USS Pocomoke (AV-9)

USS Pocomoke (AV-9) off San Francisco, May 1943
History
United States
NameUSS Pocomoke
BuilderIngalls Shipbuilding
Laid down14 August 1939
Launched8 June 1940, as SS Exchequer
Acquired16 October 1940
Commissioned18 July 1941, as USS Pocomoke (AV-9)
Decommissioned10 July 1946
Stricken1 June 1961
FateSold, 12 December 1961
General characteristics
Class & typePocomoke-class seaplane tender
Displacement8,950 long tons (9,094 t)
Length492 ft (150 m)
Beam69 ft 6 in (21.18 m)
Draft21 ft 2 in (6.45 m)
PropulsionSteam turbine, 8,500 hp (6,338 kW), 1 shaft
Speed17 knots (20 mph; 31 km/h)
Complement689
Armament
Service record
Part of:
Awards: 2 Battle stars for World War II

USS Pocomoke (AV-9) was a Pocomoke-class seaplane tender, originally built as the SS Exchequer and acquired by the U.S. Navy as the military build-up occurred in the United States just prior to World War II. She operated principally in the Pacific Theatre of the war and serviced military seaplanes. At war’s end, she returned to the United States with two battle stars.

She was built on 14 August 1939 by Ingalls Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company, Pascagoula, Mississippi, for the Maritime Commission; launched 8 June 1940; sponsored by Mrs. Marian Barkley Truitt, wife of Max O. Truitt, Maritime Commissioner; acquired by the Navy 16 October 1940; and following conversion commissioned 18 July 1941.