USS Curtiss (AV-4)

USS Curtiss when first completed in 1940.
History
United States
Name	Curtiss
Namesake	Glenn Curtiss
Builder	New York Shipbuilding Corporation, Camden, New Jersey
Laid down	25 March 1938
Launched	20 April 1940
Commissioned	15 November 1940
Decommissioned	24 September 1957
Stricken	1 July 1963
Identification	Hull symbol: AV-4 Code letters: NEFZ
Honors and awards	7 battle stars (World War II)
Fate	Sold for scrapping, February 1972
General characteristics [1][2]
Class and type	Curtiss-class seaplane tender
Displacement	8,671 long tons (8,810 t) (light) 13,475 long tons (13,691 t) (full load)
Length	527 ft 4 in (160.73 m)
Beam	69 ft 3 in (21.1 m)
Draft	21 ft 11 in (6.68 m)
Installed power	4 × Babcock & Wilcox Express boilers 400 psi (2,800 kPa) 690 °F (366 °C) 12,000 shp (8,900 kW)
Propulsion	2 × Geared turbines 2 × Shafts
Speed	19.7 kn (36.5 km/h; 22.7 mph)
Range	12,000 nmi (22,000 km; 14,000 mi) at 12 kn (22 km/h; 14 mph)
Complement	1,195 officers and men
Sensors and processing systems	CXAM-1 RADAR from 1940[3]
Armament	As built: 4 × 5 in (127 mm)/38 caliber guns 3 × quad 40 mm (1.57 in) Bofors guns 2 × twin 40 mm Bofors guns Added during WWII: 2 × twin 40 mm Bofors guns 12 × single 20 mm (0.79 in) Oerlikon cannons
Aviation facilities	Helipad (fitted 1954)

USS Curtiss (AV-4) was the first purpose-built seaplane tender constructed for the United States Navy. She was named for Glenn Curtiss, an American naval aviation pioneer that designed the Curtiss NC-4, the first aircraft to fly across the Atlantic Ocean.