, 28 November 1943, shortly after commissioning. US National Archives photo # 19-N-54735, a US Navy photo from the Bureau of Ships Collection now in the US National Archives.	US Naval History and Heritage Command
	82k	*USS Oyster Bay* (AGP-6)** tending PT boats in Seeadler Harbor, Admiralty Islands, 25 March 1944 US Army photo # SC 271592 from the Army Signal Corps Collection in the US National Archives.	US Naval History and Heritage Command
	91k	*USS Oyster Bay* (AGP-6) tending PT boats in Leyte Gulf October or November 1944. The boat approaching at the right is PT-357** US Navy photo # NH 44315 from the collections of the US Naval History and Heritage Command .	US Naval History and Heritage Command
	342k	A Japanese Kamikaze plane, shot down by *USS Oyster Bay* (AGP-6) crashes in the water close aboard an LST. The tenders USS Oyster Bay (AGP-6) and USS Hilo (AGP-2) are at left, USS Orestes (AGP-10) center. This was the third plane shot down by Oyster Bay** on the morning of 24 November 1944. US Naval History and Heritage Command photo # 80-G-325823 from "At Close Quarters: PT Boats on the United States Navy" by Captain Robert J. Bulkley, Jr. USNR (Ret.)	Robert Hurst
	78k	*USS Oyster Bay* (AGP-6)** anchored in Leyte Gulf December 1944 with PT boats alongside. US National Archives photo # 80-G-472496, a US Navy photo now in the collections of the National Archives.	US Naval History and Heritage Command
	178k	*USS Oyster Bay* (AGP-6)** anchored in Leyte Gulf December 1944 with PT boats alongside. US Navy photo	Carl Musselman, courtesy Margaret Sunderman in honor of her husband, David Sunderman USS Oyster Bay
09432813	160k	Various images of *USS Oyster Bay* (AGP-6)** 09432813 - Forward Dual Twin 40mm Bofors 09432814 - Forward-Port Twin 40mm Bofors and 5" Gun Turret 09432815 - Aft-Port Twin 40mm Bofors looking Aft along the Port Side 09432816 - Aft Stbd Twin 40mm Bofors looking Aft along the Stbd Side 09432817 - Main Mast and Crane looking aft along the Port Side. 09432818 - Amidships looking to Stbd between the forward superstructure and the stack. A compass/binnacle is visible in the right side of the frame. 09432819 - Amidships looking to Port, and Aft, between the forward superstructure and the stack. Outboard is a small boat boom A-Frame support, a canvas-covered cable reel, and the Aft-Port 40mm Bofors Sponson.	Carl Musselman, via William Robertson, MoMM 2/c USS Oyster Bay, from the collection of CDR. Walter W. Holroyd USS Oyster Bay, WWII CO, courtesy Mrs Walter Holroyd.
09432814	160k
09432815	216k
09432816	208k
09432817	176k
09432818	154k
09432819	177k
	113k	*USS Oyster Bay* (AVP-28)** photographed by the San Francisco Naval Shipyard, 3 September 1957, after being reactivated for transfer to Italy as the tender Pietro Cavezzale (A5301). Modifications for Italy included a full-size crane and an armament reduced to one 3"/50 gun. US National Archives, RG-19-LCM, photo # 80-G-1024168, a US Navy Bureau of Ships photo now in the collections of the US National Archives.	Robert Hurst

USS Oyster Bay (AGP-6) Diorama (1/350 Scale Model) by Carl Musselman *USS Oyster Bay* (AVP-28)** and Motor Torpedo Boat Squadron 33 at Leyte Gulf in November 1944

Pietro Cavezzale (A5301)
	42k	Ex-*USS Oyster Bay* (AVP-28)** in Italian service as Pietro Cavezzale (A5301) underway, date and location unknown.	Hazegray & Underway
	115k	Pietro Cavezzale (A5301) underway, circa 1958, location unknown. Official Italian Navy photo from "Jane's Fighting Ships, 1958-59".	Robert Hurst
	70k	Pietro Cavezzale (A5301) at anchor, circa 1960s, location unknown. Official Italian Navy photo from "Jane's Fighting Ships, 1967-1968".	Mike Green
	37k	Pietro Cavezzale (A5301) underway, circa 1968, location unknown.	Robert Hurst
	232k	Pietro Cavezzale (A5301) entering the port of Genoa, Italy, 2 February 1973.	Photo by Carlo Martinelli, Genoa, Italy
	39k	Pietro Cavezzale (A5301) underway, near the end of her service life.	Hazegray & Underway

For more information about USS Oyster Bay see;
Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships
Barnegat Class Seaplane Tenders
Profile and Sky Views - Barnegat Class Small Seaplane Tenders -Lake Washington Shipyard, Houghton, WA.

Commanding Officers
01	LCDR. Holroyd, Walter William, USNR	17 November 1943 - 29 March 1946


Courtesy Wolfgang Hechler, Ron Reeves and R. A. Moody

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

Back To The Navsource Photo Archives Main Page

Back To the Service Ship Type Index

Back To The Small Seaplane Tender (AVP) Photo Index

Back To The Motor Torpedo Boat Tender (AGP) Photo Index

Comments, Suggestions, E-mail Webmaster.

This page is created and maintained by Gary P. Priolo

Last Updated 17 September 2021