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NavSource Online: Service Ship Photo Archive

USS Bowditch (AGS-4)
ex
 USS Bowditch (AG-30) (1940 - 1943)


International Radio Call Signs,

USS Bowditch (AG-30)
1940 International Radio Call Sign:
Nan - Easy - Fox - William
 NEFW
USS Bowditch (AG-4)
1943 International Radio Call Sign:
Nan - Charlie - Fox - Jig
 NCFJ
Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons


Precedence of awards is from top to bottom, left to right
Top Row - American Defense Service Medal (with Fleet clasp) - American Campaign Medal
Bottom Row - Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal (3) - World War II Victory Medal - Navy Occupation Service Medal (with Asia clasp)
  • Laid down as the passenger ship MV Santa Inez in 1929 by Burmeister and Wain, Copenhagen, Denmark
  • Purchased by the US Navy, 4 March 1940
  • Converted for Naval Service at Norfolk, Navy Yard, Portsmouth, VA.
  • Commissioned as Miscellaneous Auxiliary USS Bowditch (AG-30), 12 March 1940, CDR. Elmer E. DuVall Jr. in command
  • Redesigned Survey Ship, (AGS-4), 11 December 1943
  • During World War II USS Bowditch was assigned to the Asiatic-Pacific Theater and participated in the following campaigns:

    Asiatic-Pacific Campaigns
    Campaign and Dates Campaign and Dates
    Marshall Islands operations
    Occupation of Kwajalein and Majuro Atolls, 4 February 1944     		Okinawa Gunto operation
    Assault and occupation of Okinawa Gunto, 28 March to 30 June1945
    Marianas operation
    Capture and occupation of Saipan, 21 July to 10 August 1944     		 

  • Following World War II USS Bowditch (AGS-4) was assigned to Occupation service in the Far East from 2 September to 3 November 1945
  • USS Bowditch was assigned to Joint Task Force 1, Task Unit 1.8. (Service Group - Survey Unit for Operation Crossroads the atomic bomb tests at Bikini Atoll in July 1946
  • Decommissioned, 31 January 1947, at Norfolk, VA.
  • Struck from the Naval Register, date unknown
  • USS Bowditch earned three battle stars for World War II service
  • Transferred to the Maritime Commission, James River Reserve Fleet, Lee Hall, VA., 9 June 1948, for disposal
  • Final Disposition, sold for scrapping, 19 August 1959, to Boston Medals Co., Baltimore, MD. (PD-X-563 dated 10 July 1959) for $73,666.66, withdrawn from the Reserve Fleet, 19 August 1959
    Specifications:
    Displacement 7,680 t. (lim.).
    Length 386'
    Beam 53'
    Draft 20' (lim.)
    Speed 12 kts.
    Largest boom capacity 25 t.
    Complement
    Officers 22
    Enlisted 384
    Armament
    four single 3"/50 cal dual purpose gun mounts
    Fuel Capacity Diesel 5,700 Bbls
    Propulsion
    two Burmeister & Wain Diesel engines
    four Diesel-drive Ships Service Generators 230kW 240V D.C.
    two shafts 3,500shp
    Click On Image
    For Full Size Image    		 Size Image Description Contributed By/Source
    Merchant Service
    Bowditch 61k MV Santa Inez under way circa 1940.
    Photo courtesy "©James Fighting Ships 1943-1944"    		 Robert Hurst
    USS Bowditch (AG-30)
    Bowditch 99k USS Bowditch (AG-30) under way, 6 December 1941, after a refit at the Norfolk Navy Yard.
    US National Archives, RG-19-LCM, photo # 19-N-26242, a US Navy Bureau of Ships photo now in the collections of the US National Archives, courtesy Shipscribe.com.    		 Robert Hurst
    Bowditch 101k USS Bowditch (AG-30) underway, 28 December 1942, near the Norfolk Navy Yard.
    US National Archives, RG-19-LCM, photo # 19-N-40517, a US Navy Bureau of Ships photo now in the collections of the US National Archives, courtesy Shipscribe.com.    		 Robert Hurst
    USS Bowditch (AGS-4)
    Bowditch 44k USS Bowditch (AGS-4) underway, date and location unknown. Hyperwar US Navy in WWII
    Bowditch 32k USS Bowditch (AGS-4) underway, date and location unknown. Hyperwar US Navy in WWII
    Bowditch 112k USS Bowditch (AGS-4) at anchor, date and location unknown. Contributed by the family of George L. Anderson CO Bowditch, to NOAA
    Bowditch 176k Forward plan view of USS Bowditch (AGS-4) at Mare Island Naval Shipyard, 18 January 1946, undergoing inclining experiment.
    Mare Island Naval Shipyard photo # 201-46.    		 Darryl Baker
    Bowditch 139k Amidship looking aft plan view of USS Bowditch (AGS-4) at Mare Island Naval Shipyard, 29 January 1946.
    Mare Island Naval Shipyard photo # 327-46.    		 Darryl Baker
    Bowditch 158k Forward plan view of USS Bowditch (AGS-4) at Mare Island Naval Shipyard, 29 January 1946.
    Mare Island Naval Shipyard photo # 328-46.    		 Darryl Baker
    Bowditch 69k Stern view of USS Bowditch (AGS-4) departing Mare Island Naval Shipyard, 29 January 1946.
    Mare Island Naval Shipyard photo # 523-46.    		 Darryl Baker
    Bowditch 91k Broadside view of USS Bowditch (AGS-4) departing Mare Island Naval Shipyard, 29 January 1946.
    Mare Island Naval Shipyard photo # 525-46.    		 Darryl Baker
    Bowditch 78k Bow on view of USS Bowditch (AGS-4) getting underway with the assistance of a tug while departing Mare Island Naval Shipyard, 29 January 1946.
    Mare Island Naval Shipyard photo # 527-46.    		 Darryl Baker
    Bowditch 112k USS Bowditch (AGS-4) underway, 6 February 1946, near the Mare Island Navy Yard, Vallejo, CA.
    US National Archives, RG-19-LCM, photo # 19-N-94945, a US Navy Bureau of Ships photo now in the collections of the US National Archives, courtesy Shipscribe.com.    		 Robert Hurst
    Bowditch 152k USS Bowditch (AGS-4) at anchor, circa 1944-45, location unknown. Larry Liebrecht
    Bowditch 112k USS Bowditch (AGS-4) Cruise book. Larry Liebrecht
    USS Bowditch (AG-30 / AGS-4)
    Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships (DANFS)
    Commanding Officers
    01CDR. DuVall Jr., Elmer Ellsworth, USN (USNA 1915) :RADM1 July 1940 - 1942
    02CAPT. Seyfried, Joseph Henry1942 - 1943
    03CDR. Behner, Herbert Chauncey :RADM 22 April 1944 - 9 August 1945
    04CDR. Schiario, Clifford Bragg9 August 1945 - 25 August 1946
    05CAPT. Forshew Jr., John Hildreth, USN (USNA 1917)25 August 1946 - ?
    06CAPT. Anderson, George L.? - 31 January 1947
    Courtesy Wolfgang Hechler and Ron Reeves
    Crew Contact And Reunion Information
    U.S. Navy Memorial Foundation - Navy Log
    Additional Resources and Web Sites of Interest
    MARAD Vessel History Database
    USS Bowditch (AGS-4) 1944 Personnel Photos and Letter
    Back to The Navsource Photo Archives Main Page Back To The Service Ship Photo Index Back To The Miscellaneous Auxiliary (AG) Photo Index Back To The Survey Ship (AGS) Photo Index
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    This page is created and maintained by Gary P. Priolo
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    Last Updated 24 May 2024