Return to Naval Historical
Center home page.
Return to Online
Library listing
DEPARTMENT OF THE NAVY -- NAVAL HISTORICAL CENTER
805 KIDDER BREESE SE -- WASHINGTON NAVY YARD
WASHINGTON DC 20374-5060
Online Library of Selected Images:
-- U.S. NAVY SHIPS --
USS Abatan (AW-4), 1945-1980
USS Abatan, a 22,350-ton (full load displacement) Pasig
class water distilling ship, was built at Sausalito, California,
as a Maritime Commission T2-SE-A2 tanker. In the expectation that
she would become a Navy oiler, she received the hull number AO-92
in July 1944, but was redesignated AW-4 about a month later and
completed for water supply purposes. Abatan was commissioned
in late January 1945 and soon went to the central Pacific. Beginning
in March she was stationed at Ulithi Atoll, in the Caroline Islands,
providing fresh water to the fleet during the final months of
the war against Japan. In October 1945, after the end of hostilities,
she moved westwards, initially to the Philippines, then to Okinawa
and Shanghai, China, where she served between November 1945 and
early May 1946. Her next assignment was at Eniwetok and Kwajalein,
in the Marshall Islands, where she supported the Operation "Crossroads"
nuclear weapons tests. In July and August 1946 Abatan steamed
to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, via Pearl Harbor and the Panama
Canal.
Decommissioned and placed in the Atlantic Reserve Fleet at
Philadelphia in January 1947, Abatan was stricken from
the Naval Vessel Register in July 1960 and transferred to the
Maritime Administration. However, when deteriorating relations
between Cuba and the United States resulted in the termination
of fresh water supplies to the U.S. Naval Base at Guantanamo Bay,
Cuba, Abatan was reacquired by the Navy in late September
1962. She spent over a decade and a half at Guantanamo Bay, serving
in non-commissioned status as a water storage and distilling vessel,
with some of this work continuing even after she was again stricken
from the Naval Vessel Register in May 1970. Abatan was
finally disposed of, as a target, in early 1980.
This page features, and provides links to, all the views
we have related to Abatan (AW-4).
For more images concerning this ship, see:
USS Abatan (AW-4) -- Stationed
at Guantanamo Bay, 1962-1980.
Click on the small photograph to prompt
a larger view of the same image.
Photo #: NH 83897
USS Abatan (AW-4)
Off the Mare Island Navy Yard, California, 18 February 1945.
Her camouflage is Measure 32, Design 7AO.
Official U.S. Navy Photograph, from the collections of the
Naval Historical Center.
Online Image: 98KB; 740 x 620 pixels |
 |
Photo #: NH 83896
USS Abatan (AW-4)
Off the Mare Island Navy Yard, California, 18 February 1945.
Her camouflage is Measure 32, Design 7AO.
Official U.S. Navy Photograph, from the collections of the
Naval Historical Center.
Online Image: 91KB; 740 x 625 pixels |
 |
Photo #: NH 83895
USS Abatan (AW-4)
Off the Mare Island Navy Yard, California, 18 February 1945.
Her camouflage is Measure 32, Design 7AO.
Official U.S. Navy Photograph, from the collections of the
Naval Historical Center.
Online Image: 78KB; 740 x 620 pixels |
 |
Photo #: NH 83898
USS Abatan (AW-4)
Off the Mare Island Navy Yard, California, 18 February 1945.
The harbor tug Nepanet (YTB-189) is alongside.
Official U.S. Navy Photograph, from the collections of the
Naval Historical Center.
Online Image: 94KB; 740 x 625 pixels |
 |
Photo #: NH 98913
USS Abatan (AW-4)
At the Mare Island Navy Yard, California, 20 February 1945.
Circles mark recent alterations to the ship.
Official U.S. Navy Photograph, from the collections of the
Naval Historical Center.
Online Image: 112KB; 740 x 610 pixels |
 |
Photo #: NH 98914
USS Abatan (AW-4)
View of the ship's after portion, taken the Mare Island Navy
Yard, California, 20 February 1945.
Circles mark recent alterations to the ship.
Official U.S. Navy Photograph, from the collections of the
Naval Historical Center.
Online Image: 96KB; 740 x 620 pixels |
 |
Photo #: NH 98912
USS Abatan (AW-4)
Plan view looking forward from the midships' superstructure,
taken at the Mare Island Navy Yard, California, 20 February 1945.
Circles mark recent alterations to the ship.
Note hoses stowed by the centerline catwalk, and booms attached
to the foremast.
Official U.S. Navy Photograph, from the collections of the
Naval Historical Center.
Online Image: 143KB; 600 x 765 pixels |
 |
Photo #: NH 98910
USS Abatan (AW-4)
Plan view looking forward toward the midships' superstructure,
taken at the Mare Island Navy Yard, California, 20 February 1945.
Circles mark recent alterations to the ship.
Official U.S. Navy Photograph, from the collections of the
Naval Historical Center.
Online Image: 126KB; 600 x 765 pixels |
 |
Photo #: NH 98911
USS Abatan (AW-4)
Plan view looking aft from amidships, taken at the Mare Island
Navy Yard, California, 20 February 1945.
Circles mark recent alterations to the ship.
Note motor launches, winches, cargo booms and other equipment.
Official U.S. Navy Photograph, from the collections of the
Naval Historical Center.
Online Image: 165KB; 600 x 765 pixels |
 |
For more images concerning this ship, see:
USS Abatan (AW-4) -- Stationed
at Guantanamo Bay, 1962-1980.
Return to Naval
Historical Center home page.
Page made 28 October 2003