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USS Hulbert (DD-342/AVD-6/APD-28)

Please see below for item level images and donated collections containing photographs of USS Hulbert (DD-342/AVD-6/APD-28)

USS Hulbert (DD-342) was launched by Norfolk Navy Yard, Portsmouth, Va., 28 June 1918; sponsored by Mrs. V. C. Hulbert, widow of Lieutenant Hulbert; and commissioned 27 October 1920, Lt. S. A. Maher in command.

Following shakedown training out of Norfolk, USS Hulbert (DD-342) took part in destroyer maneuvers in the Atlantic until June 1921, when she assisted in the famous ordnance tests on obsolete American and captured German ships. For the next year, the ship operated out of Newport with other destroyers. USS Hulbert (DD-342) sailed 20 June 1922 for duty on the Asiatic Station, steaming via the Mediterranean and Ceylon to Chefoo, China, 26 August. The ship patrolled Chinese and Philippine waters in the year that followed, protecting American interests during the raging Chinese Civil War.

USS Hulbert (DD-342) was converted to a seaplane tender 1939-1940, recommissioning at New York Navy Yard as AVP-6 on 2 August 1940. She arrived San Diego 24 August via Guantanamo Bay and the Canal Zone, and began servicing Patrol Wing 1 on operations off the West Coast, helping to perfect America's seaplane reconnaissance capability. USS Hulbert (AVD-6) sailed 8 May 1941 for Pearl Harbor, where she became headquarters ship for the seaplane wing and continued servicing and repairing her planes.

On the fateful morning of 7 December 1941, USS Hulbert (AVD-6) was moored at the Submarine Base, Pearl Harbor. After loading ammunition, she moved to Hilo 9 December to set up an advance base for the all-important patrol bombers. USS Hulbert (AVD-6) was also called upon to aid aircraft at sea, as on Christmas Day she repaired a seaplane at sea and then towed it for nearly 3 days when heavy seas prevented a safe tokeoff. The ship also made supply runs to Palmyra before moving north to Kodiak 6 June 1942.

The Japanese had occupied Kiska and Attu as part of the abortive Midway Offensive, and USS Hulbert (AVD-6) was assigned to tend the seaplanes of VP-43 during reconnaissance flights and bombing raids on those islands. She was again underway from Seattle 8 December 1942 for Kodiak where the veteran ship serviced patrol bombers during the first months of 1943. In May Hulbert moved to Amchitka, acting as communications ship during the recapture of Attu that spring. USS Hulbert (AVD-6)'s hull was seriously damaged and, after temporary repairs at Dutch Harbor, she arrived Seattle 30 August for a major overhaul.

The ship was reclassified DD-342 on 1 December 1943, and sailed 15 January 1944 to San Diego to take up new duties as an escort ship. For the remainder of the war USS Hulbert (DD-342) acted as plane guard and screen ship for dozens of new escort carriers as they made ready to join America's powerful striking fleet in the Far East. The ship also served as a maneuvering torpedo target during pilot training and rescued a dozen pilots during this period. After the war's end, USS Hulbert (DD-342) sailed 30 September, escorting carrier Ranger to the Canal Zone and arrived Philadelphia 17 October 1945. She decommissioned 2 November 1945.