Figure 1: USS Curtiss (AV-4) soon after her launching on 20 April 1940 at the New York Shipbuilding Corporation at Camden, New Jersey. New York Shipbuilding Corporation photograph. Click on photograph for larger image.
Figure 2: USS Curtiss (AV-4) photographed soon after her completion in 1940. US Naval Historical Center Photograph. Click on photograph for larger image.
Figure 3: USS Curtiss (AV-4) on her trials off Rockland, Maine, 8 October 1940. Of her four 5-inch guns, only the forward one was in an enclosed mount. US National Archives photo # 19-N-22647, RG-19-LCM a US Navy Bureau of Ships photo now in the collections of the US National Archives. Click on photograph for larger image.
Figure 4: Pearl Harbor Attack, 7 December 1941. USS Curtiss (AV-4) on fire after being hit by a Japanese dive bomber that crashed into her. Photographed from USS Tangier (AV-8). USS Medusa (AR-1) is at right. Timbers floating in the water (foreground) may be from USS Utah (AG-16), which had been sunk at her berth, astern of Tangier. Note weathered paintwork on Curtiss and Medusa. The original photograph was in the CinCPac report of the Pearl Harbor Attack, 15 February 1942, Volume 3, in 1990. Official US Navy Photograph, NHHC Collection. Click on photograph for larger image.
Figure 5: Pearl Harbor Attack, 7 December 1941. The damaged USS Curtiss (AV-4), at left, and USS Medusa (AR-1), at right, at their moorings soon after the Japanese raid. Note that Curtiss has been fitted with air search radar. Official US Navy Photograph, National Archives. Click on photograph for larger image.
Figure 6: An officer and crewman on board USS Curtiss (AV-4) with the wreckage of a Japanese Navy type 99 carrier bomber ("Val") that crashed into the ship's forward crane, on the starboard side of the boat deck atop the hangar, during the Pearl Harbor raid, 7 December 1941. This shows the tail of the aircraft, resting atop some of Curtiss' boats. It was plane # "A1-225," from the carrier Akagi. Photographed on the ship's Boat Deck, 7 December 1941. Photograph from the Bureau of Ships Collection, National Archives. Click on photograph for larger image.
Figure 7: Wreckage of a Japanese Navy type 99 carrier bomber ("Val") that crashed into USS Curtiss’ (AV-4) forward crane, on the starboard side of the boat deck atop the hangar, during the Pearl Harbor raid, 7 December 1941. This was plane # "A1-225," from the carrier Akagi. Photographed on the ship's Boat Deck, 7 December 1941. Photograph from the Bureau of Ships Collection, National Archives. Click on photograph for larger image.
Figure 8: Hole in the main deck of USS Curtiss (AV-4) made by a Japanese 250-kilogram bomb that struck the ship during the Pearl Harbor raid, 7 December 1941. The bomb initially struck atop Curtiss' boat deck near the starboard side amidships and penetrated three decks to explode at main deck level at the site of this hole. The hole was about eight feet in diameter. View looks toward the port side at the forward end of the hangar, with the wreckage of the battery shop in the background. Photographed on 7 December 1941. Photograph from the Bureau of Ships Collection, National Archives. Click on photograph for larger image.
Figure 9: Wreckage of a burned-out OS2U-2 floatplane on the after deck of USS Curtiss (AV-4), photographed soon after the Japanese raid. Curtiss had been hit in the hangar area by a Japanese plane and by a bomb during the Japanese raid, and near-missed off the stern by another bomb. Official US Navy Photograph, now in the collections of the National Archives. Click on photograph for larger image.
Figure 10: View on the main deck, looking aft from the hangar doors area. Burned-out plane on deck is an OS2U-2 floatplane that was destroyed on board USS Curtiss (AV-4) during the Pearl Harbor raid, 7 December 1941. Photographed on the day of the attack, shortly after fires were put out on board the ship. Note fire extinguisher on deck in the foreground. Photograph from the Bureau of Ships Collection, National Archives. Click on photograph for larger image.
Figure 11: View on the main deck, looking forward and to port, showing blast damage to the hangar doors resulting from a Japanese 250-kilogram bomb that exploded inside the hangar during the Pearl Harbor raid, 7 December 1941. In the foreground is the wreckage of an OS2U-2 floatplane that was destroyed on board USS Curtiss (AV-4) during the attack. Photographed on 7 December 1941. Note ventilator head in the right foreground and shuffleboard court painted on the deck near the OS2U wreckage. Photograph from the Bureau of Ships Collection, National Archives. Click on photograph for larger image.
Figure 12: Broadside view of USS Curtiss (AV-4) off San Francisco, 11 October 1943. Navy Yard Mare Island photo # 7031-43. Click on photograph for larger image.
Figure 13: Secretary of the Navy Frank Knox (center) meets with Lieutenant Colonel Evans F. Carlson, USMC, and Admiral Chester W. Nimitz (at right), on board USS Curtiss (AV-4) at "Button" Naval Base, Espiritu Santo, New Hebrides, 20 January 1943. Secretary Knox was then touring the Guadalcanal campaign area. Official US Navy Photograph, now in the collections of the National Archives. Click on photograph for larger image.
Figure 14: Admiral Chester W. Nimitz, USN, Commander in Chief Pacific and Pacific Ocean Areas (left), and Admiral William F. Halsey, USN, Commander, South Pacific Area and South Pacific Force, confer on board USS Curtiss (AV-4) at "Button" Naval Base, Espiritu Santo, New Hebrides, 20 January 1943. Official US Navy Photograph, now in the collections of the National Archives. Click on photograph for larger image.
Figure 15: Broadside view of USS Curtiss (AV-4) off Mare Island Navy Yard, California, 31 October 1945. File name: AV 4 6885-45, Navy Photo, 10/31/45. Click on photograph for larger image.
Figure 16: USS Curtiss (AV-4) at anchor off Mare Island Navy Yard, Vallejo, California, 31 October 1945. US National Archives photo # 19-N-91663, RG-19-LCM a US Navy Bureau of Ships photo now in the collections of the US National Archives. Click on photograph for larger image.
Figure 17: USS Curtiss (AV-4) off San Diego, California, during the later 1940s or early 1950s. She is flying a Vice Admiral's flag from her mainmast. A pilot boat is at right and USS LSM-462 is in the left distance. Official US Navy Photograph, from the collections of the Naval Historical Center. Click on photograph for larger image.
Figure 18: USS Curtiss (AV-4) underway at sea, 1954. Note large number of boats stowed on board. Official US Navy Photograph, from the collections of the Naval Historical Center. Click on photograph for larger image. Please Note: The caption as provided by the Navy for this photograph may be in error as a helicopter deck was installed in the fall of 1953, according to Walter J. Handelman, who served as Deck Officer from 1953 to 1955 on board USS Curtiss.
Figure 19: Martin PBM-5 "Mariner" Patrol Bomber (with the nickname "HOTOGO" painted on its bow) is hoisted on board USS Curtiss (AV-4) in the Korean War zone, 8 November 1950. At that time this plane, and others from Fleet Air Wing 6, were engaged in anti-mine patrols off the Korean coast. Note twin .50-caliber machine-gun turret fully trained to starboard, with guns depressed. Official US Navy Photograph, from the collections of the Aviation History Branch, Naval Historical Center. Click on photograph for larger image.
Figure 20: USS Curtiss (AV-4) underway at San Diego, California, en route to sea, circa 1956. US Navy photograph, courtesy David Buell from his father Benton E. Buell, ENC, USN (later CWO4), USS Curtiss. Click on photograph for larger image.
USS Curtiss (AV-4) was named after Glenn Hammond Curtiss, the famous aviation pioneer and manufacturer who built several types of aircraft for the US Navy. The 8,671-ton USS Curtiss was the lead ship of a class of two seaplane tenders and was built by the New York Shipbuilding Corporation at Camden, New Jersey. Commissioned on 15 November 1940, the ship was approximately 527 feet long and 69 feet wide, had a top speed of 20 knots, and had a crew of 1,195 officers and men. Curtiss was armed with only four 5-inch guns, although some anti-aircraft guns were added after the start of the war in the Pacific.
Curtiss initially served in the Atlantic but was transferred to the Pacific in May 1941. For the next several months, Curtiss supported seaplane operations at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. She also made one trip to Wake Island carrying aviators, air crewmen, and cargo to reinforce the garrison there.
On the morning of 7 December 1941, Curtiss was at Pearl Harbor during the Japanese attack. She got underway immediately and began firing at the enemy aircraft. At 0836, crewmen on board the ship spotted a periscope and opened fire with their 5-inch guns. The periscope belonged to a Japanese midget submarine that had entered the harbor. The small submarine fired a torpedo, but it missed Curtiss and hit a dock at Pearl City. Four minutes later, the submarine surfaced and was damaged by gunfire before diving. The destroyer USS Monaghan (DD-354) made a depth-charge attack on the submarine and evidently sank it. At least two near bomb misses sprayed Curtiss with shrapnel fragments as she continued firing her guns at the attacking Japanese aircraft. At 0905, Curtiss managed to hit one of the enemy planes. After being hit, the plane dove for Curtiss and crashed into her No. 1 crane and started a fire. Three minutes later, gunners on board Curtiss shot down another plane and then began firing at a dive bomber. Unfortunately, the dive bomber released a bomb that hit right next to the damaged No. 1 crane. The bomb sliced deep into the ship and exploded below her main deck. The explosion started a major fire that destroyed the ship’s hangar. Although 19 men were killed and many more were wounded, the rest of the crew sprang into action and, after a major effort, managed to put out the fire.
Temporary repairs were made to Curtiss after the attack. On 28 December, Curtiss left Pearl Harbor for San Diego, California, where more permanent repairs were made to the ship in only four days. Sent back to Pearl Harbor on 13 January 1942, she ferried men and equipment to forward US Naval bases at Samoa, Suva, and Noumea.
For the remainder of 1942 and for part of 1943, Curtiss was based at Noumea, New Caledonia, and Espiritu Santo, New Hebrides. She served as a flagship, supported seaplanes, and assisted in repairing warships that were damaged off the coast of Guadalcanal in the Solomon Islands. In November 1943, Curtiss operated in the central Pacific and served at various forward bases throughout the rest of the war. She participated in the amphibious assaults on Tarawa, Kwajalein, Eniwetok, Saipan, and Guam. After a brief overhaul in San Francisco, Curtiss arrived off Okinawa on 22 May 1945 and became the flagship for Commander, Fleet Air Wing 1. But on 21 June 1945, a Japanese kamikaze crashed into Curtiss and exploded (with its bomb load) three decks down in the ship. The explosion killed 35 men and wounded 21 others. Excellent damage control, though, kept the ship afloat and four days later, Curtiss was on her way to California. The ship was fully repaired at the Mare Island Navy Yard.
After the war in the Pacific ended, Curtiss returned to the Far East and operated off the coasts of both Japan and China as a flagship and, at times, as a cargo ship. Curtiss remained in the Far East until 1947 and then returned to California for a major overhaul.
For the balance of the 1940s and well into the 1950s, Curtiss was used to support scientific projects as well as amphibious operations. In 1950, she also served during the Korean War by tending to patrol seaplanes off the coast of Japan. From 1951 to 1956, Curtiss attended a series of nuclear and thermonuclear weapons tests in the central Pacific. In early 1957, she participated in Operation “Deep Freeze,” a major scientific study of the Antarctic continent.
USS Curtiss was decommissioned on 24 September 1957 and was stricken from the Naval Vessel Register in July 1963. She eventually was sold for scrapping in February 1972. USS Curtiss received seven battle stars for her service during World War II, proving that even seaplane tenders can have very active war records.
