After shakedown, Salisbury Sound departed San Diego on 12 February 1946 and commenced her first of 19 deployments to the western Pacific, where she served during a portion of every year from 1946 through 1966. The seaplane tender operated at Okinawa, Shanghai, and Qingdao from March through October 1946. From April into September 1947, she voyaged Okinawa, Qingdao, and Guam; and later, from May into September 1948, she sailed to Yokosuka, Qingdao, and Shanghai. Upon completion of several west coast operations in 1949, she steamed to Hong Kong later that year and returned to San Diego on 13 June 1950.
On 26 July 1950, soon after North Korean forces invaded South Korea, Salisbury Sound sailed from San Diego. After delivering cargo to Yokosuka and Okinawa, she tended planes at Iwakuni, Japan, and at Okinawa from September into December. Her planes performed reconnaissance work in the Korean area and in the Taiwan Strait. After returning to San Diego on 31 March 1951, she sailed on 1 August, and served at Boko Ko in the Pescadores Islands, at Okinawa, and at Iwakuni, before returning to San Diego on 16 April 1952. Departing Long Beach on 15 August, she again tended planes at Okinawa, before arriving at Alameda, California, on 25 March 1953.
USS Salisbury Sound (AV-13) with VP-40 Marlins at Cam Ranh Bay 1966
From 1954 through 1966, Salisbury Sound operated frequently at Okinawa, and also at Taiwan and Luzon. She served as flagship of the Formosa Patrol Force during the evacuation of the Tachen Islands in February 1955, and later as flagship of the Taiwan Patrol Force. Effective 1 August 1963, her homeport was changed from Alameda Naval Air Station, California, to NAS Whidbey Island, Washington at the seaplane base where she carried and tended to the P5M Marlin. Voyaging to Vietnam, she visited Saigon in the spring of 1959. She steamed to Da Nang, Côn Sơn Island, and Chàm Islands in 1965, and to Cam Ranh Bay in 1966. She also participated in Operation Market Time.
USS Arnold J. Isbell (DD-869), a Gearing-class destroyer, was the only ship of the United States Navy to be named for Arnold J. Isbell, an aircraft carrier captain during World War II. The ship was laid down on 14 March 1945 at Staten Island, New York, by Bethlehem Mariners Harbor, launched on 6 August 1945 and commissioned on 5 January 1946. Constructed too late to see action in World War II, the vessel initially served as a training ship with the United States Atlantic Fleet, before transferring to the Pacific and deploying to Korea during the Korean War and off the Vietnam coast during the Vietnam War. In 1972 Arnold J. Isbell was made part of the reserve training fleet and in 1974, sold to Greece where the ship was renamed Satchouris and served with the Hellenic Navy until being sold for scrap in 2002.
USS Kearsarge (CV/CVA/CVS-33) was one of 24 Essex-class aircraft carriers completed during or shortly after World War II for the United States Navy. The ship was the third US Navy ship to bear the name, and was named for a Civil War-era steam sloop. Kearsarge was commissioned in March 1946. Modernized in the early 1950s as an attack carrier (CVA), she served in the Korean War, for which she earned two battle stars. In the late 1950s she was further modified to become an anti-submarine carrier (CVS). Kearsarge was the recovery ship for the last two manned Project Mercury space missions in 1962–1963. She completed her career serving in the Vietnam War, earning five battle stars.
USS Gillis (DD-260/AVD-12) was a Clemson-class destroyer in the United States Navy. She was named for Commodore John P. Gillis and Rear Admiral James Henry Gillis.
USS Union (AKA-106) was a Tolland-class attack cargo ship of the United States Navy, the fourth ship of her name. She served in World War II, the Korean War and the Vietnam War.
USS Brush (DD-745), an Allen M. Sumner-class destroyer, is the only ship of the United States Navy to be named for Charles Brush, an American inventor and philanthropist.
USS Alfred A. Cunningham (DD-752), an Allen M. Sumner-class destroyer, is the only ship of the United States Navy to be named for Alfred Austell Cunningham, a USMC officer and aviator.
USS Luzerne County (LST-902) was an LST-542-class tank landing ship built for the United States Navy during World War II. Named after Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, she was the only U.S. Naval vessel to bear the name.
USS Porterfield (DD-682) was a Fletcher-class destroyer of the United States Navy. Commissioned in 1943, she served in several Pacific campaigns during World War II, earning ten battle stars. She was decommissioned immediately after the end of the war but reactivated in 1951 for the Korean War, earning four more battle stars, and then served continuously until 1969. She was sunk as a target in 1982.
USS Pine Island (AV-12), a Currituck-class seaplane tender, is the only ship of the United States Navy to hold this name. The ship was named after Pine Island Sound.
USS Currituck (AV-7) was the first of four Currituck class seaplane tenders, and was nicknamed the Wild Goose. She was built during World War II and served during the Cold War.
USS Wiltsie (DD-716) was a Gearing-class destroyer in the United States Navy. She was named for Irving Wiltsie. The destroyer entered service in 1946 and remained active with the United States Navy until 1977, when Wiltsie was decommissioned and sold to Pakistan in 1977. The vessel entered service with the Pakistan Navy as PNS Tariq (D165) in 1978. In 1990, the ship was renamed PNS Nazim to allow the name Tariq to be given to a newly-acquired Type 21 frigate. The ship was then transferred to the Pakistan Maritime Security Agency and used as an alongside "at sea" headquarters for the agency. Though afloat, the vessel no longer sails.
USS Piedmont (AD–17) was a Dixie-class destroyer tender built during World War II for the United States Navy. Her task was to service destroyers in, or near, battle areas and to keep them fit for duty. She served in the Pacific Ocean during World War II, the Cold War, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War. For her work in battle areas, the ship was awarded four battle stars for her Korean War efforts and one for Vietnam War service.
USS Pitkin County (LST-1082) was an LST-542-class tank landing ship built for the United States Navy during World War II. Named after Pitkin County, Colorado, she was the only U.S. Naval Vessel to bear the name.
USS Kenneth Whiting (AV-14) was the lead ship of her class of seaplane tenders in the United States Navy.
USS Floyds Bay (AVP-40) was a United States Navy Barnegat-class small seaplane tender in commission from 1945 to 1960 that saw service in World War II and the Korean War.
USS Corson (AVP-37) was a United States Navy Barnegat-class small seaplane tender in commission from 1944 to 1946 and from 1951 to 1956.
USS Renville (APA-227) was a Haskell-class attack transport that saw service with the United States Navy in World War II, the Korean War and the Vietnam War.
USS Horace A. Bass (DE-691/APD-124/LPR-124) was a United States Navy high-speed transport in commission from 1944 to 1969.
USS Gardiners Bay (AVP-39) was a United States Navy seaplane tender in commission from 1945 to 1958 that saw service in the latter stages of World War II and in the Korean War. After her decommissioning, she was transferred to Norway, and she served in the Royal Norwegian Navy as the training ship HNoMS Haakon VII (A537) from 1958 to 1974.
VP-42 was a Patrol Squadron of the U.S. Navy. The squadron was established as Patrol Squadron 22 (VP-22) on 7 April 1944, redesignated Patrol Bombing Squadron 22 (VPB-22) on 1 October 1944, redesignated Patrol Squadron 22 (VP-22) on 15 May 1946, redesignated Medium Patrol Squadron (Seaplane) 2 (VP-MS-2) on 15 November 1946, redesignated Patrol Squadron 42 (VP-42) on 1 September 1948 and disestablished on 26 September 1969.
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