USS Rockaway ( AVP - 29 ) USS " Rockaway " ( AVP - 29 / 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 USCGC " Rockaway " ( WAVP - 377 ) , later WAGO - 377 , WHEC - 377 , and WOLE - 377 , from 1949 to 1972 . Construction and commissioning . " Rockaway " was laid down on 30 June 1941 by Associated Shipbuilders , Inc . , at Seattle , Washington . She was launched on 14 February 1942 , sponsored by Mrs . Z . E . Briggs , and commissioned on 6 January 1943 with Commander H . C . Doan in command . World War II service . Following shakedown , the seaplane tender " Rockaway " became a unit of the U . S . Atlantic Fleet , with home base at Norfolk , Virginia , in April 1943 . Transatlantic voyages and North African service . From April 1943 until October 1944 , " Rockaway " delivered supplies and personnel to outlying bases in the North Atlantic Ocean . She transferred a complete seaplane squadron from Newfoundland to England , carried aviation cargo from Norfolk , Virginia to the aircraft carrier USS " Ranger " ( CV - 4 ) at Scapa Flow in the Orkney Islands , delivered secret radar equipment to England to be used in the Normandy invasion of 6 June 1944 , performed guard duty at Casablanca , French Morocco , for two months , and transported aircraft engines to the Azores " Rockaway " completed nine round trips across the Atlantic during this interval , steaming independently . On several occasions , she made submarine contacts and dropped depth charge s , but with undetermined results . Invasion of France . During the invasion of France in June 1944 , " Rockaway " performed sundry duties for 20 days - patrol and convoy work in the English Channel , flagship duty for Admiral J . Wilkes , USN , transportation of United States Army and U . S . Navy personnel , and protection of Allied beachhead s against German air attacks . Operations from the Panama Canal Zone . After a navy yard period in November 1944 , " Rockaway " was based in the Panama Canal Zone , completing two trips to the Galapagos Islands with aviation supplies and personnel . In December 1944 she rescued 13 survivors from a Martin PBM Mariner flying boat which had crashed off Coco Solo , Panama . Operations in Brazil . On 21 February 1945 , " Rockaway " , while steaming to Recife , Brazil , located and guarded a disabled tanker for three days until a fleet tug arrived on the scene to tow the tanker . " Rockaway " operated in Brazil from February 1945 to July 1945 , supplying the various naval bases from Belém to Bahia , Brazil , with men and equipment . Conversion to press information ship begun . In July 1945 , " Rockaway " began conversion at the Boston Navy Yard in Boston , Massachusetts , into a press information ship . Reclassified as a miscellaneous auxiliary and redesignated AG - 123 on 30 July 1945 , her conversion was designed to allow her to carry 50 correspondents during the invasion of Japan , which was scheduled for 1945 - 1946 . After hostilities with Japan ended on 15 August 1945 before an invasion could occur , she was reconverted into a seaplane tender . Honors and awards . Rockaway earned one battle star for her World War II service . Post - World War II U . S . Navy service and inactivation . " Rockaway " sailed from Boston on 26 October 1945 . She reported to the Inactive Fleet at Orange , Texas , on 12 November 1945 . Decommissioned there on 21 March 1946 , " Rockaway " was placed in reserve and berthed in the Atlantic Reserve Fleet at Orange . United States Coast Guard service . The U . S . Navy loaned " Rockaway " to the United States Coast Guard on 24 December 1948 , which commissioned her as Coast Guard cutter USCGC " Rockaway " ( WAVP - 377 ) in 1949 , and permanently transferred her to the Coast Guard in 1966 . While operating with the Coast Guard , " Rockaway " performed a variety of tasks . Her primary duty until 1965 was to patrol ocean stations in the Atlantic Ocean to provide weather reporting services and engage in search - and - rescue and law - enforcement operations . In 1965 she became an " oceanographic vessel " , redesignated WAGO - 377 , and her focus shifted to oceanographic survey work . She became a high endurance cutter , WHEC - 377 , in 1966 , and an " offshire law - enforcement vessel , " WOLE - 377 , in 1971 . She was sold for scrapping in 1972 .