USS Tangier, first of a class of three 11,760-ton seaplane tenders, was launched at Oakland, California, in 1939 as the merchant ship Sea Arrow. Taken over by the Navy in 1940, she remained at her builders' for conversion work and went into full commission in August 1941. Tangier went to Pearl Harbor in November and was employed supporting the expanded force of patrol seaplanes based there during a time of increasing tensions with Japan. She was present during the 7 December 1941 air raid on Pearl Harbor and was slightly damaged when a Japanese bomb exploded nearby.
About a week later, Tangier was sent toward Wake Island with supplies for its Marine garrison, but was recalled when Wake was captured by Japanese forces on 23 December. In February 1942, the tender steamed to the south Pacific, where she stayed until June, maintaining seaplane patrols out of Noumea, New Caledonia. Her planes played a supporting role in the May 1942 Battle of the Coral Sea.
Following a west coast overhaul, Tangier again was based in the south Pacific in February-August 1943, then served on transport duty between the war zone and the United States. From March 1944 until June 1945, the ship's base moved steadily forward from Australia to the Philippines as her seaplanes assisted the Seventh Fleet and General MacArthur's forces during their advance across New Guinea and northwards.
Tangier was receiving the attentions of a stateside shipyard when the Pacific War ended in August 1945, but was sent back to the Far East to support occupation efforts from October 1945 into March 1946. She then made the long trip back to the U.S., passing through the Panama Canal and arriving at Norfolk, Virginia, in late April. The next month, she began deactivation at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Tangier decommissioned there in February 1947 and remained in the Atlantic Reserve Fleet until 1961. In November of that year, she was sold for scrapping.
This page features or provides links to all the views we have concerning USS Tangier.
For views related to Tangier during the Pearl Harbor
Raid, see:
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 #: NH 50131 USS Tangier (AV-8) Off Mare Island, California, circa August 1941. Official U.S. Navy Photograph, from the collections of the Naval Historical Center. Online Image: 76KB; 740 x 605 pixels |
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Photo #: 19-N-25360 USS Tangier (AV-8) Anchored off Mare Island, California, circa August 1941. Photograph from the Bureau of Ships Collection in the U.S. National Archives. Online Image: 71KB; 740 x 610 pixels Reproductions of this image may also be available through the National Archives photographic reproduction system. |
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Photo #: 19-N-25362 USS Tangier (AV-8) Anchored off Mare Island, California, circa August 1941. Note OS2U seaplanes on deck, aft. Photograph from the Bureau of Ships Collection in the U.S. National Archives. Online Image: 101KB; 740 x 615 pixels Reproductions of this image may also be available through the National Archives photographic reproduction system. |
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Photo #: NH 97470 USS Tangier (AV-8) Anchored at Noumea, New Caledonia, 14 April 1942. She has a PBY-5 and an OS2U-2 on the seaplane deck, aft. Official U.S. Navy Photograph, from the collections of the Naval Historical Center. Online Image: 79KB; 740 x 600 pixels |
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Photo #: NH 50132 USS Tangier (AV-8) In the south Pacific area, July 1944. Official U.S. Navy Photograph, from the collections of the Naval Historical Center. Online Image: 78KB; 740 x 470 pixels |
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Photo #: NH 97471 USS Tangier (AV-8) Anchored in the south Pacific area, July 1944. Note PBY patrol seaplane flying past, beyond her bow. Official U.S. Navy Photograph, from the collections of the Naval Historical Center. Online Image: 114KB; 740 x 610 pixels |
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Photo #: 80-G-1022364 USS Currituck (AV-7) (upper), and USS Tangier (AV-8) (lower) Moored at Morotai in October 1944, while supporting seaplane operations there in connection with the Leyte invasion. Note aircraft rescue boats tied up alongside Tangier, and OS2U floatplanes on both ships' seaplane decks. Official U.S. Navy Photograph, now in the collections of the National Archives. Online Image: 182KB; 740 x 605 pixels Reproductions of this image may also be available through the National Archives photographic reproduction system. |
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Photo #: 80-G-237133 USS Tangier (AV-8) Liberty party from Tangier on Los Negros Island, Admiralties, on 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. Official U.S. Navy Photograph, now in the collections of the National Archives. Online Image: 167KB; 740 x 575 pixels Reproductions of this image may also be available through the National Archives photographic reproduction system. |
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Photo #: 80-G-266022 USS Tangier (AV-8) (center), and USS Coos Bay (AVP-25) (left) Seen from USS Chandeleur (AV-10) as she steams out of Ominato, Japan, 16 October 1945. Official U.S. Navy Photograph, now in the collections of the National Archives. Online Image: 90KB; 740 x 610 pixels Reproductions of this image may also be available through the National Archives photographic reproduction system. |
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For views related to Tangier during the Pearl Harbor
Raid, see:
The following photograph was taken from USS Tangier (AV-8), but does not show any of her structure:
If you want higher resolution reproductions than the digital images presented here, see: "How to Obtain Photographic Reproductions." |
Page made 6 January 2001
New image added 17 September 2004