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NavSource Online: Service Ship Photo Archive

USS Pocomoke (AV-9)

International Radio Call Sign:
November - Alpha - November - Foxtrot
 NANF
Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons


Precedence of awards is from top to bottom, left to right
Top Row - American Defense Service Medal (with "A" device) - American Campaign Medal
Bottom Row - Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal (3) - World War II Victory Medal - Philippines Liberation Medal
Pocomoke Class Seaplane Tender:
  • Laid down, 14 August 1939, as SS Exchequer, a Maritime Commission type (C3) hull under Maritime Commission contract (MC hull 64) at Ingalls Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Co., Pascagoula, MS.
  • Launched, 8 June 1940
  • Acquired by the US Navy, 16 October 1940
  • Commissioned USS Pocomoke (AV-9), 18 July 1941, CDR. John D. Price, in command
  • During World War II USS Pocomoke was assigned to the Asiatic-Pacific Theater and participated in the following campaigns:

    Asiatic-Pacific Campaigns
    Campaign and Dates Campaign and Dates
    Treasury-Bougainville operation
    Supporting air actions, 27 October 1943 to 1 May 1944     		Western Caroline Islands operation
    Capture and occupation of southern Palau Islands, 6 September to 14 October 1944
    Marianas operation
    Capture and occupation of Saipan, 17 June to 10 August 1944     		 

  • Decommissioned, 10 July 1946, at Philadelphia, PA.
  • Laid up in the Atlantic Reserve Fleet, Philadelphia Group
  • Struck from the Naval Register, 1 June 1961
  • USS Pocomoke earned three battle stars for World War II Service
  • Final Disposition, sold for scrapping, 12 December 1961, to Union Minerals and Alloys Corp
    Specifications:
    Displacement 8,950 t.(lt) 14,129 t.(fl)
    Length 492'
    Beam 69' 6"
    Draft 21' 2"
    Speed 18.4 kts. (trial)
    Complement (Total Accommodations)
    Officers - 120
    Enlisted - 955
    Largest Boom Capacity 22 t.
    Armament
    one single 5"/38 cal dual purpose gun mounts
    four single 3"/50 cal dual purpose gun mounts
    four twin 40mm AA gun mounts
    Fuel Capacities
    NSFO - 8,865 Bbls
    Diesel - 1,650 Bbls
    Gasoline - 291,920 Gals
    Propulsion
    one General Electric turbine
    two Foster and Wheeler D-type boilers, 465psi 765°
    double General Electric Main Reduction Gear
    two turbo-drive 300Kw 120V/240V D.C.
    two Diesel-drive 500Kw 120V/240V D.C.
    single propeller, 8,500shp
    Click On Image
    For Full Size Image    		 Size Image Description Contributed
    By
    US Maritime Commission
    Pocomoke
    09410983    		 192k SS Exchequer ready to launch at Ingalls Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Co., Pascagoula, MS., 8 June 1940
    Ingalls Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Co. photo    		 Dale Hargrave
    Pocomoke
    09410984    		 221k The ships sponsor Mrs. Marian Barkley Truitt, wife of Maritime Commissioner Max O. Truitt. Christens SS Exchequer just prior to launching at Ingalls Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Co., Pascagoula, MS., 8 June 1940
    Ingalls Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Co. photo    		 Dale Hargrave
    Pocomoke
    09410985    		 226k SS Exchequer slides down the builder's ways, as she is launched, 8 June 1940, at Ingalls Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Co., Pascagoula, MS.
    Ingalls Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Co. photo    		 Dale Hargrave
    USS Pocomoke (AV-9)
    Pocomoke 91k Pocomoke (AV-9) still in a C3 conversion from SS Exchequer at a Tidewater Virginia yard in the second half of 1941.
    Photo by George Strock, Life Magazine. Used for educational and non-commercial purpose.    		 John Chiquoine
    Pocomoke 71k USS Pocomoke (AV-9) under way apparently during acceptance trials circa late 1940-early 1941. Note the absence of guns and the incomplete aft crane assembly.
    US Navy photo    		 Ron Titus
    Pocomoke 65k USS Pocomoke (AV-9) under way, date and location unknown.
    US Navy photo    		 Haze & Underway web site
    Pocomoke
    09410979    		 260k USS Pocomoke (AV-9), probably in Hampton Roads, getting underway after picking up her starboard anchor in March 1942.
    US National Archives photo # 80-G-1944, a US Navy photo now in the collections of the US National Archives    		 Rick Davis
    Pocomoke 200k Overhead view of USS Pocomoke (AV-9) under way, date and location unknown.
    US Naval History and Heritage Command Photo # NH 43513.    		 US Naval History and Heritage Command
    Pocomoke 38k USS Pocomoke (AV-9) lifting a P5 Mariner onto her maintenance deck
    US Navy photo    		 .
    Pocomoke 32k USS Pocomoke (AV-9) under way, date and location unknown.
    US Navy photo    		 Hyperwar US Navy in WWII
    Pocomoke 178k USS Pocomoke (AV-9) sailors work on a PB2Y that suffered an engine fire as the ship transports it back to the United States for repair in January of 1943.
    US National Archives Photo # 80-G-38573. A US Navy photo now in the collections of the US National Archives at NARA II, College Park, MD.    		 Tracy White
    Pocomoke
    09410980
    80-G-385666    		 290k USS Pocomoke (AV-9) loading vehicles in January 1943 at Pearl Harbor for delivery to the Fiji Islands.
    US National Archives photo # 80-G-385666 and 80-G-385667, US Navy photos now in the collections of the US National Archives    		 Rick Davis
    Pocomoke
    09410981
    80-G-385667    		 338k
    Pocomoke 58k USS Pocomoke (AV-9) under way, 3 February 1943, location unknown. Note that her maintenance deck is crowded with single engine fighters.
    US Navy photo    		 Joe Radigan MACM USN Ret.
    Pocomoke 140k USS Pocomoke (AV-9)'s bow digs into the Pacific Ocean as she heads west from San Diego to Pearl Harbor in late February of 1943.
    US National Archives Photo # 80-G-38599. A US Navy photo now in the collections of the US National Archives at NARA II, College Park, MD.    		 Tracy White
    Pocomoke 159k USS Pocomoke (AV-9) at anchor, date and location unknown.
    US Naval History and Heritage Command Photo # NH 43514.    		 US Naval History and Heritage Command
    Pocomoke 57k USS Pocomoke (AV-9) (stern view) at anchor off San Francisco, 6 May 1943.
    Navy Yard Mare Island photo # 3305-43.    		 Darryl Baker
    Pocomoke 76k USS Pocomoke (AV-9) (broadside view) at anchor off San Francisco, 6 May 1943.
    Navy Yard Mare Island photo # 3309-43.    		 Darryl Baker
    Pocomoke 63k USS Pocomoke (AV-9) (bows on view) at anchor off San Francisco, 6 May 1943.
    Navy Yard Mare Island photo # 3593-43.    		 Darryl Baker
    Pocomoke 95k USS Pocomoke (AV-9) at anchor off San Francisco, 6 May 1943.
    US Navy photo from the collections of the US Navy History and Heritage Command    		 Robert Hurst
    Pocomoke
    09410982    		 245k USS Pocomoke (AV-9) loading Fleet Air Photograph Squadron 3 equipment and vehicles, 1 October 1943, at Pearl Harbor for delivery to Canton Island.
    US National Archives photo # 80-G-200973, a US Navy photo now in the collections of the US National Archives    		 Rick Davis
    Pocomoke 192k USS Pocomoke (AV-9) in convoy enroute from Espiritu Santo, New Hebrides, for Kwajalein to stage for the Saipan operation in June 1944. Pocomoke provided patrol seaplane support for the operation.
    US National Archives Photo # 80-G-238420, a US Navy photo now in the collections of the US Naval History and Heritage Command.    		 US Naval History and Heritage Command
    Pocomoke 124k Amidship looking aft plan view of USS Pocomoke (AV-9) at Navy Yard Mare Island, 17 January 1945. The yard dredge Endicott (YM-12) is aft of Pocomoke while a self-propelled covered lighter (possibly one of the 220 footers which were numbered YF-1054 to YF-1078) is at the opposite side of the next pier. The barracks ship YHB-2 (ex Port of Stockton) is in the far background.
    Navy Yard Mare Island photo # 443-45.    		 Darryl Baker
    Pocomoke 164k Amidship looking forward plan view of USS Pocomoke (AV-9) at Navy Yard Mare Island, 17 January 1945. Pocomoke was in overhaul at Mare Island from 16 December 1944 to 22 January 1945.
    Navy Yard Mare Island photo # 446-45.    		 Darryl Baker
    Pocomoke 149k USS Pocomoke (AV-9) moored in the Atlantic Reserve Fleet, Philadelphia, PA., 1954. USS Prince William (CVE-31) is alongside to port and along the basin wall.
    Photo by Hank Walker, 1954. For the Life magazine archives, used for educational and non-commercial purpose.    		 John Chiquoine
    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
    Merchant Service USA American Export Lines
    Pocomoke 60k American Export Line's SS Exchequer under way, circa 1960, location unknown. Robert Hurst
    USS Pocomoke (AV-9)
    Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships (DANFS)
    Commanding Officers
    01CDR. Price, John Dale, USN :VADM28 April 1941 - 8 July 1941
    02CAPT. Sprague, Thomas Lamison, USN (USNA 1918) :VADM8 July 1941 - 9 February 1942
    03CDR. Hundt, Lester Thomas, USN :RADM9 February 1942 - 26 April 1942
    04CAPT. Kindell, Nolan Martin, USN (USNA 1921B) :RADM26 April 1942 - 12 May 1943
    05CAPT. Smiley, Curtis Stanton, (USNA 1923) :RADM12 May 1943 - 3 January 1944
    06CAPT. Weimer, Edward Loomis Bradley :RADM3 January 1944 - 7 May 1945
    07CAPT. Hammitt, Frank Monroe, USN (USNA 1927)7 May 1945 - ?
    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
    US Navy Patrol Squadrons - USS Pocomoke (AV-9)
    Photos from the Collection of Anthony Martiliano MoMM2/c USS Pocomoke
    MARAD Vessel History Database
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    This page is created and maintained by Gary P. Priolo
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    Last Updated 23 April 2021