USS Norton Sound
USS Norton Sound (AVM-1) ca. 1980 with the AN/SPY-1A Aegis Combat Information System radars atop the superstructure | |
| History | |
|---|---|
| United States | |
| Name | Norton Sound |
| Namesake | Norton Sound |
| Builder | Los Angeles Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company, San Pedro, California |
| Laid down | 7 September 1942 |
| Launched | 28 November 1943 |
| Commissioned | 8 January 1945 |
| Decommissioned |
|
| Reclassified | AVM-1, 8 August 1951 |
| Stricken | 26 January 1987 |
| Fate | Disposed of by Maritime Administration exchange, 20 October 1988 |
| General characteristics | |
| Class & type | Currituck-class seaplane tender |
| Displacement | 14,000 tons, full load |
| Length | 540 ft 5 in (164.72 m) |
| Beam | 69 ft 3 in (21.11 m) |
| Draft | 22 ft 3 in (6.78 m) |
| Propulsion | steam turbines, 4 x boilers, 2 x shafts, 12,000 shp (9.0 MW) |
| Speed | 18 knots (33 km/h) |
| Complement | 1,247 as commissioned, 540 after conversion to AVM-1 |
| Sensors & processing systems | Various, including testing of AN/SPG-59, AN/SPY-1 and AN/SPQ-9 |
| Armament | Varied over her career, especially as a test vessel |
USS Norton Sound (AV-11/AVM-1) was originally built as a Currituck-class seaplane tender by Los Angeles Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company, San Pedro, California. She was named for Norton Sound, a large inlet in West Alaska, between the Seward Peninsula and the mouths of the Yukon, north-east of the Bering Sea.