- USS Duxbury Bay (AVP-38)
USS "Duxbury Bay" (AVP-38) was a "Barnegat" class small seaplane tender in the
United States Navy , named for abay on the coast ofMassachusetts . She was launched2 October 1944 byLake Washington Shipyard ,Houghton, Washington ; sponsored by Mrs. R. E. Torkelson; and commissioned31 December 1944, Commander F. N. House in command. She was named for a bay on the coast ofMassachusetts ."Duxbury Bay" sailed from
San Diego 12 March 1945 , called atPearl Harbor , and tended planes atEniwetok andUlithi before arriving atKerama Retto offOkinawa ,29 April . She supported theUS Third Fleet through service asseadrome control tender, mail ship, movie exchange, and gasoline supply ship for small craft until the end of the war. "Duxbury Bay" served in the Far East tending patrol squadrons atShanghai and Tsingtao,China ;Jinsen, Korea ; andHong Kong , British Crown Colony, until returning toSan Francisco 20 October 1946 ."Duxbury Bay" had two more tours of duty in the Far East, from
25 February to8 September 1947 and from2 February to27 July 1948 . During the first she operated out ofYokosuka and Okinawa; during the second she tended planes patrolling over Chinese territory during the expansion ofCommunist control.Sailing from
Long Beach, California ,17 March 1949 , "Duxbury Bay" headed west on the first leg of a round-the-world cruise. She spent one month asflagship for Commander,Persian Gulf , a foretaste of her future duty, then sailed on to arrive atNorfolk, Virginia 3 July . Between29 October and21 November she operated asseaplane base at Halifax, Nova Scotia, during cold-weather exercises.Between
4 January 1950 and early1966 , "Duxbury Bay" served 15 tours of duty in the Persian Gulf, theArabian Sea , and theIndian Ocean as flagship for Commander,United States Middle East Force . On average, she performed one cruise per year, based inBahrain , spending the intervening periods in upkeep at her home port of Norfolk and undergoing refresher training at Guantanamo Bay. During most of this period theMiddle East flagship duty rotated between three AVPs, all eventually painted white and specially fitted for the purpose: "Duxbury Bay", USS|Greenwich Bay|AVP-41, and USS|Valcour|AVP-55.Her service was highlighted by a number of important diplomatic missions in this critical area. During her
1951 tour, her crew members served on security patrol and as messengers for theSoutheast Asia Treaty Conference atCeylon at which Commander, Middle East Force, represented theUnited States Department of Defense . She was visited byEmperor Haile Selassie in February1953 and transported him toFrench Somaliland . Homeward bound during her1954 -1955 tour, she sailed by way ofMombasa ,Kenya ;Durban ,Union of South Africa ; andRio de Janeiro ,Brazil , for good will visits."Duxbury Bay" sailed from Norfolk
3 October 1956 headed for her regular assignment when theSuez Crisis broke out. With thecanal blocked, she was stationed on patrol off the eastern end ofCrete assisting in the operation ofSouda Bay airfield for aircraft of theUnited Nations Emergency Force. She also carriedunderwater demolition team s toSaros Bay ,Turkey , for survey operations in February1957 before returning to Norfolk11 March 1957. During her next cruise, in January1958 she joined in flood relief at Ceylon.She paid a special call to
Karachi in December1959 on the occasion of the visit ofUS President Dwight D. Eisenhower toIndia andPakistan .During May
1963 "Duxbury Bay" participated inProject Mercury as a recovery ship."Duxbury Bay" was decommissioned in April
1966 , only a few months after returning from her last deployment. She was sold for scrap in July1967 .References
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