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NavSource Online: Service Ship Photo Archive

USS AVC-1

AVC-1 Class Catapult Light:

Laid down, 19 February 1940, at the Philadelphia Navy Yard

Launched, 17 August 1940

Placed in service as AVC-1, 17 December 1941 at Philadelphia Navy Yard

Placed in service in reserve, 16 December 1944

Placed in commission in reserve, 3 March 1945, LT. Frank E. P. Butler, USN, in Command

Decommissioned and placed in service, 13 August 1947

Placed out of service in reserve, 8 December 1949

Struck from the Naval Register, 18 October 1955

Final Disposition, sold for scrapping to Boston Metals Co., Baltimore, MD, 24 April 1956

Specifications:
Displacement 2,275 t.(lt), 5,861 t.(fl)
Length 423' 10"
Beam 57
Draft 9.9'

Complement

1 officer

40 enlisted

Armament none

Machinery

Ships Service Generators

two Diesel-drive 200Kw 450V A.C.

two Diesel-drive 500Kw 450V A.C.

Size	Image Description	Contributed By
118k	*AVC-1* unofficially known as the "Silver Queen". This view shows the stern of the vessel, where the seaplane would be hauled aboard up a ramp. The vessel was laid down on a disused shipway at Philadelphia Navy Yard on 29 May 1939. This photo was taken on launching day, 17 August 1940. US Navy photo.	Robert Hurst
117k	*AVC-1* on launching day, 17 August 1940, when the ship was 72% complete. She was launched without ceremony; the launching was probably motivated by the need to clear shipways for wartime construction, rather than a need for this experimental barge. The vessel was placed "in service" 17 December 1941, at which point experimental seaplanes were hardly a priority. US Navy photo.	Robert Hurst
99k	*AVC-1* at Philadelphia Navy Yard, 4 January 1941, while the catapult was being installed. This stern view shows part of the ramp up which the Martin XPBM-2 Mariner was raised before being placed on the catapult. The ships in reserve on the right are Maumee (AO-2) and Bridgeport (AD-10), which the Navy decided not to return to service in World War II. *Bridgeport* would serve during World War II as the US Army hospital ship USAHS Larkspur and later as the US Army transport USAT Bridgeport. US National Archives Photo from RG-19-LCM.	Robert Hurst and Mike Green, courtesy shipscribe.com
121k		Robert Hurst and Mike Green, courtesy shipscribe.com
61k	*AVC-1* at Philadelphia Navy Yard, 9 January 1941, about a week before being placed in service. US National Archives Photo from RG-19-LCM.	Robert Hurst, courtesy shipscribe.com
73k	*AVC-1* on 2 June 1942 with the Martin XPBM-2 Mariner (Bu.Aer. # 1247) on the car of the XH-111 catapult. This aircraft was a Martin PBM-1 Mariner modified for long-range operations with additional fuel tanks and a reinforced airframe to permit catapult launching. Only the prototype was built, and after catapult trials it served as a static test article at Philadelphia until stricken in June 1944. US Navy photo # NH 94608 from the collections of the US Navy History and Heritage Command.	Robert Hurst
40k	*AVC-1* on 2 June 1942 with the Martin XPBM-2 Mariner (Bu.Aer. # 1247) at release point from the launching car of the XH-111 catapult. US Navy photo # NH 94608 from the collections of the US Navy History and Heritage Command.	Robert Hurst, courtesy shipscribe.com
21k	*AVC-1* was intended to have diesel propulsion, but installation of her engines was canceled along with the seaplane program. Her catapult machinery proved to be unreliable and troublesome. She was used for catapult trials on an intermittent basis, and spent several periods in reserve. The odd vessel was sold in 1956, shortly before USN abandoned seaplanes completely. Although some sources report the barge was scrapped in 1956, she survived at least through the mid-1970's under the name Pulpwood #1, apparently as a pulpwood barge. US Navy photo.	Robert Hurst