USS Timbalier (AVP-54)

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 Rodos.

USS Timbalier (AVP-54)
USS Timbalier underway ca. 1946
History
United States
Namesake: Timbalier Bay in Louisiana
Builder: Lake Washington Shipyard, Houghton, Washington
Laid down: 9 November 1942
Launched: 18 April 1943
Sponsored by: Mrs. S. B. Dunlap
Commissioned: 24 May 1946
Decommissioned: 15 November 1954
Stricken: 1 May 1960
Identification: IMO number: 5298470
Fate: Sold 20 December 1960
Notes: Served as Greek commercial cruise ship MV Rodos 1960-1989; scrapped 1989
General characteristics
Class and type: Barnegat-class seaplane tender
Displacement: 1,766 tons (light); 2,750 tons (full load)
Length: 311 ft 8 in (95.00 m)
Beam: 41 ft 1 in (12.52 m)
Draft: 13 ft 6 in (4.11 m)
Installed power: 6,000 hp (4,500 kW) Diesel engines
Propulsion: Two shafts
Speed: 18.6 knots (34.4 km/h; 21.4 mph)
Complement:
  • 215 (ship's company)
  • 367 (including aviation unit)
Sensors and
processing systems:		 Radar; sonar
Armament:
Aviation facilities: Supplies, spare parts, repairs, and berthing for one seaplane squadron; 80,000 US gallons (300,000 L) aviation fuel

Construction and commissioning
The launching of USS Timbalier on 18 April 1943.

Timbalier was built at the Lake Washington Shipyard, at Houghton, Washington, with her keel laid down on 9 November 1942. She was launched on 18 April 1943, sponsored by Mrs. S. B. Dunlap.[1] Timbalier, and her sister USS Valcour (AVP-55), were initially ordered in February 1944 to be completed at the Puget Sound Navy Yard, but were transferred back to the Lake Washington Shipyard in June 1945.[2] The resulting delay meant that she was not commissioned until 24 May 1946.[2] Her first commander was Captain James E. Johnson.[1][2]

US Navy career

Timbalier sailed from Seattle, Washington on 20 June 1946, arriving at San Francisco, California two days later on 22 June 1946.[3] She transferred to Alameda, California, where she loaded stores and airplane spare parts before sailing for San Diego, California, on 26 June 1946. She underwent a period of sea trials off the United States West Coast finishing 27 July 1946. She then sailed to Panama,[2] transiting the Panama Canal on 3 August 1946. Timbalier then sailed to the shipyards at New York City.[2][3]

Timbalier with two Martin PBM Mariner flying boats shortly after World War II.

She was at the New York Naval Shipyard at Brooklyn, New York until 8 November 1946, when she sailed to Norfolk, Virginia, arriving there on 9 November 1946. She spent the rest of November in the vicinity of Hampton Roads, Virginia.[3]

Timbalier departed Hampton Roads on 3 December 1946, bound for San Juan, Puerto Rico. She arrived there on 7 December 1946, beginning service with Fleet Air Wing 11 (FAW-11).[2] She was based at Trinidad, and carried out operations in the Caribbean and off the United States East Coast. She served with FAW-11 as a tender for their Martin PBM Mariner flying boats for the rest of her naval career.[3] With the increase in the Soviet submarine threat by 1951, the PBM Mariner squadrons were deployed to carry out reconnaissance off the US East Coast, and were to concentrate on convoy defense and antisubmarine warfare in the event of conflict with the Soviet Union, supported by Timbalier, her sister ship USS Duxbury Bay (AVP-38), and the seaplane tender USS Currituck (AV-7).[4]

In 1952 Timbalier supported flying boat operations during Operation Mainbrace, a large-scale exercise of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization's navies, off the Scandinavian and Icelandic coasts;Timbalier tended flying boats operating out of Lerwick, in the Shetland Islands.[4]

Decommissioning, reserve, and disposal

Timbalier was decommissioned on 15 November 1954 and placed in the Atlantic Reserve Fleet.[1] She was struck from the Navy List on 1 May 1960, and was sold on 20 December 1960 to Panagiotis Kokkinos, of Piraeus, Greece.[2]

Commercial service
Cruise ship Rodos laid up in Eleusis on 16 July 1986

After her sale, Timbalier became the Greek cruise ship MV Rodos.[2] She was scrapped at Eleusis, Greece, in 1989.[2]

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References
  1. Photo gallery of USS Timbalier (AVP-54) at NavSource Naval History
  2. "USS Timbalier (AVP-54), 1946–1960". Online Library of Selected Images US Navy Ships. Naval History & Heritage Command.
  3. "Timbalier". Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. Navy Department, Naval History and Heritage Command. Retrieved 4 December 2008.
  4. Hoffman, Richard Alden (2004). The Fighting Flying Boat: A History of the Martin PBM Mariner. Naval Institute Press. p. 109. ISBN 1-59114-375-6.
  • Chesneau, Roger (1980). Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1922–1946. New York: Mayflower Books, Inc. ISBN 0-8317-0303-2.
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