The Currituck-class seaplane tenders were four ships built for the United States Navy during World War II.

In the interwar period, the United States Navy sought to find a cheaper alternative to the construction of airstrips on land for its air fleet.

The distances required for air support, primarily in the Pacific Theater, were long and interwar naval treaties limited the size of aircraft carriers.

The primary role of the Currituck class was reconnaissance as their mobility gave them an advantage of land-based aircraft.

[1] As the designs developed, alternative uses for the Currituck class was envisaged, with the United States Marine Corps planning to use them for advanced base operations, flying Marine Corps dive bomber aircraft and another one saw the ships used to transport aircraft to the front lines.

[7] The ship was modernized under the 1957 conversions program at the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard and re-entered service on 20 August 1960.

[11] In 1958 Norton Sound would be the launch platform for the Operation Argus nuclear tests in the south Atlantic.