UNOFFICIAL HISTORY OF THE U.S.S. CURRITUCK (AV-7)
WRITTEN AND COMPILED FROM INFORMATION TAKEN FROM THE SHIP'S LOG, RECORDS, AND PERSONAL INTERVIEWS.

USS CURRITUCK (AV-7)
(DISPLACEMENT. 14,000 TONS; LENGTH. 540'5"; BREADTH. 69'3"; DRAW. 22'3"; COMPLEMENT. 1247; ARMAMENT. 4 5")

THE COMBATANT SHIPS OF OUR NAVY PLAYED AN OUTSTANDING AND VITAL ROLE IN SWEEPING THE JAPANESE NAVY AND JAPANESE SHIPPING FROM THE SEAS AND IN PUTTING TROOPS ASHORE AND SUPPORTING THEM, BUT WITHOUT THE AUXILIARY SHIPS OF THE FLEET DOING THEIR DUTY AS TRANSPORTS, SUPPLY SHIPS, AND TENDERS OF ALL TYPES, VESSELS ENGAGED IN OFFENSIVE AS WELL AS DEFENSIVE TACTICS, THIS MAGNIFICENT ACHIEVEMENT COULD NOT HAVE BEEN POSSIBLE.

VESSELS SUCH AS THE U.S.S. CURRITUCK (AV-7) CLASSIFIED AS A SEAPLANE TENDER, TAKING AN ACTIVE PART IN ALL TYPES OF OPERATIONS AIDED IN MOLDING TOGETHER AS ONE FIGHTING UNIT THE COMBAT SHIPS AND THE AUXILIARY SHIPS SERVING AS A COMPONENT OF THE NAVY.

THE CURRITUCK WAS LAID DOWN AS ONE OF THE NEWEST AND LARGEST SEAPLANE TENDERS HAVING ALL MODERN OPERATIONAL FACILITIES AS FOUND ON BOARD ALL CAPITAL SHIPS PRIMARILY DESIGNED FOR OPERATIONING AIRCRAFT, SUCH AS: OPERATIONS ROOM) AIR PLOT, COMBAT INFORMATION CENTERS, AEROLOGICAL LAB, PILOTS READY ROOM, AND LATEST UP TO DATE COMMUNICATIONS FACILITIES, AND AS SUCH IT WAS DESTINED TO PLAY AN IMPORTANT PART IN THE WAR IN THE PACIFIC. OTHER THAN BEING AN OPERATIONS CONTROL SHIP IT WAS TO ACT AS A "MOTHER SHIP" AND TEND TO THE REPAIR AND SERVICING OF SQUADRONS OF LONG DISTANCE SEAPLANES IN THE SAME MANNER AS OPERATIONS ARE CARRIED ON IN THE LARGER AIRCRAFT CARRIERS, THE DIFFERENCE BEING THAT THE TENDER USED THE SURROUNDING WATER TO LAUNCH AND RECOVER PLANES.

THE ORIGINAL TENDERS FOR THIS TYPE OF WORK WERE FOUND TO BE LACKING IN CERTAIN DESIGN QUALIFICATIONS BY WHICH THE CURRITUCK PROFITED. THE SHIP BEING LARGER IN STORAGE SPACE AND LIVING QUARTERS BELOW DECKS BY WHICH SHE WAS BETTER ABLE TO PROVIDE COMFORTABLE LIVING QUARTERS FOR MORE PLANE CREWS. THE EXTRA SIZE OF SPACE OF THE AFT-DECK ALLOWED THE CREW OF THE AIR MAINTENANCE DIVISION ADDED WORKING ROOM IN WHICH THEY COULD OPERATE WITHOUT INTERFERENCE FROM THE HANGER AREA AND LARGE AND COMPLETE MACHINES AND VITAL SHOPS WERE ADDED.

USS CURRITUCK'S KEEL WAS LAID MONDAY 14 DECEMBER 1942 IN THE U.S NAVY YARD, PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA AND LAUNCHED ON 11 SEPTEMBER 1943; SPONSORED BY MRS. MILO F. DRAEMEL, WIFE OF THE COMMANDANT, FOURTH NAVAL DISTRICT NAVY YARD, PHILADELPHIA, PA. ON THE 26TH DAY OF JUNE 1944, CAPTAIN W. A. EVANS, USN., OF ALEXANDRIA, VA. ASSUMED COMMAND OF THE SHIP IN APPROPRIATE CEREMONIES AND GAVE THE ORDER TO SET THE WATCH AND THE COMMISSIONING AND RAISING OF THE PENNANT TOOK PLACE. THIS WELL ATTENDED CEREMONY HELD IN TRADITIONAL MANNER TOOK PLACE IN THE CITY OF PHILADELPHIA, WHERE THE KEEL WAS LAID IN DECEMBER 1942. THUS THE U.S,S. CURRITUCK, NAMED FOR THE CURRITUCK SOUND IN THE STATE OF NORTH CAROLINA IN THE VICINITY OF KITTY HAWK, THE SITE WHERE THE WRIGHT BROTHERS FIRST GAVE BIRTH TO THE AVIATION IN THIS COUNTRY, BECAME AFTER A YEAR AND A HALF FROM THE TIME HER KEEL WAS LAID AN ACTIVE MEMBER OF THE U.S. FLEET AND DESTINED TO DO HER PART IN DEFEATING THE ENEMIES OF THE ALLIED NATIONS.

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