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NavSource Online: Service Ship Photo Archive

Patches contributed by Mike Smolinski, left patch created by Gerrard T. Przybylek

Contributed by Al Grazevich

USS San Pablo (AGS-30)
ex
USS San Pablo (AVP-30) (1943 - 1948)

International Radio Call Sign:
November - Bravo - Uniform - Kilo NBUK

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San Pablo (AVP-30) Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons


Precedence of awards is from left to right top to bottom
Top Row - Combat Action Ribbon (retroactive) - American Campaign Medal - Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal (4)
Bottom Row - World War II Victory Medal - Philippines Presidential Unit Citation - Philippines Liberation Medal (1)

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San Pablo (AGS-30) Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons

Precedence of awards is from left to right
Top Row - Navy Expeditionary Medal (6-Cuba) - National Defense Service Medal

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During World War II USS San Pablo was assigned to the Asiatic-Pacific Theater and participated in the following campaign:

Asiatic-Pacific Campaigns
Campaign and Dates	Campaign and Dates
Eastern New Guinea operation Finschhafen operation, 21 January to 17 February 1944	Western New Guinea operations Toem-Wakde-Sarmi area operation, 13 to 28 May 1944 Morotai Landings, 15 October 1944 Support and consolidating operations designated by Com 7th Flt, 12 October to 7 November 1944
Bismarck Archipelago operation Admiralty Island landings, 24 March to 17 April 1944	Leyte operation Leyte landings, 21 to 29 November 1944

Final Disposition, sold to Margo Zahardis, Vancouver, WA., fate unknown

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AVP Specifications:
Displacement 1,766 t.(lt) 2,750 t.(fl), 2,800 t.(lim)
Length 310' 9"
Beam 41' 2"
Draft 13' 6" (lim)
Speed 18.2 kts. (trial)

Complement

Officers 73

Enlisted 294

Largest Boom Capacity 10 t.

Armament - As Built

four single 5"/38 dual purpose gun mounts

two twin 40mm AA gun mounts

one quad 40mm AA gun mounts

four twin 20mm AA gun mounts

Fuel Capacities

Diesel 1,955Bbls

Gasoline 84,340Gals

Propulsion

four Fairbanks Morse Diesel 32D81/8

single Fairbanks Morse Main Reduction Gear Ship's Service Generators
one Diesel-drive 100Kw 450V A.C.
one Diesel-drive 200Kw 450V A.C.

two propellers, 6,080shp

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Click On Image For Full Size Image	Size	Image Description		Source
USS San Pablo (AVP-30)
09433013	156k	Namesake San Pablo - San Pablo Bay is a tidal estuary that forms the northern extension of San Francisco Bay in the East Bay and North Bay regions of the San Francisco Bay Area in northern California. Most of the Bay is shallow; however, there is a deep water channel approximately in the middle of the bay, which allows access to major ports in Sacramento, Stockton, Benicia, and Martinez; and other smaller ports on the Sacramento–San Joaquin River Delta. San Pablo Bay was named after Rancho San Pablo, a Spanish land grant given to colonial Alta California settlers in 1815, on the bay at the site of the present-day city of San Pablo. The bay is approximately 10 mi across and has an area of approximately 90 sq mi. The bay receives the waters of the Sacramento and San Joaquin rivers, via Suisun Bay and the Carquinez Strait on its northeast end, and it connects to the Pacific Ocean via the San Francisco Bay on its southern end. The bay is heavily silted from the contributions of the two rivers, which themselves drain most of the Central Valley of California. San Pablo Bay also receives the waters of Sonoma Creek through the Napa Sonoma Marsh, San Rafael Creek, and the Petaluma River directly, and the Napa River which flows into the Carquinez Strait via the Mare Island Strait near its entrance into the bay. All tributaries except for Sonoma Creek are commercially navigable and maintained by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Photo - Suisun Bay (bottom), Carquinez Strait (with bridges crossing it), and San Pablo Bay (upper center), with Point Reyes in the background; evening aerial shot looking west into the sun, 27 July 2017. Dicklyon Map - San Pablo Bay (Mapsoft.net)		Tommy Trampp
	98k	San Pablo (AVP-30) near Seattle, Washington, 9 March 1943, a few days before her commissioning, builder's photo US National Archives photo # 19-N-42493, a US Navy Bureau of Ships photo now in the collections of the US National Archives		US Naval History and Heritage Command
	103k	San Pablo (AVP-30) near Seattle, Washington, 9 March 1943, a few days before her commissioning, builder's photo US National Archives photo # 19-N-42494, a US Navy Bureau of Ships photo now in the collections of the US National Archives		US Naval History and Heritage Command
09433014	187k	Post card image of San Pablo (AVP-30) underway, post World War II, date and location unknown.		Carl Musselman
	102k	USS San Pablo (AVP-30) and USS Rehoboth (AVP-50) moored at Ponta Delgada, Sao Miguel Island, Azores, 22 February 1949. Both had been reactivated as surveying ships in 1948 although they retained their AVP classifications until August 1949. US National Archives photo # 80-G-413565, a US Navy photo now in the collections of the US National Archives		US Naval History and Heritage Command

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USS San Pablo (AVP-30) during the recovery and towing attempts of of Pan Am B-314 Honolulu Clipper that made an emergency landing 600 NE of Hawaii, 3 November 1945. The aircraft was eventually sunk with 20mm gun fire from San Pablo, 14 Nov 1945, after being deemed a hazard to navigation by the U.S. Navy after all towing attempts in slightly heavy seas failed. The photo of the ship pointed at the plane was taken 7 November 1945 just before the plane took a bad wave and slammed into the ship. The second photo is believed to have been taken between 5 an 14 November 1945. Included with the photos is Mr. Musselman's 1/350 diorama of this incident. Carl Musselman
09433015	09433016	09433017	09433018	09433019

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Click On Image For Full Size Image	Size	Image Description		Source
USS San Pablo (AGS-30)
	47k	USS San Pablo (AGS-30) underway, date and location unknown.		Haze Gray & Underway Web Site
	90k	USS San Pablo (AGS-30) moored outboard of USS Rehoboth (AGS-50) at Monoco, date unknown. US Navy photo from "All Hands" magazine, November 1959		Joe Radigan MACM USN Ret.
	41k	USS San Pablo (AGS-30) underway, date and location unknown. US Navy photo from DANFS.		Joe Radigan MACM USN Ret.
	108k	USS San Pablo (AGS-30) at sea off Bermuda, 16 January 1962. US Navy photo # NH 97534 by PH2 Warren, from the collections of the US Naval History and Heritage Command .		Robert Hurst
09433011	41k	USS San Pablo (AGS-30) returning to Cramp Shipbuilding at Philadelphia. PA. from sea trials in 1963		Chin Yu Chu
09433012	44k
	137k	USS San Pablo (AGS-30) underway, circa 1967, location unknown. US Navy photo # NH 97535-KN from the collections of the US Naval History and Heritage Command .		Robert Hurst
	79k	USS San Pablo (AGS-30) Ship's plaque		Ron Reeves

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For more photos and information about USS San Pablo see; Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships (DANFS) Barnegat Class Seaplane Tenders

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Commanding Officers
01	CDR. Darron, Roy Raymond, USN (USNA 1922)	15 March 1943 - 15 May 1943	AVP-30
02	LCDR. Dunlap, Stanton Baldwin, USN (USNA 1926) :RADM	15 May 1943 - 21 June 1944	AVP-30
03	CDR. Willard, Chauncey Shearer, USN (USNA 1932)	21 June 1944 - 14 March 1945	AVP-30
04	CDR. Hughes, George Ervin, USN (USNA 1932)	14 March 1945 - 10 October 1945	AVP-30
05	CDR. Eisenbach, Charles Robert, USN (USNA 1936)	10 October 1945 - 17 July 1946	AVP-30
06	LCDR. Young, Jack Curtis, USN (USNA 1939)	17 July 1946 - August 1946	AVP-30
07	LCDR. Gadberry, William Franklin, USN	August 1946 - 13 January 1947	AVP-30
	Decommissioned	13 January 1947 - 17 September 1948
08	CDR. Chambers, Thomas Edward, USN (USNA 1932)	17 September 1948 - October 1949	AGS-30
09	CAPT. Petersen, Adolph John, USN	October 1949 - 10 October 1951	AGS-30
10	CDR. Day, Walter Deforest, USN	10 October 1951 - January 1954	AGS-30
11	CDR. Gregg, Tomas Albert, USN	January 1954 - 1 February 1955	AGS-50
12	CDR. Tippey, James Morton, USN	1 February 1955 - 4 February 1956	AGS-30
13	CDR. Bidwell, Robert Gordon, USN (USNA 1938)	4 February 1956 - 22 June 1957	AGS-30
14	CDR. Clark, Harry Archer, USN	22 June 1957 - 22 December 1958	AGS-30
15	CDR. Hunt, Deacon, USN	22 December 1958 - 10 September 1959	AGS-30
16	LCDR. Foard, John Stager, USNR	10 September 1959 - 8 December 1959	AGS-30
17	CDR. Vandale, John James, USNR	8 December 1959 - 29 July 1960	AGS-30
18	CDR. Sattler Jr., Robert Lewis, USNR	29 July 1959 - 21 September 1962	AGS-30
19	CDR. Grafton, Warren Carroll, USN	21 September 1962 - 16 January 1964	AGS-30
20	CDR/CAPT. Zettel, Ralph Anton, USNR	16 January 1964 - 2 October 1965	AGS-30
21	CDR. Ruehrmund, James Carl, USN (USNA 1948-A)	2 October 1965 - 28 July 1967	AGS-30
22	CDR. Ragland, Roy Junior, USN	28 July 1967 - 14 March 1969	AGS-30
23	CDR. Batten, Charles, Gunther	14 March 1969 - 6 May 1969	AGS-30
24	LCDR. McMillan, Lee Quincy, USN (USNA 1956)	6 May 1969 - 29 May 1969	AGS-30

Courtesy Wolfgang Hechler and Ron Reeves

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Crew Contact And Reunion Information
U.S. Navy Memorial Foundation - Navy Log

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This page is created and maintained by Gary P. Priolo

Last Updated 16 February 2024