In addition to the larger AV-series seaplane tenders it operated from the 1920s to the Vietnam War, the U.S. Navy also employed three classes of smaller ships in support of water-based aviation. They served under two type-designations: AVP (small seaplane tender) and AVD (seaplane tender, destroyer).
The USS Heron was commissioned in 1918 as AM-10, one of 44 Lapwing-class fleet minesweepers, nine of which were equipped during the 1920s to serve as seaplane tenders. Redesignated as small seaplane tender AVP-2 in 1936, the Heron was based in the Philippines at the start of World War II. On 31 December 1941, the Heron fought off bomb and torpedo attacks by Japanese aircraft and suffered damage and casualties to half her crew in an action that brought her the Navy Unit Commendation. The Heron spent most of World War II in Australian waters, although she participated in the Leyte campaign, where she was again under air attack. The ship is seen here in the late 1920s with a Martin T3M-1 bomber- torpedo scout floatplane on the fantail.
AVP-15 through AVP-20 were World War I-era “four-piper” destroyers converted during the 1930s through the removal of half their boilers and armament and the provision of aviation fuel tankage and spare parts stowage. The ships were reclassified as AVD-1 through AVD-7 in 1940, and a further group of “four-pipers” became AVD-8 through AVD-14. Seen here as AVP-16 in 1939, while still armed with two of her four original 4-inch destroyer guns, is the USS George E. Badger, ex- DD-196, later AVD-3, and still later, in May 1944, redesignated as APD-33 when converted as a fast troop transport, as were nine of her AVD sisters. The Badger served in the U.S. Coast Guard from 1930 to 1934. During World War II, she was employed primarily as a convoy escort until APD conversion, and she was again redesignated DD-196 in July 1945 without further alterations. The ship earned eight battle stars and a Presidential Unit citation.
The only small seaplane tenders completed for the purpose were 32 units of the handsome Bamegat class (AGP-10 through AGP-13 and AGP-21 through AGP-67, with gaps), many of which saw post-war service in the U.S. Coast Guard. Sixteen others were cancelled, and four more were completed as motor torpedoboat tenders (AGP-6 through AGP-9). Although several carried as many as four 5-inch 38-caliber destroyer gun mountings, the Bamegat (AVP-10) herself, shown here, had the more usual configuration of two 5-inch gun mounts forward, with the fantail left clear to accommodate seaplanes or a quadruple 40-mm antiaircraft gun mount. Others were completed with three mounts, and the final units had only one. Another sister, the Absecon (AGP-23), carried a catapult and two cruiser-type aircraft cranes for use in training shipboard observation floatplane personnel.