USS San Pablo, a 1,760-ton small seaplane tender, was built at Seattle, Washington, and was commissioned in March 1943. In June 1943 she departed the West Coast for the Southwest Pacific. Beginning at Noumea, she helped establish a series of advanced seaplane bases which supported operations in New Guinea and adjacent islands. She remained continuously active in this theater until November 1944, when she moved to the Philippines to support operations around Leyte. Experiencing numerous kamakaze attacks on nearby ships during December, she remained in the Philippine theater through the end of the war. She returned to Bremerton, Washington, in November 1945 and was decommissioned and placed in reserve in January 1947.
San Pablo was one of two AVPs reactivated in September 1948 for service as hydrographic survey ships. She and her sister Rehoboth (AVP-50) were converted during reactivation but were only reclassified AGS-30 and AGS-50 respectively in August 1949. Between early 1949 and late 1968 she alternated between the North Atlantic and the Caribbean studying a wide range of oceanographic topics including salinity, sound reflectivity, and bottom profile mapping. She was decommissioned in May 1969 and sold for scrap in September 1971.
This page features all our views of USS San Pablo.
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-42493 USS San Pablo (AVP-30) Photographed by her builder near Seattle, Washington, on 9 March 1943, a few days before her commissioning. Photograph from the Bureau of Ships Collection in the U.S. National Archives. Online Image: 91KB; 740 x 585 pixels Reproductions of this image may also be available through the National Archives photographic reproduction system. |
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Photo #: 19-N-42494 USS San Pablo (AVP-30) Photographed by her builder near Seattle, Washington, on 9 March 1943, a few days before her commissioning. Photograph from the Bureau of Ships Collection in the U.S. National Archives. Online Image: 94KB; 740 x 585 pixels Reproductions of this image may also be available through the National Archives photographic reproduction system. |
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Photo #: 80-G-413565 USS Rehoboth (AVP-50) Moored with USS San Pablo (AVP-30) at Ponta Delgada, Sao Miguel Island, Azores, on 22 February 1949. Both had been reactivated as surveying ships in 1948 although they retained their AVP classifications until August 1949. Official U.S. Navy Photograph, now in the collections of the National Archives. Online Image: 97KB; 740 x 605 pixels Reproductions of this image may also be available through the National Archives photographic reproduction system. |
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Photo #: NH 97534 USS San Pablo (AGS-30) At sea off Bermuda on 16 January 1962. Photographed by PH2 Warren. U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph. Online Image: 90KB; 740 x 615 pixels |
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Photo #: NH 97535-KN (Color) USS San Pablo (AGS-30) Photographed circa 1967. U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph. Online Image: 106KB; 740 x 600 pixels |
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Photo #: NH 65724-KN (Color) Insignia: USS San Pablo (AGS-30) This emblem was received sometime during the 1950s. It was drawn by Przybylek. The figure representing the ship is holding a bathythermograph in its left hand and mapping the ocean bottom with its feet. U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph. Online Image: 104KB; 630 x 765 pixels |
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In addition to the images presented above, the National Archives appears to hold other views of USS San Pablo (AVP-30, later AGS-30). 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".
Bow view of USS San Pablo (AVP-30) at Seattle, Washington, on 3 March 1943. Port bow view of USS San Pablo (AVP-30) pierside at the Whidbey Island Naval Air Station, Washington, in April 1943. Starboard quarter view of USS San Pablo (AGS-30) underway, circa the 1950s. She retains a main armament of 2-5"/38 guns forward in this photo from the collection of Ted Stone. Starboard bow view of USS San Pablo (AGS-30) alongside a pier at the Philadelphia Navy Yard in February 1963. 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." |
Page made 4 March 2001
New images added 11 March 2001