USS Samuel Gompers (AD-37) was a destroyer tender, the first of her class, and designed to be a floating repair shop for ships of the U.S. Navy either in port or at sea.

The vessel was named for Samuel Gompers, a distinguished American labor leader during the late nineteenth century.

Samuel Gompers was laid down on 9 July 1964 by the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard, Bremerton, Washington and launched on 14 May 1966; sponsored by Mrs. Joseph Holmes.

After her commissioning, Samuel Gompers spent the next several months in initial outfitting, with acceptance trials taking place from 28 August to 1 September.

The next month, the destroyer tender underwent various inspections as she was to be deployed to the western Pacific without the benefit of a prior shakedown cruise.

All inspections showed that the ship was ready for sea, and she departed San Diego on 10 November for Pearl Harbor.

Following a weapons transfer from Prairie, Samuel Gompers stood out of Pearl Harbor on 20 November bound for Yokosuka, Japan.

However, the capture of USS Pueblo by North Korea brought increased activity by the Pacific Fleet in the Sea of Japan as part of Operation Formation Star.

On 15 November, the tender departed San Diego, with Task Unit (TU) 15.8.2, bound for Subic Bay, via Pearl Harbor and Guam, and her second WestPac deployment.

She provided underway replenishment for the accompanying ships three times during the transit, including hi-lining a seaman from Swenson for an emergency operation on Thanksgiving Day, 28 November.

When she reached her home port on 31 July, she remained there to provide repair services to fleet units until mid-July 1973.

"[citation needed] In October 1978, while in San Diego, Samuel Gompers took women on board as crew members for the first time; one of the first ships in the fleet to do so.

The principal speaker was Rear Admiral James F. Amerault, Commander, Western Hemisphere Group, and a former Samuel Gompers skipper.

EX-Samuel Gompers departed Portsmouth at 08:30 on 18 July 2003 under tow of USNS Apache en route to her SINKEX position.

This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships.