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USS Gardiners Bay (AVP-39)

Please see below for item level images and donated collections containing photographs of USS Gardiners Bay (AVP-39)

USS Gardiners Bay (AVP-39) was launched 2 December 1944 at Houghton, Wash., by the Lake Washington Shipyard; sponsored by Mrs. George L. Richard; and commissioned at the Puget Sound Navy Yard, Bremerton, Wash., on 11 February 1945, Cmdr. Carlton C. Lucas in command.

USS Gardiners Bay (AVP-39) departed Seattle 1 March 1945 for shakedown out of San Diego until 20 April. She then proceeded, via Pearl Harbor, to Eniwetok in the Marshalls to tend aircraft of Patrol Bombing Squadron (VPB) 19 in a 10-day training period, thence via Saipan and Guam in the Marianas to Kerama Retto, Okinawa, where USS Gardiners Bay (AVP-39) arrived on 7 June with provisions and cargo for Fleet Air Wing (FAW) 1. She was then stationed at Nagoya, Japan, as tender for courier and transient seaplanes, departing on 29 January 1946 for Shanghai, China. USS Gardiners Bay (AVP-39) departed Hong Kong 9 August 1946, proceeding via Yokosuka, the Marianas, the Marshalls and Pearl Harbor to the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard where she arrived on 28 November 1946 for overhaul.

After Fleet exercises along the western seaboard, USS Gardiners Bay (AVP-39) departed San Diego on 7 April 1947 for tender duties in the Carolines, Marianas, Okinawa, Tsingtao and Yokosuka. She returned to Seattle on 4 October 1947; made a cruise to Eniwetok in the Marshalls (15 January-5 June 1948) ; and another Far East cruise (15 March-14 December 1949) that included tender operations at Guam, Yokohama, Sasebo, Okinawa and Manila. USS Gardiners Bay (AVP-39) departed San Diego 27 June 1950 for the first of four long tours supporting United Nations forces in Korea. She established a seadrome at Iwakuni, tending 17 Mariners and 8 Royal Air Force Sunderland flying boats for search and reconnaissance in the Tsushima Strait and Yellow Sea area, shifting in September 1950 to Inchon, Korea. 

On her second Korean tour (12 September 1951-9 April 1952) USS Gardiners Bay (AVP-39) supported Far East aviation patrol units at Okinawa; Iwakuni, Japan; and Manila, Philippine Islands. After hostilities ended in Korea, USS Gardiners Bay (AVP-39) made three cruises to support 7th Fleet operations in the Pacific (7 July - 22 November 1954), (28 August 1956 -14 February 1957, and (10 June -16 November 1957). These cruises were largely spent on seaplane tending stations at Okinawa; Manila; and in the Japanese ports of Iwakuni, Sasebo, and Yokohama. She returned from her last cruise to Alameda, Calif. 16 November 1957.

Decommissioned on 1 February 1958, USS Gardiners Bay (AVP-39) was transferred to Norway on 17 May 1958 under the Military Assistance Program. 

For a complete history of USS Gardiners Bay (AVP-39) please see its DANFS page.