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DEPARTMENT OF THE NAVY -- NAVAL HISTORICAL CENTER
805 KIDDER BREESE SE -- WASHINGTON NAVY YARD
WASHINGTON DC 20374-5060

Photo # NH 69826:  USS Duxbury Bay in 1965.

Online Library of Selected Images:
-- U.S. NAVY SHIPS --

USS Duxbury Bay (AVP-38), 1944-1967

USS Duxbury Bay, a 1,766-ton Barnegat class small seaplane tender, was built at Houghton, Washington, and was commissioned in December 1944. Departing the West Coast in March 1945, she called at Pearl Harbor and tended seaplanes at Eniwetok and Ulithi before arriving at Kerama Retto near Okinawa in April. For the remainder of the war she served the Third Fleet as seadrome control tender, mail ship, movie exchange, and gasoline supply ship for small craft.

After the end of the war, Duxbury Bay moved to the China Coast and tended patrol squadrons at Shanghai and Tsingtao, China; Jinsen, Korea; and Hong Kong until returning to San Francisco in October 1946. She performed two more tours in the Far East, one in 1947 and one in 1948. In March 1949 she sailed from Long Beach, Calif., on a round-the-world cruise during which she spent a month as flagship for Commander, Persian Gulf. She arrived at Norfolk in July 1949 and in November participated in cold weather exercises at Halifax, Nova Scotia.

Between January 1950 and early 1966 Duxbury Bay performed 15 tours of duty in the Persian Gulf, the Arabian Sea, and the Indian Ocean as flagship for Commander, Middle East Force. On average, she performed one cruise per year, spending the intervening periods in upkeep at her home port of Norfolk and undergoing refresher training at Guantanamo Bay. During most of this period the Middle East flagship duty rotated between three AVPs, all eventually painted white and specially fitted for the purpose: Duxbury Bay, Greenwich Bay (AVP-41), and Valcour (AVP-55).

This largely diplomatic and ceremonial duty had high points, such as a visit to Duxbury Bay in 1953 by Emperor Haile Selassie of Ethiopia. It also had breaks in the routine, such as acting as a contingent recovery ship for Project Mercury in May 1963. For the most part, however, it involved incessent shuttling between numerous ports in this large region broken by periods inport at her base at Bahrain.

Duxbury Bay was decommissioned in April 1966, only a few months after returning from her last deployment. She was sold for scrap in July 1967.

This page features, or provides links to, all our views of USS Duxbury Bay.

For additional photographs related to USS Duxbury Bay, see:

  • USS Duxbury Bay (AVP-38) -- Miscellaneous Views.


    If you want higher resolution reproductions than the digital images presented here, see: "How to Obtain Photographic Reproductions."

    Click on the small photograph to prompt a larger view of the same image.

    Photo #: 19-N-82815

    USS Duxbury Bay (AVP-38)


    Photographed off the Lake Washington Shipyards, Houghton, Washington, on 28 December 1944.
    Her camouflage is Measure 33 Design 1F.

    Photograph from the Bureau of Ships Collection in the U.S. National Archives.

    Online Image: 73KB; 740 x 625 pixels

    Reproductions of this image may also be available through the National Archives photographic reproduction system.

     
    Photo #: 19-N-82816

    USS Duxbury Bay (AVP-38)


    Photographed off the Lake Washington Shipyards, Houghton, Washington, on 28 December 1944.
    Her camouflage is Measure 33 Design 1F.

    Photograph from the Bureau of Ships Collection in the U.S. National Archives.

    Online Image: 82KB; 740 x 610 pixels

    Reproductions of this image may also be available through the National Archives photographic reproduction system.

     
    Photo #: 19-N-82817

    USS Duxbury Bay (AVP-38)


    Photographed off the Lake Washington Shipyards, Houghton, Washington, on 28 December 1944.
    Her camouflage is Measure 33 Design 1F.

    Photograph from the Bureau of Ships Collection in the U.S. National Archives.

    Online Image: 68KB; 740 x 625 pixels

    Reproductions of this image may also be available through the National Archives photographic reproduction system.

     
    Photo #: NH 97626

    USS Duxbury Bay (AVP-38)


    Photographed during the decade following World War II.
    She lost her 5"/38 gun in around 1956.

    U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.

    Online Image: 78KB; 740 x 615 pixels

     
    Photo #: NH 97627

    USS Duxbury Bay (AVP-38)


    Photographed during the decade following World War II.
    She lost her 5"/38 gun in around 1956.

    U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.

    Online Image: 107KB; 740 x 635 pixels

     
    Photo #: NH 97628

    USS Duxbury Bay (AVP-38)


    Photographed in Hampton Roads, Virginia, on 3 October 1957.

    U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.

    Online Image: 85KB; 740 x 620 pixels

     
    Photo #: NH 95370

    USS Duxbury Bay (AVP-38)


    Photographed during the late 1950s.

    U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.

    Online Image: 79KB; 740 x 615 pixels

     
    Photo #: NH 97630

    USS Duxbury Bay (AVP-38)


    Photographed ca. 1959 as Middle East Force flagship.
    She still displays the naval aviation star on her bow.

    U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.

    Online Image: 76KB; 740 x 625 pixels

     
    Photo #: NH 102678

    USS Duxbury Bay (AVP-38)


    Photographed in the Shatt-al-Arab off Basra, Iraq, during her visit there on 12-14 December 1961 as Middle East Force flagship.

    U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.

    Online Image: 96KB; 740 x 545 pixels

     
    Photo #: NH 97629

    USS Duxbury Bay (AVP-38)


    Photographed illuminated at night during a two-day visit to Basra, Iraq, as Middle East Force flagship.
    Her last two visits to Basra were on 6-8 December 1960 and 12-14 December 1961.

    U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.

    Online Image: 66KB; 740 x 610 pixels

     
    Photo #: NH 69826

    USS Duxbury Bay (AVP-38)


    Photographed ca. 1965 as Middle East Force flagship in her final configuration.
    She received a new mast and air search radar and a deck house extension during her last shipyard overhaul in the summer of 1962.

    U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.

    Online Image: 93KB; 740 x 620 pixels

     

    For additional photographs related to USS Duxbury Bay, see:

  • USS Duxbury Bay (AVP-38) -- Miscellaneous Views.


    In addition to the images presented above, the National Archives appears to hold other views of USS Duxbury Bay (AVP-38). The following list features some of these images:

    The images listed below are NOT in the Naval Historical Center's collections.
    DO NOT try to obtain them using the procedures described in our page "How to Obtain Photographic Reproductions".



  • Photo #: USN 1043962
    Port quarter distant view of USS Duxbury Bay (AVP-38) heading to sea from Guantanamo Bay on 9 August 1959. The photo was taken by C. R. Pecrick of USS Pocono (AGC-16).

  • Photo #: USN 1079241
    Port bow view of USS Duxbury Bay (AVP-38) moored in Aden harbor in April 1963. Her configuration is as in NH 69826, above.

  • Photo #: USN 1079243
    Starboard bow view of USS Duxbury Bay (AVP-38) at anchor in April 1963. USN 1079242 is a similar view.

  • Photo #: USN 1079244
    Starboard broadside view of USS Duxbury Bay (AVP-38) underway from Sitra to Jufair in April 1963. USN 1079246 is a similar view.

  • Photo #: USN 1079245
    Starboard bow view of USS Duxbury Bay (AVP-38) underway from Sitra to Jufair in April 1963.

  • Photo #: USN 1079248
    Port bow view of USS Duxbury Bay (AVP-38) underway from Sitra to Jufair in April 1963. USN 1079247 is a similar view.

    Reproductions of these images should be available through the National Archives photographic reproduction system for pictures not held by the Naval Historical Center.

    The images listed in this box are NOT in the Naval Historical Center's collections. DO NOT try to obtain them using the procedures described in our page "How to Obtain Photographic Reproductions".


  • If you want higher resolution reproductions than the digital images presented here, see: "How to Obtain Photographic Reproductions."


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    Page made 1 July 2001
    Link added 31 July 2002