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USS Haven (AH-12)

Please see below for item level images and donated collections containing photographs of USS Haven (AH-12)

Marine Hawk was laid down on 1 July 1943 at Chester, Pa., by Sun Shipbuilding & Dry Dock Corp., under a Maritime Commission contract (M.C. Hull 743); launched on 24 June 1944; sponsored by Mrs. E. Lang; renamed Haven and designated as a hospital ship, AH-12, acquired and placed in service 15-19 June 1944 for transportation to her conversion yard, Todd-Erie Shipyard, Brooklyn. Upon completion of her conversion to Navy use, she was commissioned on 5 May 1945, Capt. Theodore T. Patterson in command.

Following shakedown training, the hospital ship sailed on 14 June 1945 via the Panama Canal for the Pacific Theater, where the war was reaching its climax. Reaching Pearl Harbor on 6 July the ship brought patients on board for return to San Francisco, California. After returning to the Territory of Hawaii on 11 August, just prior to the Japanese surrender, USS Haven (AH-12) sailed to Okinawa and Nagasaki.

At San Francisco, USS Haven (AH-12) took on board radiological equipment and embarked scientific researchers in preparation for the forthcoming atomic tests in the Pacific, Operation Crossroads. She sailed on 29 May 1946 for Pearl Harbor and arrived at Bikini Atoll on 12 June, operating temporarily as APH-112. USS Haven (AH-12) departed on 10 October 1946 for Pearl Harbor and the United States, and upon her arrival and decontamination was assigned once again to transport troops from the Pacific outposts to California as AH-12. This important duty occupied her until February 1947, when she reported to San Diego and was decommissioned on 1 July. USS Haven (AH-12) entered the Pacific Reserve Fleet, San Diego group.

USS Haven (AH-12) sailed on 25 September via Pearl Harbor for Inchon, Korea, where she cared for casualties until 6 January 1951, when the changing tide of war forced her to move further south. She steamed via Pusan to Sasebo, Japan. She began her second tour of Korean duty on 7 January 1952, and operated off Inchon and Pusan during the months that followed, receiving many of her patients by helicopter directly from the front lines. USS Haven (AH-12) sailed again for the United States on 16 September 1952, and, after the installation of a new flight deck to facilitate helicopter evacuation of patients, once more steamed out of San Diego on 24 January 1953. USS Haven (AH-12) took part in fleet maneuvers and provided hospital services for sailors through 1955 and 1956 and was decommissioned at Long Beach on 30 June 1957.  Placed in an "In Reserve, In Service" status, she remained moored at Long Beach, providing medical services to the Pacific Fleet, until 1 March 1967 when she was stricken from the Naval Vessel Register.

For a complete history of USS Haven (AH-12) please see its DANFS page.