Currituck (AV 7) - Naval Cruise Book

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History One of the Navy ' s most unusual auxiliaries, the CURRI- TUCK was built at the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard, with her keel laid in December of 1942. Named after Currituck Sound, near Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, the vessel is 540 feet long and 71 feet wide with two giant airplane cranes. She has many of the facilities of a large aircraft carrier, except that the tender uses the surrounding water to launch and recover her planes. Seaplanes are designed primarily for patrol and anti- submarine warfare, with Navy ships like the CURRITUCK equipped to repair and service as many as 18 long range, radar equipped aircraft. During the last half of 1944, the 14,000 ton vessel was the Flagship for the Commander Aircraft, Seventh Fleet, serving in the New Guinea area as a combination tender and troop transport. She soon established a reputation as the Navy ' s floating hotel after 1700 battle-weary GI ' s sampled the ship ' s excellent food and spacious quarters. On the morning of 14 November the ship was attacked by Jap fighters and her gunners succeeded in shooting down one plane. Later on, in the Lingayen invasion, she was perilled by a combination of Jap bombers, midget subs, and suicide swimmers. But her closest call came from three Japanese prisoners of war who were brought on board. A careful search by their sailor guards revealed that each man was concealing a deadly charge of explosive, enough to blow the gasoline laden ship sky high! Successfully weathering the Okinawan typhoon, the CURRITUCK completed its first and only war- time cruise by returning to the United States after sixteen months overseas. During the winter of 1946-47, the seaplane tender partici- pated in Operation High Jump, Rear Admiral Richard E. Byrd ' s second Antarctic expedition. She covered over three- quarters of the coastline of Antarctica, much of it uncharted territory, and continuously serviced three patrol bombers in the open sea. These hardy PBM ' s were used for photographic missions and the extreme cold necessitated a high degree of cooperation between ship and plane personnel. On her return from the scientific expedition, the CURRITUCK joined the Atlantic Reserve Fleet at the Philadelphia Naval Base on 30 April 1947, and was taken out of commission on 7 August 1947. With the outbreak of the Korean War, many ships of the reserve fleet were called back to active duty. The U.S.S. CURRITUCK (AV-7) was re-commissioned 1 August 1951, af the Philadelphia Naval Base.

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Former Captains And Execs CAPTAIN JOHN H. McELROY ; August l9U-n June 19i2 Captain John H. McElroy, our first skipper, brought the CURRITUCK out of mothballs and took command at the re-commissioning ceremonies, 1 August 1951. Captain Jack saw us through those difficult days of re-conditioning the CURRITUCK on our shakedown. He then led us skillfully through Operation Convex III and several lesser operations in the Caribbean. Captain McElroy is from Ala- bama and attended the Alabama Polytechnic Institute before entering the Navy. A member of the class of 1929 at the Naval Academy, he served in the following commands be- fore coming to the CURRITUCK. U.S.S. Cincinnati, U.S.S. Florida, VP 7, U.S.S. Lexington, VP 11, VD 2, VD 1, and the Bureau of Aeronautics. He has served as flight instructor at Pensacola, Chief of Staff, Fleet Air Wings Atlantic, and Director of Naval Photography. CAPTAIN HARVEY P. BURDEN 1} June 19 2-28 May I9i} Captain Harvey P. Burden was in command during the important operations, Mainbrace and Springboard, which brought the CURRITUCK to a high state of efficiency. Captain Burden was born in Texas, and is a member of the class of 1930 at the Naval Academy. He served aboard the U.S.S. Mississippi, and the U.S.S. Memphis, before be- coming a Naval aviator. In 1939, he took part in a forma- tion flight from San Diego to the Philippine Islands, an important Naval aviation first. His World War II years were divided between the U.S.S. Enterprise, and N.A.S. Corpus Christi, Texas. Between the end of World War II and the time he assumed command of the CURRITUCK, Captain Burden served as Executive Officer, Naval Air Technical Training Center, Norman, Oklahoma, until it was de-commissioned. Thence to Washington, D. C, with the Aeronautical Board and a year as Operations Officer, Staff of Commander Carrier Division 1. From ' 49 to ' 52, he was Commanding Officer, N.A.S. Birmingham, Ala., and a student at the Naval War College, Newport, R. I. COMMANDER WALTER S. REID Executive Officer I August 19U-2} April 19i2 Born in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, Cdr. Walter S. Reid was graduated from the U. S. Naval Academy with the class of 1937. He served aboard the U.S.S. Tuscaloosa, U.S.S. Wichita, and the U.S.S. Satterlee until 1940 when he en- tered flight training at Pensacola, Fla. During World War II, Cdr. Reid hunted subs with Black Cat Squadrons and was with HedRon 10 in Australia and the Admiralty Islands. Between the end of the war and his coming to the CURRI- TUCK, Cdr. Reid served at the Naval Proving Ground, Dahlgren, Va., in Guam with VU 10, at the Air Command Staff College in Alabama, and with the Bureau of Aeronau- tics. In 1946, he helped established a record flight as one of the pilots of the Truculent Turtle a P2V which flew non-stop from Perth, Australia to Columbus, Ohio, a dis- tance of 11,236 miles in 55 hours, 17 minutes. COMMANDER FRANK D. HEYER Executive Officer 2) April 1952-6 October 195} Cdr. Frank D, Heyer was born in Newark, N. J., and after attending Newark Acaderriiy he entered Rutgers University and was graduated in 1937. He then joined the Naval Aviation Program and in late 1938 was assigned to VP 11 at Pearl Harbor, and was stationed there until the Japanese attack. During World War II, Cdr. Heyer served with VP 92, N.A.S. Sanford, Florida, and N.A.S. Beaufort, South Carolina. In May 1945, he was sent to VPB 152 based on the Pelelieu Islands and Saipan. Since May 1946, he has served at the General Line School, Newport, R. I., with Staff Commander, Fleet Air Wings Atlantic, and with the Bureau of Naval Personnel. Cdr. Heyer was Executive Officer of the CURRITUCK when she participated in the following operations; Mainbrace, Springboard, and Churchy.

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After months of hard work, the CURRITUCK shed its moth balls and emerged from its cocoon in an impressive recommissioning ceremony at the Philadelphia Navy Yard on 1 August 1951. A large crowd turned out on a very hot day. Guest and crew alike felt a thrill as the Stars and Stripes once more waved over the CURRITUCK. After the ceremony, dependents and dignitaries looked the ship over, and helped the ship ' s company eat several cakes. When it was all over, the Navy had gained a new sea-plane tender and many new friends. eoMt ia tut Captain reports aboard Colors Welcome Mayor Samuels Commissioning Orders read Behind the scene