USS Rehoboth (AGS 50)

- formerly AVP 50 -
- decommissioned -

USS REHOBOTH - the second ship in the Navy to bear the name - was built and commissioned as a BARNEGAT - class small seaplane tender. After her World War II service she was decommissioned on June 30, 1947, and commenced conversion to a survey ship the following year. Recommissioned on September 2, 1948, the ship initially retained her old AVP designation until August 1949, when she was reclassified AGS 50. Both decommissioned and stricken from the Navy list on April 15, 1970, the REHOBOTH was sold for scrapping in September 1970.

General Characteristics:	Keel laid: August 3, 1942
	Launched: November 8, 1942
	Commissioned as AGS 50: September 2, 1948
	Decommissioned: April 15, 1970
	Builder: Lake Washington Shipyard, Houghton, Wash.
	Propulsion system: four Diesel engines, 6,080 shaft horsepower
	Propellers: two
	Length: 310 feet (94.5 meters)
	Beam: 41.2 feet (12.5 meters)
	Draft: 13.6 feet (4.1 meters)
	Displacement: approx. 2,600 tons full load
	Speed: 18 knots
	Armament: none from late 1959 on
	Crew: approx. 150

go to the end of the page

Crew List:

This section contains the names of sailors who served aboard USS REHOBOTH. It is no official listing but contains the names of sailors who submitted their information.

Click here to view the list.

go to the end of the page

Click here to see which USS REHOBOTH memorabilia are currently for sale on ebay.

go to the end of the page

USS REHOBOTH Cruise Books:

WestPac Cruise Book 1969

go to the end of the page

USS REHOBOTH History:

USS REHOBOTH was was laid down as AVP 50 3 August 1942 by Lake Washington Shipyards, Houghton, Wash.; launched 8 November 1942; sponsored by Mrs. R. P. McConnell; and commissioned 23 February 1944, Comdr. Robert Crawford Warrack in command.

After World War II service the ship was decommissioned 30 June 1947, she commenced conversion to a survey ship the following year.

Recommissioned on 2 September, 1948, the ship initially retained her old AVP designation until August 1949, when she was reclassified AGS 50. REHOBOTH commenced oceanographic survey work under the direction of the Hydrographic Office. Equipped with a small laboratory and machinery to take Nansen casts, which provide the oceanographer with the temperature and samples of sea water at different depths, and drill for core samples, she traveled over 300,000 miles in the North Atlantic and adjacent seas during her first 6 years of operation.

In February 1952, while crossing the Atlantic, she discovered and accurately positioned an underwater mountain range with heights up to 12,000 feet above the ocean floor. In March 1952 she discovered and charted a 7,000-foot mountain near Bermuda and in August 1953 REHOBOTH became the first ship to anchor in over 2½ miles of water.

Employed on special projects in 1953 and 1954, she returned to oceanographic survey work in the Atlantic and Caribbean in 1953. Transferred to the Pacific in 1956, she departed Philadelphia 15 February. Transiting the Panama Canal 22 February, she was diverted to an area northwest of the Galapagos Islands to search for the raft CANTUTA which she found after 4 days. On 9 March REHOBOTH reached San Francisco, and for the next year operated off the west coast. On 4 March 1957 she proceeded to Pearl Harbor for 3 months work in Hawaiian waters. For the next 9 months she operated in the eastern Pacific. In April 1958 she extended her range to the Marshalls and in 1960 to the western Pacific. In October 1960 she also added operations off the South American coast. For the next 4 years her missions spanned the Pacific from equatorial to arctic climes.

In September 1965 REHOBOTH completed operations in the northern Pacific and in November commenced survey operations in the South China Sea, conducting in December a hydrographic survey of the South Vietnamese coast from the Mekong Delta to Cape Padaran.

After completing survey operations in the South China Sea in February 1966, she sailed east, arriving at San Francisco 23 March. Overhaul and 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 Yokosuka. She undertook survey operations in the Philippine Sea until August, returning to San Francisco 26 September 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, returning in December to San Francisco. She decommissioned and was struck from the Navy list 15 April 1970.

go to the end of the page

USS REHOBOTH Image Gallery:

Back to Survey Ships Site.

Back to ships list.

Back to selection page.

Back to 1^st page.