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| USS Camden (AS-6) | |
|---|---|
| Shipname | USS Camden (AS-6) |
| Shiptype | Submarine tender |
| Builder | New York Shipbuilding Corporation |
| Laid down | 16 April 1914 |
| Launched | 21 December 1915 |
| Commissioned | 28 December 1915 |
| Decommissioned | 9 July 1946 |
| Fate | Sold for scrapping, 1947 |
| Displacement | 6,870 tons (standard) |
| Length | 558 ft |
| Beam | 65 ft |
| Draft | 26 ft |
| Propulsion | Steam turbines |
| Speed | 15 knots |
| Complement | ~530 |
| Armament | Various during service |
USS Camden (AS-6) was a United States Navy submarine tender converted from a commercial tanker and served from World War I through World War II. Built by the New York Shipbuilding Corporation for the Standard Oil Company as SS Oriskany, she was acquired by the United States Navy and commissioned to support submarine operations, repair craft, and provide logistics for the United States Atlantic Fleet and later Pacific forces. Over her three decades of service she was involved with early submarine development, interwar fleet operations, and wartime support during major Pacific Theater campaigns.
Camden began life as SS Oriskany, laid down by the New York Shipbuilding Corporation at Camden, New Jersey and launched in December 1915. Designed as a commercial oil tanker for Standard Oil Company, her hull form, steam turbine propulsion, and tank arrangement reflected contemporary maritime engineering practices influenced by vessels like the USS Maumee (AO-2). After acquisition by the United States Navy she underwent conversion at the Philadelphia Navy Yard to install heavy machine shops, electrical generators, spare parts storage, and berthing to function as a tender for early submarine classes including the H-class submarine and later R-class units.
Following commissioning in December 1915, Camden operated with the Atlantic Fleet providing repair and support to submarines along the United States East Coast and in the Caribbean Sea. During the World War I period she facilitated operations that connected to escort and antisubmarine efforts associated with the United States Navy expansion and the establishment of forward bases like Guantanamo Bay Naval Base. Interwar assignments included fleet exercises with the Battle Fleet and deployments to Panama Canal Zone facilities, supporting submarine development programs alongside institutions such as the Naval Submarine Base New London.
As a submarine tender, Camden functioned as a mobile depot capable of repair, maintenance, and logistical resupply for classes including Submarine Force, U.S. Atlantic Fleet units and later Submarine Force, U.S. Pacific Fleet boats. She carried specialized shops for hull work, diesel engine overhaul, battery refurbishing, and torpedo handling—services crucial to boats such as the S-class submarine and Balao-class submarine during fleet operations. Camden's capabilities linked to shore establishments like Pearl Harbor, Cavite Navy Yard, and Manila Bay anchorages, enabling sustained submarine patrols and training with squadrons from bases like Submarine Squadron 1.
Throughout her career Camden underwent multiple modifications and reclassifications to meet evolving naval requirements. Converted from a tanker to AS-6, she received armament and communication upgrades reflecting lessons from World War I and later World War II requirements, including installation of antiaircraft armament to counter threats akin to those encountered at Pearl Harbor and in the Philippine Islands. Administrative reclassifications paralleled shifts in fleet organization and technological change affecting submarine support doctrine, with periodic overhauls at naval shipyards such as Puget Sound Navy Yard and modernization efforts tied to naval programs under the Bureau of Ships.
Camden's notable deployments included service in the Philippine Islands prior to and during the early months of World War II in the Pacific Theater, where she supported boats involved in defensive operations around Cavite and Corregidor. She provided repair and logistic services during fleet maneuvers and war patrol preparations that connected to larger actions involving elements of the Asiatic Fleet, United States Asiatic Fleet, and later Pacific fleet operations. Although not a combatant in fleet battles like Battle of Midway or Guadalcanal Campaign, Camden's sustainment role had tactical importance akin to tenders supporting submarine warfare patrols that interplayed with campaigns such as the Solomon Islands campaign and Philippine campaign (1944–45) by enabling forward-deployed submarines to remain operational.
After wartime service and postwar demobilization, Camden was decommissioned on 9 July 1946 amid reductions of the United States Navy fleet and the phasing out of older auxiliaries. Struck from the Naval Vessel Register, she was sold for scrapping in 1947, concluding a career that intersected with institutions and events such as the Philadelphia Navy Yard, Naval History and Heritage Command records, and the broader transition of naval logistics from prewar to Cold War structures. Category:Submarine tenders of the United States Navy