Having received orders designating her as flagship for the Commander, Middle Eastern Force (ComMidEastFor), Valcour departed Norfolk on 29 August 1949, steamed across the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean, stopping at Gibraltar and at Golfe Juan, France, transited the Suez Canal, and arrived at Aden, a British protectorate, on 24 September 1949. Over the months that ensued, Valcour touched at ports on the Indian Ocean and Persian Gulf, including Bahrain; Kuwait; Ras Mishab, Basra; Ras Tanura, Muscat; Bombay, India; Colombo, Ceylon; and Karachi, Pakistan. She returned to Norfolk on 6 March 1950, via Aden; Suez; Piraeus, Greece; Sfax, Tunisia; and Gibraltar. Late in the summer of 1950, after a period of leave, upkeep, and training, she returned to the Middle East for her second tour as ComMidEastFor flagship, which lasted from 5 September 1950 to 15 March 1951.
Collision with SS Thomas Tracy
On the morning of 14 May 1951, two months after she returned to Norfolk from her second Middle East tour, Valcour headed out to sea for independent ship exercises. While passing the collierSSThomas Tracy off Cape Henry, Virginia, she suffered a steering casualty and power failure. As she veered sharply across the path of the oncoming collier, Valcour sounded warning signals. Thomas Tracy attempted to make an emergency turn to starboard but her bow soon plowed into Valcour's starboard side, rupturing an aviation gasoline fuel tank. An intense fire soon broke out aboard Valcour and, fed by the high-test aviation gasoline, spread rapidly. To make matters worse, water began flooding into Valcour's ruptured hull. Although fire and rescue parties on board Valcour went to work immediately, the gasoline-fed inferno forced many of Valcour's crew to leap overboard into the swirling currents of Hampton Roads to escape the flames that soon enveloped Valcour's starboard side. The situation at that point looked so severe that Valcour's commanding officer, Captain Eugene Tatom, gave the order to abandon ship.
Thomas Tracy, meanwhile, fared better. Fires aboard Thomas Tracy were confined largely to the forward hold and her crew suffered no injuries. She managed to return to Newport News, Virginia, with her cargo, 10,000 tons of coal, intact. Valcour, on the other hand, became the object of exhaustive salvage operations. Rescue ships, including the submarine rescue shipUSSSunbird and the United States Coast GuardtugUSCGCCherokee sped to the scene of the tragedy. Fire and rescue parties, in some cases forced to use gas masks, succeeded in bringing the blaze under control but not before 11 men had died and 16 more had been injured. Another 25 were listed as "missing", and later were confirmed as dead.
Reconstruction
Towed back to Norfolk, which she reached at 02:00 hours on 15 May 1951, Valcour underwent an extensive overhaul over the ensuing months. During those repairs, improvements were made in shipboard habitability—air conditioning was installed—and the removal of her single 5-inch (127mm) 38-caliber forward gun mount to compensate for the increased weight of her other alterations gave the ship a silhouette unique for Barnegat-class ships. The reconstruction task was finally completed on 4 December 1951.
Valcour rotated yearly between the United States and the Middle East from 1952 to 1965, conducting yearly deployments as one of the trio of Barnegat-class ships—along with USSDuxbury Bay and USSGreenwich Bay—that served alternately as flagship for ComMidEastFor. Through 1961, she followed a highly predictable schedule, departing Norfolk each January, relieving Duxbury Bay upon arrival on station, being relieved by Greenwich Bay at the end of her tour, and returning to Norfolk.
There were several highlights to Valcour's lengthy Middle East deployments. In July 1953, during her fourth Middle East cruise, Valcour aided a damaged cargo ship in the Indian Ocean and then escorted her through a violent typhoon to Bombay, India. In May 1955, men from Valcour boarded the blazing and abandoned Italian tankerArgea Prima at the entrance to the Persian Gulf, even though Argea Prima at the time was laden with a cargo of 72,000 barrels (11,400m3) of crude oil, and proceeded to control the fires. Once Valcour's fire and rescue party had performed their salvage operation, Argea Prima's crew reboarded the ship and she continued her voyage. Later, Valcour received a plaque from the owners of Argea Prima in appreciation of the assistance rendered to their ship.
Valcour performed her duties so efficiently that the Chief of Naval Operations congratulated ComMidEastFor for her outstanding contribution to good foreign relations and for her enhancement of the prestige of the United States. The ship was also adjudged the outstanding seaplane tender in the Atlantic Fleet in 1957 and was awarded the Battle Readiness and Excellence Plaque and the Navy "E" in recognition of the accomplishment. During Valcour's 1960 Middle East cruise, she became the first American ship to visit the Seychelles Islands, an archipelago in the Indian Ocean, since 1912. In 1963, Valcour earned her second Navy "E".
In between her deployments to the Middle East, Valcour conducted local operations out of Naval Amphibious Base Little Creek at Virginia Beach, Virginia; Guantanamo Bay; and Kingston, Jamaica. Around 1960 Valcour received some conspicuous equipment upgrades, including a tripod mast with a newer air search radar and a tall communications antenna which, with its deckhouse, replaced the quadruple 40-millimeter antiaircraft gun mount on her fantail. In 1965, she qualified as a "blue nose" by crossing the Arctic Circle during operations in the Norwegian Sea.
Valcour completed her 15th Middle East cruise on 13 March 1965.
Service as "miscellaneous command flagship" (AGF-1) 1966–1971
USS Valcour (AGF-1) as a specialized flagship in a photograph the United States Navy released in November 1972.
Soon after returning from her 15th cruise, a realignment took place under which Duxbury Bay and Gardiners Bay were ordered decommissioned and Valcour was selected to continue on a permanent basis the ComMidEastFor flagship duty previously performed by all three ships on a rotational basis. She was reclassified as a "miscellaneous command flagship" and designated AGF-1 on 15 December 1965. As AGF-1, Valcour' took on the mission was of command post, living facility, and communications center for ComMidEastFor and his staff of 15 officers.
Valcour departed the United States for the Middle East on 18 April 1966 for her 16th MidEastFor cruise, and her first as AGF-1. Tasked to demonstrate American interest and good will in the Middle East, Valcour distributed textbooks, medicine, clothing, and domestic machinery (such as sewing machines) to the needy under the auspices of Project Handclasp. Men from Valcour attempted to promote good relations with the countries Valcour visited by assisting in the construction of orphanages and schools, by participating in public functions, and by entertaining dignitaries, military representatives, and civilians. In addition, while watching merchant shipping lanes, Valcour had standing requirements to assist stricken ships and to evacuate Americans during crises in Middle Eastern countries.
Based at Bahrain, Valcour remained in the Middle East, save for a winter overhaul at Norfolk in 1968-69, until 1971. She became the permanent flagship for ComMidEastFor in 1971, but was selected in January 1972 for inactivation.
Relieved as flagship by miscellaneous command flagship (ex-landing platform dock) USSLa Salle (ex-LPD-3) in the spring of 1972, Valcour returned to Norfolk via Colombo; Singapore; Brisbane, Australia; Wellington, New Zealand; Tahiti; Panama; and Fort Lauderdale, Florida. After four days at Fort Lauderdale, she arrived at Norfolk on 11 November 1972, completing an 18,132-nautical-mile (33,580km; 20,866mi) voyage from the Middle East.
USS Greenwich Bay (AVP-41), was a United States Navy Barnegat-class small seaplane tender in commission from 1945 to 1966.
USS Suisun (AVP-53) was a United States Navy Barnegat-class small seaplane tender in commission from 1944 to 1955. It was named for northern California's Suisun Bay, which takes its name from the Native American Suisun tribe.
USS Duxbury Bay (AVP-38) was a United States Navy Barnegat-class small seaplane tender in commission from 1944 to 1966.
Lake Washington Shipyards was a shipyard in the northwest United States, located in Houghton, Washington on the shore of Lake Washington, east of Seattle. Today, the shipyards are the site of the lakeside Carillon Point business park. The shipyards built many civilian and U.S. Navy ships.
USS San Pablo (AVP-30) was a United States Navy Barnegat-class seaplane tender which was in commission as such from 1943 to 1947 and then served as a commissioned hydrographic survey ship, redesignated AGS-30, from 1948 to 1969. Thus far, she has been the only ship of the United States Navy to be named for San Pablo Bay, a shallow northern extension of San Francisco Bay in California.
USS Biscayne (AVP-11), later AGC-18, was a United States Navy Barnegat-class seaplane tender in commission as a seaplane tender from 1941 to 1943 and as an amphibious force flagship from 1943 to 1946. She saw service during World War II. Transferred to the United States Coast Guard after the war, she was in commission as the Coast Guard cutter USCGC Dexter (WAGC-385), later WAVP-385 and WHEC-385, from 1946 to 1952 and from 1958 to 1968.
USS Sunbird (ASR-15) was a Chanticleer-class submarine rescue ship in the United States Navy.
USS Onslow (AVP-48) was a United States Navy Barnegat-class seaplane tender in commission from 1943 to 1947 and from 1951 to 1960.
USS Coos Bay (AVP-25) was a United States Navy Barnegat-class small seaplane tender in commission from 1943 to 1946 that saw service during the latter half of World War II. After the war, she was in commission in the United States Coast Guard from 1949 to 1966 as the cutter USCGC Coos Bay (WAVP-376), later WHEC-376.
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 Unimak (AVP-31) was a United States Navy Barnegat-class small seaplane tender in commission from 1943 to 1946 that saw service in World War II. After the war, she was in commission in the United States Coast Guard as the cutter USCGC Unimak (WAVP-379), later WHEC-379, WTR-379, and again WHEC-379, from 1949 to 1975 and from 1977 to 1988.
USS Humboldt (AVP-21) was a United States Navy Barnegat-class small seaplane tender in commission from 1941 to 1947 that served in the Atlantic during World War II. She was briefly reclassified as a miscellaneous auxiliary and redesignated AG-121 during 1945. After the war, she was in commission in the United States Coast Guard as the cutter USCGC Humboldt (WAVP-372), later WHEC-372, from 1949 to 1969.
USS Rockaway (AVP-29), later AG-123, was a United States Navy Barnegat-class seaplane tender in commission from 1943 to 1946. She served in both the Atlantic Ocean and the Pacific Ocean during World War II. In 1948, she was loaned to the United States Coast Guard, in which she served as the cutter USCGC Rockaway (WAVP-377), later WAGO-377, WHEC-377, and WOLE-377, from 1949 to 1972.
The second USS Barnegat (AVP-10), in commission from 1941 to 1946, was the lead ship of her class of small seaplane tenders built for the United States Navy just before and during World War II. She was the second U.S. Navy ship to bear that name.
The second USS Barataria (AVP-33) was a United States Navy Barnegat-class seaplane tender in commission from 1944 to 1946. She saw service in the later stages of World War II and was decommissioned postwar. She then was transferred to the United States Coast Guard and was in commission as the Coast Guard cutter USCGC Barataria (WAVP-381), later WHEC-381 from 1949 to 1969, serving in the Cuban Missile Crisis and the Vietnam War during her lengthy Coast Guard career.
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.
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 oceanographic survey ship from 1948 to 1970.
The Barnegat class was a large class of United States Navy small seaplane tenders (AVP) built during World War II. Thirty were completed as seaplane tenders, four as motor torpedo boat tenders, and one as a catapult training ship.
USS Timbalier (AVP-54) was a Barnegat-class seaplane tender of the United States Navy. She was commissioned shortly after the end of World War II, and served between 1946 and her decommissioning in 1954. She later saw commercial service as the Greek cruise ship MV Ródos.
The Casco class was a large class of United States Coast Guard cutters in commission from the late 1940s through the late 1980s. They saw service as weather reporting ships in the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans until the early 1970s, and some saw combat service during the Vietnam War.
This article includes information collected from the Naval Vessel Register, which, as a U.S. government publication, is in the public domain.The entry can be found here.
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