View source for USS Rehoboth (AVP-50)

{{short description|Oceanographic survey ship from 1948 to 1970}}
{{other ships|USS Rehoboth}}
{|{{Infobox ship begin}}
{{Infobox ship image
|Ship image=[[Image:USS Rehoboth (AVP-50).jpg|300px|USS Rehoboth (AVP-50)]]
|Ship caption=USS ''Rehoboth'' (AVP-50) off [[Houghton, Washington|Houghton]], [[Washington (state)|Washington]], on 8 March 1944, two weeks after [[ship commissioning|commissioning]]
}}
{{Infobox ship career
|Hide header=
|Ship country=United States
|Ship flag={{USN flag|1945}}
|Ship name=USS ''Rehoboth''
|Ship namesake=[[Rehoboth Bay]] in [[Delaware]]
|Ship owner=
|Ship operator=
|Ship registry=
|Ship route=
|Ship ordered=
|Ship awarded=
|Ship builder=[[Lake Washington Shipyard]], [[Houghton, Washington|Houghton]], [[Washington (state)|Washington]]
|Ship original cost=
|Ship yard number=
|Ship way number=
|Ship laid down=3 August 1942
|Ship launched=8 November 1942
|Ship sponsor=Mrs. R. P. McConnell
|Ship christened=
|Ship completed=
|Ship acquired=
|Ship commissioned=23 February 1944
|Ship decommissioned=30 June 1947
}}
{{Infobox ship career
|Hide header=yes
|Ship recommissioned=2 September 1948
|Ship reclassified=*[[Oceanography|Oceanographic survey ship]] in 1948
*AGS-50 in August 1949
}}
{{Infobox ship career
|Hide header=yes
|Ship decommissioned=15 April 1970
|Ship maiden voyage= 
|Ship in service=
|Ship out of service=
|Ship renamed=
|Ship reclassified=
|Ship refit=
|Ship struck=15 April 1970
|Ship reinstated=
|Ship homeport=
|Ship identification=
|Ship motto=
|Ship nickname=
|Ship honours=
|Ship honors=
|Ship captured=
|Ship fate=Sold for scrapping September 1970
|Ship notes=
|Ship badge=
}}
{{Infobox ship characteristics
|Hide header=
|Header caption=
|Ship class=*[[Barnegat class seaplane tender|''Barnegat''-class]] [[seaplane tender]] 1944-1947
*[[Oceanography|Oceanographic]] [[survey ship]] 1948-1970
|Ship type=
|Ship tonnage=
|Ship displacement=1,766 tons (2,592 tons trial)
|Ship length={{convert|310|ft|9|in|m|abbr=on}}
|Ship beam={{convert|41|ft|2|in|m|abbr=on}}
|Ship height=
|Ship draught= 
|Ship draft={{convert|13|ft|6|in|m|abbr=on}} (lim.)
|Ship depth=
|Ship hold depth=
|Ship decks=
|Ship deck clearance=
|Ship ramps=
|Ship ice class=
|Ship power=6,000 [[horsepower]] (4.48 [[megawatt]]s)
|Ship propulsion=[[Diesel engine]]s, two shafts
|Ship sail plan=
|Ship speed={{convert|18.2|kn|km/h}}
|Ship range=
|Ship endurance=
|Ship test depth=
|Ship boats=
|Ship capacity=
|Ship troops=
|Ship complement=*As seaplane tender:
*215 (ship's company)
*367 (including aviation unit)
|Ship crew=
|Ship time to activate=
|Ship sensors=[[Radar]]; [[sonar]]
|Ship EW=
|Ship armament=*3 × [[5"/38 caliber gun|{{convert|5|in|mm|abbr=on}}]] guns (reduced to one gun by early 1945)
*8 × [[Bofors 40 mm Automatic Gun L/60|40 mm]] guns
*8 × [[Oerlikon 20 mm cannon|20 mm]] guns
*2 × [[depth charge]] tracks
*Disarmed by 1959
|Ship armour= 
|Ship armor=
|Ship aircraft=
|Ship aircraft facilities=As seaplane tender: supplies, spare parts, repairs, and berthing for one [[seaplane]] [[Squadron (aviation)|squadron]]; {{convert|80,000|USgal|L}} [[aviation fuel]]
|Ship notes=
}}
|}

The second '''USS ''Rehoboth'' (AVP-50/AGS-50)''' was in commission in the [[United States Navy]] as a [[seaplane tender]] from 1944 to 1947 and as an [[Oceanography|oceanographic]] [[survey ship]] from 1948 to 1970.

==Construction, commissioning, and shakedown==

''Rehoboth'' was laid down on 3 August 1942 at [[Houghton, Washington|Houghton]], [[Washington (state)|Washington]], by the [[Lake Washington Shipyard]]. She was launched on 8 November 1942, sponsored by Mrs. R. P. McConnell, and [[Ship commissioning|commissioned]] on 23 February 1944.

==World War II service==

''Rehoboth'' was originally operated as a [[Barnegat-class seaplane tender]]. Following [[shakedown cruise|shakedown]] off [[San Diego, California|San Diego]], [[California]], ''Rehoboth'' transited the [[Panama Canal]] on 25 April 1944 and reached [[Norfolk, Virginia|Norfolk]], [[Virginia]], on 14 May 1944. On 17 May 1944 she sailed for [[Casablanca]] carrying men and [[cargo]] of [[Blimp]] Squadron 14. Returning to Norfolk on 9 June 1944, she carried cargo and personnel for [[Fleet Air Wing]] 7 in the [[United Kingdom]] from 8 July 1944 to 9 August 1944, then sailed south to [[Recife]], [[Brazil]], reporting to Commander, Fleet Air Wing 16, for duty on 31 August 1944. She transported passengers and cargo between various Brazilian ports until 15 January 1945, when she departed [[Natal, Rio Grande do Norte|Natal]], Brazil, for [[Bristol]], [[England]], carrying personnel and cargo for Commander, Fleet Air Wing 7. On 14 February 1945 she returned to Norfolk, whence, until mid-June 1945, she carried men and equipment to Bristol and [[Avonmouth]] in England.

==Peacetime service 1945-1947==

''Rehoboth'' retransited the Panama Canal on 18 August 1945, and after calls at San Diego and [[Pearl Harbor]], [[Hawaii]], she arrived off [[Okinawa Island|Okinawa]] on 2 October 1945. There for two weeks she tended planes of [[Air-Sea Rescue]] Squadron 6 (VH-6), then steamed to Jinsen (now [[Incheon]]), [[Korea]], where she took command of a [[seadrome]] and tended planes of [[Patrol bomber|Patrol Bombing]] Squadron 20 ([[VPB-20]]). In mid-November 1945 she crossed the [[Yellow Sea]], and from 18 November 1945 to 21 December 1945 she tended a detachment of VH-6. On 25 December 1945 she arrived at [[Shanghai]], [[China]], to tend Air-Sea Rescue Squadron 1 (VH-1) and Patrol Bombing Squadron 25 ([[VP-25|VPB-25]]) [[seaplane]]s. On 25 January 1946, ''Rehoboth'' got underway for [[Nagoya]], [[Japan]], thence proceeded to [[Kobe]], Japan, on 17 February 1946, where she set up an auxiliary seadrome area. On 24 March 1946 she arrived at [[United States Fleet Activities Sasebo|Sasebo]], Japan, where she assumed seadrome control.

''Rehoboth'' continued to serve in Japanese waters until August 1946 when she returned briefly to the Chinese coast, then operated off [[Australia]] and in the [[Philippines]]. In November 1946 she returned to Japan, whence she sailed east in 1947. Arriving at San Diego on 18 March 1947, she continued on, transited the Panama Canal at the end of March 1947, and reached [[Philadelphia, Pennsylvania|Philadelphia]], [[Pennsylvania]], on 9 April 1947. She was [[Ship decommissioning|decommissioned]] on 30 June 1947.

==Oceanographic survey operations 1948-1970==

''Rehoboth'' commenced conversion to an oceanographic survey ship in 1948. She recommissioned on 2 September 1948, and commenced oceanographic survey work under the direction of the Navy [[Hydrographic Office]], predecessor of the [[Naval Oceanographic Office]], being redesignated AGS-50 in August 1949. Equipped with a small [[laboratory]] and machinery to take [[Nansen cast]]s, which provide the [[oceanographer]] with the [[temperature]] and samples of [[sea water]] at different depths, and to drill for core samples, she traveled over {{convert|300,000|nmi|km}} in the [[North Atlantic]] and adjacent seas during her first six years of operation.

[[Image:USS Rehoboth (AGS-50).jpg|thumb|300px|left|''Rehoboth'' (AGS-50) as an [[Oceanography|oceanographic]] survey ship in the 1960s]]

In February 1952, while crossing the [[Atlantic]], ''Rehoboth'' discovered and accurately positioned an underwater [[mountain]] range with heights up to {{convert|12,000|ft|m}} above the [[ocean]] floor. In March 1952 she discovered and charted a {{convert|7,000|ft|m|adj=on}} undersea mountain near [[Bermuda]] and in August 1953 she became the first ship to anchor in over {{convert|2+1/2|mi|m}}<ref>This metric conversion assumes the use of [[statute mile]]s rather than nautical miles for depth; if nautical miles are used for depth, the conversion is 4,630 meters</ref> of water.

Employed on special projects in 1953 and 1954, she returned to oceanographic survey work in the Atlantic and [[Caribbean]] in 1955.

Transferred to the [[Pacific]] in 1956, ''Rehoboth'' departed Philadelphia on 15 February 1956. Transiting the Panama Canal on 22 February 1956, she was diverted to an area northwest of the [[Galapagos Islands]] to search for the raft ''Cantuta'', which she found after four days. On 9 March 1956 ''Rehoboth'' reached [[San Francisco, California|San Francisco]], California, and for the next year operated off the [[United States West Coast]]. On 4 March 1957 she proceeded to Pearl Harbor for three months of work in [[Hawaii]]an waters. For the next nine months she operated in the [[eastern Pacific]]. In April 1958 she extended her range to the [[Marshall Islands]] and in 1960 to the [[Western Pacific Ocean|Western Pacific]]. In October 1960 she also added operations off the coast of [[South America]]. For the next four years her missions spanned the Pacific from [[equator]]ial to [[arctic]] climes.

In August 1963, ''Rehoboth'' sailed from [[Adak, Alaska]] for a three-month oceanographic survey of the [[North Pacific]] off both coasts of the [[Kamchatka]] peninsula. This included a rare visit by a U.S. Navy vessel to the [[Sea of Okhotsk]]. On August 21, 1963, while undertaking deep-sea oceanographic operations (and therefore unable to get underway), ''Rehoboth'' inadvertently drifted into (or was overtaken by) a Soviet naval exercise. A Soviet warship (following naval protocol) informed ''Rehoboth'' that she had drifted into a dangerous area and requested that she depart the area.  As soon as the oceanographic equipment had been recovered and was on deck, ''Rehoboth'' complied.

In November 1963, after a port call in [[Yokosuka]] Japan, ''Rehoboth'' paid a three-day good-will visit to the city of [[Nakhodka]] in the [[Soviet Union]]. It was reportedly the first U.S.-flagged vessel ever to visit that city.

In September 1965, ''Rehoboth'' completed operations in the northern Pacific and in November 1965 commenced survey operations in the [[South China Sea]], conducting in December 1965 a [[Hydrography|hydrographic]] survey of the coast of [[South Vietnam]] from the [[Mekong Delta]] to [[Cape Padaran]].

After completing survey operations in the South China Sea in February 1966, ''Rehoboth'' sailed east, arriving at San Francisco on 23 March 1966. [[wikt:overhaul|Overhaul]] and United States West Coast operations followed. In 1967 she conducted operations in the northern and western Pacific. In California waters from December 1967 until 14 March 1968, she then departed San Francisco for [[United States Fleet Activities Yokosuka|Yokosuka]], Japan. She undertook survey operations in the [[Philippine Sea]] until August 1968, returning to San Francisco on 26 September 1968, where she remained for the balance of the year. She operated off the California coast in early 1969 until deploying to the [[Far East]] in August 1969, returning in December 1969 to San Francisco.

== Final decommissioning and disposal ==

''Rehoboth'' again was decommissioned and was struck from the [[Navy List]] on 15 April 1970. She was sold for scrapping in September 1970.

== Awards ==
During her career, ''Rehoboth'' earned the following awards:<ref>[http://www.navsource.org/archives/09/43/4350.htm navsource.org USS Rehoboth (AGS-50) ex USS Rehoboth (AVP-50) (1944 - 1948)]</ref>

=== U.S. awards ===
*[[File:China Service Medal ribbon.svg|106px]] [[China Service Medal]]
*[[File:American Campaign Medal ribbon.svg|106px]] [[American Campaign Medal]]
*[[File:European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign ribbon.svg|106px]] [[European–African–Middle Eastern Campaign Medal]]
*[[File:Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal ribbon.svg|106px]] [[Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal]]
*[[File:World War II Victory Medal ribbon.svg|106px]] [[World War II Victory Medal]] 
*[[File:Army of Occupation ribbon.svg|106px]] [[Navy Occupation Medal]] with "ASIA/EUROPE" clasp
*[[File:National Defense Service Medal ribbon.svg|106px]] [[National Defense Service Medal]]
*{{ribbon devices|number=2|type=service-star|ribbon=Vietnam Service Medal ribbon.svg|width=106}} [[Vietnam Service Medal]] with two [[campaign star]]s

=== Foreign award ===
*[[File:Republic of Vietnam Campaign Medal ribbon, with 60- clasp.svg|106px]] [[Vietnam Campaign Medal]] with 60– Device ([[Republic of Vietnam]])

== Notes ==
{{reflist}}

== References ==
* {{DANFS|http://www.history.navy.mil/danfs/r4/rehoboth-ii.htm}}
* [http://www.history.navy.mil/photos/sh-usn/usnsh-r/avp50.htm Department of the Navy: Naval Historical center: Online Library of Selected Images: U.S. Navy Ships: USS ''Rehoboth'' (AVP-50, later AGS-50), 1944-1970]
* [http://www.navsource.org/archives/09/43/4350.htm NavSource Online: Service Ship Photo Archive AVP-50 / AGS-50 Rehoboth]
* Chesneau, Roger. ''Conway{{'}}s All the World's Fighting Ships 1922&ndash;1946''. New York: Mayflower Books, Inc., 1980. {{ISBN|0-8317-0303-2}}.

{{Barnegat class small seaplane tender}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rehoboth (AVP-50)}}
[[Category:Vietnam War auxiliary ships of the United States]]
[[Category:Oceanographic research ships of the United States Navy]]
[[Category:World War II auxiliary ships of the United States]]
[[Category:Cold War auxiliary ships of the United States]]
[[Category:Seaplane tenders of the United States Navy]]
[[Category:Barnegat-class seaplane tenders]]
[[Category:Oceanographic instrumentation]]
[[Category:1942 ships]]
[[Category:Survey ships of the United States Navy]]
[[Category:Ships built at Lake Washington Shipyard]]