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NavSource Online: Service Ship Photo Archive
Contributed by Mike Smolinski

Tab contributed by Al Grazevich

USS Norton Sound (AVM-1)
ex
 USS Norton Sound (AV-11) (1945 - 1951)

International Radio Call Sign:
November - Alpha - Sierra - Uniform
 NASU
Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons


Precedence of awards is from top to bottom, left to right
Top Row - China Service Medal (extended) - American Campaign Medal - Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal (2)
Bottom Row - World War II Victory Medal - Navy Occupation Service Medal (with Asia clasp) - National Defense Service Medal
Currituck Class Seaplane Tender:
  • Laid down, 7 September 1942, at Los Angeles Shipbuilding and Drydock Co., San Pedro, CA.
  • Launched, 28 November 1943
  • Commissioned USS Norton Sound (AV-11), 8 January 1945, CAPT. Benjamin S. Custer USN in command
  • During World War II USS Norton Sound (AV-11) was assigned to the Asiatic-Pacific Theater and participated in the following campaigns:

    Asiatic-Pacific Campaigns
    Campaign and Dates Campaign and Dates
    Okinawa Gunto operation
    Assault and occupation of Okinawa Gunto, 1 May to 30 June 1945     		3d Fleet operations against Japan, 10 to 25 July 1945

  • Following World War II USS Norton Sound was assigned to Occupation and China service from 2 September 1945 to 7 January 1946
  • Converted to a mobile missile launching platform at Philadelphia Naval Shipyard, Philadelphia, PA. from February 1948 to October 1948
  • Redesignated Guided Missile Ship, (AVM-1), 8 August 1951
  • Decommissioned, 10 August 1962, at Norfolk, VA.
  • Laid up in the Atlantic Reserve Fleet, Norfolk, VA.
  • Recommissioned, 20 June 1964, at Baltimore, MD.
  • Decommissioned, 11 December 1986
  • Struck from the Naval Register, 26 January 1987
  • USS Norton Sound earned two battle stars for World War II service
  • Title transfer to the Maritime Administration, 20 October 1988
  • Laid up in the National Defense Reserve Fleet
  • Final Disposition, sold to C.J.W. Shipping and Trading Company, San Francisco, CA. for $1,725,000, and towed to Taiwan, to be scrapped
    Specifications:
    Displacement 9,090 t.(lt) 15,092 t.(fl)
    Length 540' 5"
    Beam 69' 3"
    Draft 22' 3" (lim)
    Speed 19.2 kts. (trial)
    Complement
    Officers -162
    Enlisted - 1,085
    Largest Boom Capacity 30 t.
    Armament
    four single 5"/38 cal dual purpose gun mounts
    four twin 40mm AA gun mounts
    three quad 40mm AA gun mounts
    twenty single 20mm AA gun mounts
    Fuel Capacities
    NSFO - 15,330 Bbls
    Diesel - 285 Bbls
    Gasoline - 278,030 Gals
    Propulsion
    two Allis Chalmers steam turbines
    four Babcock and Wilcox Express boilers, 400psi 690°
    double Falk Main Reduction Gears
    four 500Kw 450V A.C. Ships Service Generators
    two propellers, 12,000shp
    Click On Image
    For Full Size Image    		 Size Image Description Contributed
    By
    USS Norton Sound (AV-11)
    Norton Sound
    09411147    		 22k
    Namesake
    Norton Sound - is an inlet of the Bering Sea on the western coast of the U.S. state of Alaska, south of the Seward Peninsula. It is about 150 miles long and 125 miles wide. The Yukon River delta forms a portion of the south shore and water from the Yukon influences this body of water. It is ice-free from June to October. (Wikipedia)    		 Tommy Trampp
    Norton Sound 1186k USS Norton Sound (AV-11) prior to launching, 28 Nov 1943, at Los Angeles Shipbuilding and Drydock Co., San Pedro, CA. David Buell
    Norton Sound 1212k USS Norton Sound (AV-11) slides down the builders ways as she is launched, 28 Nov 1943, at Los Angeles Shipbuilding and Drydock Co., San Pedro, CA. David Buell
    Norton Sound 62k USS Norton Sound (AV-11) underway , in World War II configuration painted in Measure 32/15Ax camouflage scheme.
    US Navy photo    		 Haze Gray & Underway web site
    Norton Sound 340k USS Norton Sound (AV-11) in harbor being assisted by tugs probably near the Philadelphia Navy Yard in 1945
    US Navy photo now in the collections of the US National Archives.    		 Ron Reeves
    Norton Sound 116k USS Norton Sound (AV-11) crew standing personnel inspection, date and location unknown..
    US Navy photo    		 David Buell
    Norton Sound 141k USS Norton Sound (AV-11) crew standing personnel inspection, date and location unknown..
    US Navy photo    		 David Buell
    Norton Sound 89k USS Norton Sound (AV-11) underway in San Pedro Bay, CA., 24 January 1945, soon after completion.
    US National Archives photo # 19-N-77525, RG-19 LCM a US Navy Bureau of Ships photo now in the collections of the US National Archives.    		 Robert Hurst
    Norton Sound 59k USS Norton Sound (AV-11) anchored in Tanapag Harbor, Saipan, April 1945. Note Ship's round SK-2 radar antenna. Photographed by ENS Thomas Binford, USNR
    US Navy photo    		 Joe Radigan, MACM USN Ret
    Norton Sound
    09411154    		 118k A U.S. Navy Martin PBM-5 Mariner of Bombing Squadron 26 (VPB-26) aboard USS Norton Sound (AV-11) in Tanapag Harbor, Saipan in April 1945. Note USS LST-727 is in the left background and the submarine tender USS Fulton (AS-11) is in the center and USS Kenneth Whiting (AV-14) is at right, with a PBM on the water beyond her stern.
    U.S. Naval History and Heritage Command. Photo # 80-G-K-16079 by Ensign Thomas Binford, USNR.    		 Robert Hurst
    Norton Sound 234k USS Norton Sound (AV-11) anchored while tending seaplanes at Kerama Retto, Ryukyu Islands in 1945.
    US Navy photo    		 David Buell
    Norton Sound 108k USS Norton Sound (AV-11) at anchor at Kerama Retto, Ryukyu Islands, 8 June 1945, with two PBM Mariner flying boats on deck.
    US Navy photo # 80-G-343673 from the collections of the US Navy History and Heritage Command.    		 Robert Hurst
    Norton Sound 599k USS Norton Sound (AV-11) anchored at Kerama Retto, Ryukyu Islands, circa April to July 1945. A Martin PBM Mariner Patrol Bomber, part of Patrol Squadron (VPB-26), is being hoisted onboard.
    US Navy and Marine Corps Museum/Naval Aviation Museum, Photo No. 2011.003.139.001    		 Mike Green
    Norton Sound 198k Close up view of the bridge of USS Norton Sound (AV-11), in October 1948. Aft end of the foredeck landing platform is in the foreground. Quad-mount 40mm guns remain, although the two 5-inch gun mounts were removed to make room for the helicopter and balloon launching platform.
    US Navy photo.    		 Dale Hargrave
    Norton Sound 681k USS Norton Sound (AV-11) moored pierside, date and location unknown. Bill Jessup AF3/c USS Norton Sound
    Norton Sound 296k Special rocket launching racks installed on the afterdeck of USS Norton Sound (AV-11) in October 1948 at Philadelphia Navy Yard, Philadelphia, PA.
    US Navy photo.    		 Dale Hargrave
    Norton Sound
    09411148
    80-G-70687    		 519k USS Norton Sound (AV-11) moored at Philadelphia Navy Yard, Philadelphia, PA., 10 October 1948.
    US National Archives photo #'s 80-G-70687 and 80-G-706188, US Navy photos now in the collections of the US National Archives.    		 Rick Davis
    Norton Sound
    09411149
    80-G-70688    		 244k
    Norton Sound
    09411151    		 170k USS Norton Sound (AV-11) fires a Republic-Ford LTV-N-2 Loon guided missile off Point Mugu, CA., 26 January 1949.
    Photo from "United States Naval Aviation 1910-2010", by Mark L. Evans and Roy A. Grossnick, Naval History and Heritage Command, Department of the Navy, Washington, D.C. (USA) 2015, ISBN 978-0-945274-75-9, p. 246. U.S. Naval History and Heritage Command. Photo # USN 415146    		 Robert Hurst
    Norton Sound 232k A Loon (V-1) missile is launched from USS Norton Sound (AV-11), 19 March 1949.
    US Navy photo, courtesy Vallejo Naval & Historical Museum.    		 Darryl Baker
    Norton Sound
    09411152    		 161k USS Norton Sound (AV-11) launches a Republic-Ford JB-2 Loon missile, 12 October 1949. A SAM-N-2 Lark missile is in the background.
    U.S. Naval History and Heritage Command. Photo # 80-G-438269    		 Robert Hurst
    Norton Sound 319k An Operation Skyhook balloon launched from USS Norton Sound (AV-11), 16 August 1949.
    US Navy photo, courtesy Vallejo Naval & Historical Museum.    		 Darryl Baker
    USS Norton Sound (AVM-1)
    Norton Sound 78k USS Norton Sound (AVM-1) underway , after conversion to a mobile missile launching platform.
    US Navy photo    		 Haze Gray & Underway
    Norton Sound 187k Rocket launch from USS Norton Sound (AVM-1), 16 January 1950.
    US Navy photo.    		 Dale Hargrave
    Norton Sound 145k USS Norton Sound (AVM-1) in her initial trials ship configuration with an Aerobee rocket in its launcher on deck aft. The photo is dated November 1950 but may have been taken during Aerobee cold weather trials at the beginning of that year. The helicopter deck forward was fitted during the initial conversion in 1948 and removed in 1957.
    US Navy photo # USN 411858 from the collections of the US Navy History and Heritage Command    		 Robert Hurst
    Norton Sound 54k Rocket launch from USS Norton Sound (AVM-1), 3 March 1953.
    Wirephoto    		 Tommy Trampp
    Norton Sound
    09411150    		 247k USS Norton Sound (AVM-1) at San Francisco Naval Shipyard, Hunters Point, 24 February 1954.
    US National Archives photo # 80-G-640402, a US Navy photo now in the collections of the US National Archives.    		 Rick Davis
    Norton Sound 138k A Lark guided anti-aircraft missile zooms from its launching site aboard USS Norton Sound (AVM-1) in this first photograph to be released showing the weapons takeoff at sea. Smoke from rocket boosters which drop off when the Lark's own rocket motors take over at flight speed, partially obscures the ships deck. The Lark, currently being tested by all three of the armed forces, originally was designed as a defense against Japanese suicide planes late in World War II.
    AP Wirephoto    		 Ron Reeves
    Norton Sound 117k USS Norton Sound (AVM-1) operating as a test platform for the Terrier and Tartar anti-aircraft missile systems after removal of the helicopter deck forward in 1957. Note the Terrier Twin-arm launcher on deck aft and the Terrier fire control system over the bridge. Norton Sound received her first terrier launcher and radars in the fall of 1950.US Navy photo from the collections of the US Navy History and Heritage Command and the 1968-69 Edition of "Jane's Fighting Ships" Robert Hurst
    Norton Sound 505k
    Norton Sound 102k USS Norton Sound (AVM-1) underway in San Francisco Bay, 1958. Photo by Allied Photographers, San Francisco, CA.
    US Navy photo    		 Robert M. Cieri
    Norton Sound 77k USS Norton Sound (AVM-1) underway in the South Atlantic. Photo was taken from USS Tarawa (CVS-40) during "Operation Argus" in August-September 1958. Allyn Howard VS-32 Det. USS Tarawa
    Norton Sound 334k USS Norton Sound (AVM-1) underway , circa 1960, location unknown.
    US Navy photo from "Jane's Fighting Ship's" 1964-1965 edition.    		 Robert Hurst
    Norton Sound 360k USS Norton Sound (AVM-1) underway while in "Typhoon" missile test ship configuration, circa 1964, location unknown.
    US Navy photo from 1966/67 edition of "Jane's Fighting Ships".    		 Robert Hurst
    Norton Sound 116k USS Norton Sound (AVM-1) underway off Santa Barbara, California, on 16 June 1969. The additional structure level between the bridge and stack was fitted in 1962-64 when the ship was modified to test the Typhoon anti-aircraft missile system, but the 153-ton Typhoon radar tower, which rose above it, was removed after the program was canceled in 1965. During the late 1960s the ship tested the lightweight 5"/54 gun, forward and the Sea Sparrow point defense missile system, at the extreme stern.
    US Navy photo # K-74869 from the collections of the US Navy History and Heritage Command    		 Robert Hurst
    Norton Sound 112k USS Norton Sound (AVM-1) underway , location unknown, circa June 1969.
    US navy photo.    		 Robert Hurst
    Norton Sound 116k USS Norton Sound (AVM-1) underway , circa June 1969. Note the Sea Sparrow point defense missile system, at the extreme stern.
    US Navy photo    		 Robert Hurst
    Norton Sound 78k USS Norton Sound (AVM-1) underway while in "Aegis" systems test ship configuration.
    US Navy photo    		 Haze Gray & Underway web site
    Norton Sound 77k USS Norton Sound (AVM-1) underway while in "Aegis" systems test ship configuration.
    US Navy photo    		 Wendell Royce McLaughlin Jr
    Norton Sound 1070k USS Norton Sound (AVM-1) participates in a disaster readiness drill at Naval Hospital, Port Hueneme, CA., 1972. Note ambulances waiting alongside the ship.
    US Navy photo from the Navy Medicine Historical Files Collection - Facilities - Port Hueneme #12-0186-004    		 Michael Rhode, Archivist / Curator, US Navy BUMED Office of Medical History
    Norton Sound 105k USS Norton Sound (AVM-1) underway off Port Hueneme, CA., in March 1975, after being modified in 1972-73 to test the AEGIS weapon system. The Mk-26 twin-armed missile launcher for the AEGIS system has replaced the Terrier launcher aft. A missile vertical launch system was installed later, in 1978
    US Navy photo # KN-23839 from the collections of the US Navy History and Heritage Command    		 Robert Hurst
    Norton Sound
    09411153    		 4353k USS Norton Sound (AVM-1) moored pierside at Long Beach Naval Shipyard, August 1975. Photo by CAPT. Mark Heilenday, USN Ret.
    Norton Sound 206k USS Norton Sound (AVM-1) underway with the assistance of tug >Natahki (YTM-398) at Long Beach Naval Shipyard in 1975.
    US Navy photo.    		 Richard Miller BMCS USNR Ret.
    Norton Sound 76k USS Norton Sound (AVM-1) moored pierside at Pier 4, Naval Station, San Diego, CA, 1979. She is configured with a "Twin Armed Bandit" twin rail standard launcher to starboard aft. Photo by Edward Cleary
    Norton Sound 136k USS Norton Sound (AVM-1) underway , date and location unknown. US Navy photo. Robert M. Cieri
    Norton Sound 174k USS Norton Sound (AVM-1) underway , circa 1980.
    Photo @copy Marine Photos.    		 Robert Hurst
    Norton Sound 67k Stern view of USS Norton Sound (AVM-1) moored pierside at San Francisco, May 1980. Photo by Robert M. Cieri
    Norton Sound 77k USS Norton Sound (AVM-1) view of forward main deck looking aft while moored at San Francisco, May 1980. Photo Robert M. Cieri
    Norton Sound 71k USS Norton Sound (AVM-1)'s hanger area looking forward from the flight deck while moored at San Francisco, May 1980. Photo by Robert M. Cieri
    Norton Sound 64k Port bow view of USS Norton Sound (AVM-1) while moored pierside at San Francisco, May 1980. Photo by Robert M. Cieri
    Norton Sound 63k USS Norton Sound (AVM-1) main deck aft, view of a prototype Mk 26 Launcher (later fitted to the Virginia-class CGN's, the first 5 Ticonderogas) while moored at San Francisco, May 1980. Photo by Robert M. Cieri
    Norton Sound 82k USS Norton Sound (AVM-1) moored pierside at Port Hueneme, 16 June 1986.
    US Navy photo    		 Robert M. Cieri
    USS Norton Sound Memorabilia
    Norton Sound
    Welcome Aboard pamphlet.
    Contributed by
    Richard Miller BMCS USNR Ret.    		 Norton Sound
    1986
    Welcome Aboard pamphlet
    Contributed by
    Robert M. Cieri
    Additional Ships Patches
    Norton Sound
    Contributed by Mike Smolinski    		 Norton Sound
    Contributed by Mike Smolinski    		 Norton Sound
    Contributed by Robert M. Cieri

    For more photos and information about USS Norton Sound, see;
  • Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships
  • MARAD Vessel History Database
  • US Navy Patrol Squadrons - USS Norton Sound (AV-11)
    • Commanding Officers
    01CAPT. Custer, Benjamin Scott, USN (USNA 1926) :RADM8 January 1945 - 7 September 1945AV-11
    02CAPT. Brixner, Robert Cecil, USN (USNA 1927)7 September 1945 - 10 June 1946AV-11
    03CAPT. Smith Jr., Allen (Edward), USN (USNA 1927) :RADM10 June 1946 - 21 April 1947AV-11
    04CAPT. Gregg Sr., Otis Cockerill, USN (USNA 1927) :RADM21 April 1947 - 5 May 1948AV-11
    05CAPT. Ahroon, Thomas Andrew, USN (USNA 1928) :RADM5 May 1948 - 5 June 1949Conversion AV to AVM
    06CAPT. Quinn, John, CAPT USN (USNA 1928) :RADM5 June 1949 - September 1950AV-11
    07CAPT. Bagdanovich, Michael Peter, USNSeptember 1950 - October 1951AV-11/AVM-1
    08CAPT. Momm, Albert Otto, USN (USNA 1928)October 1951 - July 1952AVM-1
    09CAPT. Westhofen, Charles Louis, USN (USNA 1930) :RADMJuly 1952 - July 1953AVM-1
    10CAPT. Parham Jr., John Calhoun, USN (USNA 1931) :RADMJuly 1953 - July 1954AVM-1
    11CAPT. Hopkins, Thomas Walton, USN (USNA 1932)July 1954 - August 1955AVM-1
    12CAPT. Sellars, Robert Frederick, USN (USNA 1934)August 1955 - July 1956AVM-1
    13CAPT. Chung-Hoon, Gordon Pai'ea, USN (USNA 1934) :RADMJuly 1956 - August 1957AVM-1
    14CAPT. Gralla, Arthur Robert, USN (USNA 1934) :VADMAugust 1957 - 19 September 1958AVM-1
    15CAPT. McCallum, James Lowell Page, USN (USNA 1935)19 September 1958 - September 1959AVM-1
    16CAPT. Sarver Jr., Ben William, USN (USNA 1935) :RADMSeptember 1959 - June 1960AVM-1
    17CAPT. Bonner, Emmett Peyton, USN (USNA 1939) :RADMJune 1960 - August 1961AVM-1
    18CAPT. Mugg, Richard Dryden, USN (USNA 1938)August 1961 - June 1962AVM-1
    19CDR. Erdner, Lewis Edward, USNJune 1962 - 10 August 1962AVM-1
     Decommissioned10 August 1962 - 20 June 1964AVM-1
    20CAPT. Arthur, William Alexander, USN (USNA 1942)20 June 1964 - June 1965AVM-1
    21CAPT. Behl, John Henry, USN (USNA 1943)June 1965 - July 1967AVM-1
    22CAPT. Lewis, George Howard, USNJuly 1967 - October 1968AVM-1
    23CAPT. Reichwein, Fremont Easton, USNOctober 1968 - October 1970AVM-1
    24CAPT. Aiken, Robert Adam, USNOctober 1970 - March 1972AVM-1
    25CDR. Clynes, Charles Edward, USNMarch 1972 - September 1973AVM-1
    26CDR. Poole, James Richard, USN (USNA 1957)September 1973 - August 1975AVM-1
    27CDR. Dickmann, David Bruce, USNAugust 1975 - July 1977AVM-1
    28CDR. Loftus, Thomas Joseph, USNJuly 1977 - 26 October 1979AVM-1
    29CDR. Seebirt, James Eli, USN26 October 1979 - 6 November 1981AVM-1
    30CAPT. Crooks, Richard Alan, USN6 November 1981 - March 1984AVM-1
    31CDR. Washam, Eric Lee, USN (USNA 1968)March 1984 - 11 December 1986AVM-1
    Courtesy Wolfgang Hechler
    Crew Contact And Reunion Information
    U.S. Navy Memorial Foundation - Navy Log
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