USS Matagorda ( AVP - 22 ) USS " Matagorda " ( AVP - 22 / AG - 122 ) was a United States Navy " Barnegat " - class seaplane tender in commission from 1941 to 1946 . Construction , commissioning , and shakedown . " Matagorda " ( AVP 22 ) was laid down by Boston Navy Yard , Boston , Massachusetts , on 6 September 1940 . She was launched on 18 March 1941 , sponsored by Miss Nancy Rowland Brand , and commissioned at Boston on 16 December 1941 with Commander Stanley J . Michael in command . " Matagorda " remained at Boston until 3 April 1942 , when she departed for shakedown and training in Chesapeake Bay . She returned to Boston on 22 April 1942 . World War II service . Operations in the Galápagos Islands , Panama Canal Zone , and Caribbean . After returning to Boston , " Matagorda " joined Patrol Wings Atlantic ( PatWingLant ) and loaded torpedo es and ordnance stores at Newport , Rhode Island . On 12 May 1942 she departed Newport and moved to Seymour Island in the Galápagos Islands . Arriving there on 25 May 1942 , she relieved seaplane tender USS " Osmond Ingram " ( AVD - 2 ) and began tending seaplane s of Patrol Wing 3 ( PatWing 3 ) . After these duties ended , " Matagorda " arrived at Coco Solo in the Panama Canal Zone on 20 June 1942 . She escorted merchant ships to Cuba and Jamaica before resuming seaplane tending duty on 22 July 1942 , this time from bases in Central America and South America : She operated out of Puerto Castilla , Honduras , and Cartagena , Colombia until returning to the Panama Canal Zone on 12 November 1942 . Following a supply and escort run to Puerto Rico and Trinidad , " Matagorda " departed Port of Spain , Trinidad , on 23 November 1942 and on 4 December 1942 arrived at Boston for alterations and overhaul . Voyage to Newfoundland . on 5 January 1943 , " Matagorda " departed Boston to carry troops and supplies to Naval Station Argentia , Newfoundland , returning to Boston on 14 January 1943 . Return to the Caribbean . After loading aviation supplies at Norfolk , Virginia , " Matagorda " arrived at San Juan , Puerto Rico , on 11 February 1943 . She operated primarily out of Puerto Rico until early August 1943 , escorting merchant ships and transporting ordnance and aviation supplies to bases in the Caribbean . She called at the Virgin Islands , Cuba , the Dominican Republic , and Trinidad . North Atlantic operations . " Matagorda " departed San Juan on 3 August 1943 and steamed via Bermuda and Norfolk to Argentia , where she arrived on 26 August 1943 . On 28 August 1943 she joined Convoy UT - 1 and made a voyage to the United Kingdom , arriving at Pembroke , Wales , on 4 September 1943 . After unloading cargo , she sailed via Iceland and Boston to Norfolk , arriving there on 27 September 1943 . Between 5 October 1943 and 5 March 1944 she made two more round trips across the Atlantic Ocean . She carried men and cargo to Pembroke and Bristol , England , and made escort and supply runs to Casablanca , French Morocco , and Gibraltar . South Atlantic operations . Departing Boston on 18 April 1944 , " Matagorda " loaded seaplane supplies at Bayonne , New Jersey , and departed Bayonne on 22 April 1944 for Brazil , reaching Recife , Brazil , on 6 May 1944 . Until the beginning of April 1945 , she conducted extensive training and supply operations and ranged Brazilian waters from Belém to Florianópolis . In late May 1944 and again in July 1944 she tended seaplanes at Florianópolis . " Matagorda " interrupted this duty on 24 July 1944 and 25 July 1944 , when she searched for and rescued the entire crew of 67 men from the American merchant ship SS " William Gaston " , torpedo ed by a German submarine late on 23 July 1944 off the Brazilian coast . Again , while operating out of Fortaleza , she rescued five survivors of a downed Consolidated PBY - 5 Catalina flying boat plus the crew from an assisting Martin PBM Mariner flying boat on 29 August 1944 . " Matagorda " made numerous runs along the Brazilian coast during supply and training missions . Based at Recife , she visited many Brazilian ports including Vitória , Natal , the island of Fernando de Noronha , Bahia , and Rio de Janeiro . Voyages to the Caribbean . " Matagorda " departed Recife on 1 April 1945 , touched briefly at San Juan , Puerto Rico , and reached Norfolk on 14 April 1945 . From 2 June 1945 to 6 July 1945 she made two runs to Bermuda and Puerto Rico , returning to Norfolk with men of seaplane squadrons . Conversion to press information ship . " Matagorda " steamed to New York City on 10 July 1945 to begin conversion to a press information ship . As such her mission would be to provide all proper new facilities for the press and transport them to the coast of Japan where they would cover operations “ Olympic ” and “ Coronet ” , projected for the invasion of Japan in 1945 and 1946 . She was reclassified as a " miscellaneous auxiliary " and redesignated AG - 122 on 30 July 1945 . The cessation of hostilities with Japan and end of World War II came on 15 August 1945 made the invasion of Japan unnecessary , and " Matagorda " s conversion was halted in early September 1945 . Post - World War II U . S . Navy service . Converted back into a seaplane tender and once again designated AVP - 22 as of 10 September 1945 , " Matagorda " departed New York City for Norfolk on 17 October 1945 . On 31 October 1945 she departed Norfolk for Orange , Texas . Arriving there on 5 November 1945 for inactivation , she was decommissioned on 20 February 1946 and laid up in the Atlantic Reserve Fleet s Texas Group at Orange . United States Coast Guard service . " Matagorda " was loaned to the United States Coast Guard on 7 March 1949 and commissioned on 8 June 1949 as the Coast Guard cutter USCGC " Matagorda " ( WAVP - 373 ) . Reclassified as a high endurance cutter and redesignated WHEC - 373 on 1 May 1966 , her primary duty was to patrol ocean stations in the North Atlantic and the Pacific Ocean , providing weather - reporting services and engaging in search - and - rescue and law - enforcement operations . Decommissioned in October 1967 , " Matagorda " was returned to the U . S . Navy in October 1968 and sunk as a target off Hawaii in October 1969 .