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SS Curtiss (T-AVB 4)

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Delivered in 1969 as SS MORMACSKY, the ship entered civilian service for Moore-McCormack Lines and was later renamed SS GREAT REPUBLIC. From December 17, 1985 - July 3, 1987, the ship underwent a conversion to an Aviation Maintenance Logistics Ship at Todd Shipyards, Galveston, Tx., and was renamed and placed in service as SS CURTISS (T-AVB 4) on August 18, 1987. She was named in honor of American aviation pioneer Glenn Hammond Curtiss and became the second United States vessel named for Curtiss. Subsequently, CURTISS was assigned to the Ready Reserve Force and - when activated - is tasked to provide support for US Marine Corps aircraft. The ship is presently held in reduced operation status at San Diego, Calif., able to be fully activated within 5 days.

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Crew List:

This section contains the names of sailors who served aboard SS CURTISS. It is no official listing but contains the names of sailors who submitted their information.

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About the Ship's Name:

SS CURTISS was named in honor of Glenn Hammond Curtiss (1878-1930), an American aviation pioneer, aircraft designer and manufacturer. Originally known for building high-performance motorcycles and engines, Curtiss became one of the leading figures in early American aviation. He was a member of the Aerial Experiment Association and made important contributions to aircraft design, flight controls and engine development. Curtiss also played a major role in the development of seaplanes and flying boats and worked closely with the U.S. Navy during the formative years of naval aviation. His aircraft and companies helped establish many of the technical and operational foundations of military and commercial aviation in the United States.

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SS CURTISS History:

SS CURTISS began her career as a commercial cargo ship almost two decades before entering service in her later military-support role. She was laid down as SS MORMACSKY, Maritime Administration hull MA-222, at Ingalls Shipbuilding in Pascagoula, Mississippi, on April 16, 1968. Designed as a C5-S-78A breakbulk and container cargo ship, she was launched on December 28, 1968, and entered commercial service with Moore-McCormack Lines on July 21, 1969. On October 19, 1970, the vessel was renamed SS GREAT REPUBLIC. She subsequently continued in commercial service before being acquired by the United States Maritime Administration in 1981. MARAD records list November 13, 1981, as the date on which she entered the government reserve-fleet inventory.

The acquisition of SS GREAT REPUBLIC ultimately provided the United States Marine Corps with the hull for the West Coast member of a new two-ship aviation-logistics force. During the early 1980s, the Marine Corps examined methods of deploying an aviation intermediate-maintenance organization with a Marine expeditionary force without requiring immediate access to an established maintenance base ashore. The concept resulted in the conversion of SS GREAT REPUBLIC and the former commercial cargo ship that became SS WRIGHT (T-AVB 3) into Aviation Logistics Support Ships. The ships were intended to transport a substantial portion of a Marine Aviation Logistics Squadron, including personnel, mobile workshops, test equipment, repair machinery, spare parts, vehicles and other aviation-support material, and to permit much of that organization to operate while still aboard ship if required.

SS GREAT REPUBLIC was converted at Todd Shipyards-Galveston Division in Texas. The conversion retained the basic characteristics of the large commercial C5-S-78A hull while adapting the cargo spaces for the Marine aviation-support mission. A roll-on/roll-off deck running through the ship, a stern ramp, side ports and cargo-handling equipment allowed mobile maintenance facilities and vehicles to be loaded and discharged. Once aboard, standardized mobile facilities could be connected and operated as working aviation-maintenance shops. A helicopter landing platform allowed aircraft components, personnel and supplies to be transferred between the ship and supported forces. She was unarmed. Her normal civilian operating complement was comparatively small, while accommodations were available for more than 300 additional personnel when a Marine aviation-logistics organization embarked.

The ship was renamed SS CURTISS on January 27, 1986, and following conversion, SS CURTISS was placed in service with the Military Sealift Command on April 11, 1987. She served as the West Coast counterpart to SS WRIGHT, supporting Marine aviation forces principally associated with the Pacific. Unlike a commissioned Navy warship, SS CURTISS was operated by civilian merchant mariners. During periods without an operational requirement, she was maintained with a reduced crew, allowing the vessel to remain available for rapid activation without the cost of continuous full operation.

The two T-AVBs were initially administered under a special Department of Defense arrangement rather than as ordinary Ready Reserve Force ships. Their purpose was nevertheless closely related to the reserve sealift mission: they were to remain available in reduced operating status and be brought to full operating condition when Marine Corps aviation forces required their specialized maintenance capability. SS CURTISS became associated with Port Hueneme, California, as her principal West Coast layberth. A transit of the Panama Canal in September 1987 is documented shortly after the conversion period.

The Iraqi invasion of Kuwait on August 2, 1990, produced the first major operational test of the T-AVB concept. As the United States began the rapid deployment of military forces to Saudi Arabia for Operation Desert Shield, Marine Aviation Logistics Squadron 16 prepared aviation intermediate-maintenance resources to support the large Marine rotary-wing force moving to Southwest Asia. On August 20, 1990, MALS-16 began its deployment. The event marked several firsts for Marine aviation logistics: it was the first Marine Aviation Logistics Squadron to deploy as such, the first to deploy in support of combat operations and the first to deploy aboard a T-AVB. Naval historical records identify August 22 as the beginning of the period during which MALS-16 was embarked aboard SS CURTISS.

The passage to Southwest Asia was delayed by unexpected machinery problems. SS CURTISS eventually reached Saudi Arabia on September 30, 1990.

The two aviation-logistics ships performed complementary functions during the Gulf deployment. SS CURTISS carried maintenance resources principally associated with the Marine rotary-wing aviation force, while SS WRIGHT was associated principally with fixed-wing support. SS CURTISS operated from the Al Jubayl area on the Saudi Arabian Gulf coast, one of the principal ports through which Marine Corps personnel, vehicles, ammunition and other material entered the theater. The arrival of the ship enabled MALS-16 to expand the intermediate-level maintenance network supporting Marine helicopter units dispersed across several operating locations.

During the buildup for combat operations, the embarked and shore-based aviation-logistics organization supported a force that ultimately exceeded 100 aircraft. Operation Desert Storm began on January 17, 1991, when coalition forces opened the offensive campaign against Iraqi forces occupying Kuwait. MALS-16 provided logistical support to more than 106 aircraft operating from several sites under difficult desert conditions. On January 18, MALS-16 Marines moved into El Jabbar airfield during continuing combat activity and began work associated with clearing the airfield so that aviation operations could be established there.

By early 1991, SS CURTISS was operating from Al Jubayl, where she and other logistics and amphibious ships were exposed to the threat posed by Iraqi ballistic missiles. During the early hours of February 16, 1991, an Iraqi Al Hussein ballistic missile, commonly described as a Scud, fell in the port area only a few hundred yards from a heavily used pier. SS CURTISS, SS WRIGHT and USS TARAWA (LHA 1) were among the ships present in the harbor area at the time. Large quantities of military supplies, including ammunition and fuel, were also being handled through Al Jubayl. The missile did not cause a major interruption to the aviation-logistics mission.

MALS-16 continued its work through the remainder of the campaign and returned to Marine Corps Air Station Tustin, California, on March 18, 1991. That date refers to the return of the squadron rather than necessarily the termination of all SS CURTISS activity in the theater. Maritime Administration reporting states that SS CURTISS and SS WRIGHT provided full operating services for the Marine Corps in the Persian Gulf during the August 1990-June 1991 period. The Gulf War deployment therefore represented considerably more than a simple transport mission: the T-AVB had functioned as part of the aviation-maintenance infrastructure supporting Marine combat operations.

The demanding deployment was followed by an extensive maintenance period. By September 30, 1991, SS CURTISS was undergoing drydocking, repairs and equipment upgrades. Unlike SS WRIGHT, which subsequently returned to the Persian Gulf for the movement of retrograde cargo, SS CURTISS remained in the United States during her postwar work. Her deactivation was completed in August 1992, after which she was placed at her layberth at the Naval Construction Battalion Center at Port Hueneme. While inactive, the ship was also used periodically to train longshoremen and warehouse personnel in the operation of her cargo-handling equipment.

A major activation followed in February 1994 for Operation Determined Warrior in Hawaii. During the first phase of the operation, beginning during the week of February 14, personnel from Marine Aviation Logistics Squadron 24 and Brigade Service Support Group 1 moved aviation-support equipment belonging to the First Marine Expeditionary Brigade from Marine Corps Air Station Kaneohe Bay to Naval Base Pearl Harbor. SS CURTISS was moored at Pier K-11, where the aviation-logistics onload was conducted.

The operation made extensive use of the ship's specialized capabilities. About 80 Marines from MALS-24 formed part of an approximately 120-person Marine element scheduled to operate aboard SS CURTISS. Additional Marines were drawn from MALS-11, MALS-13, MALS-16 and MALS-39 at El Toro, Tustin and Yuma. The embarked maintenance organization included the capability to repair F/A-18 components while the ship was underway. Equipment being returned to the continental United States was loaded aboard for transportation to California and onward movement to Marine Corps Air Station El Toro. The cargo also included High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicles from the Prepositioned War Reserve on Ford Island that were being reassigned to mainland units. Contemporary Marine Corps reporting described Determined Warrior as the largest operational use of SS CURTISS since Desert Shield. The operation demonstrated that the T-AVB could function simultaneously as a transport and as an operating aviation intermediate-maintenance facility.

SS CURTISS returned to a large-scale Marine aviation-support role during Kernel Blitz 95. From March 18 through April 7, 1995, Marine Aviation Logistics Squadron 16 served as the lead MALS for the SS CURTISS portion of the exercise. The squadron coordinated activation of the ship, loading of mobile facilities and equipment, intermediate-level aviation-logistics operations aboard, offloading and the subsequent retrograde of personnel and material. The exercise took place in connection with the larger Kernel Blitz training activity along the Southern California coast and in the Camp Pendleton area and again tested the ability to place a functioning aviation-maintenance organization aboard the ship and use it in support of expeditionary aviation.

During the following years, SS CURTISS returned to reduced operating status at Port Hueneme between activations. A significant administrative change occurred at the beginning of Fiscal Year 1998. Until that point, SS CURTISS and SS WRIGHT had been maintained under a separate Department of Defense arrangement described by the Maritime Administration as similar to Ready Reserve Force status. At the beginning of Fiscal Year 1998, the two aviation-logistics ships were formally transferred to the Ready Reserve Force. During Fiscal Year 1999, their funding was fully incorporated into the RRF maintenance and repair account. SS CURTISS remained outported at Port Hueneme and continued to be maintained for activation when required by the Marine Corps.

One of the largest post-Gulf War T-AVB activations began on April 20, 2001, when SS CURTISS was temporarily activated for Pacific Provider 21. Marine Aviation Logistics Squadron 16 led the planning and execution of the exercise, which Marine Corps records described as the largest activation of a T-AVB since Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm. More than 300 Marines participated during approximately a month of shipborne aviation-logistics training in Southern California waters.

The initial phase at Port Hueneme included sea trials, loading of mobile maintenance facilities and supporting equipment and familiarization with shipboard procedures. Once underway, the embarked aviation-logistics organization practiced providing intermediate-level maintenance from the ship. Aircraft components could be delivered to SS CURTISS, repaired or tested in the mobile facilities aboard and then returned to supported aviation units. The training included work on equipment associated with both fixed-wing and rotary-wing aircraft. CH-53 Super Stallion helicopters were used during logistics evolutions involving the ship, while participating personnel also practiced aircraft rescue and firefighting, security and other procedures required to operate a large aviation-maintenance organization aboard a civilian-crewed reserve vessel. At the conclusion of Pacific Provider 21, SS CURTISS returned to her reduced-operating-status mission.

The buildup for operations against Iraq resulted in another major activation in early 2003. In January, Marine Aviation Logistics Squadron 39 deployed as a command in support of Operations Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom, with elements both aboard SS CURTISS and ashore at Ali Al Salem Air Base in Kuwait and, subsequently, at forward operating locations in Iraq. MALS-16 also deployed personnel in several aviation-support detachments between January 4 and March 14, including personnel assigned to the T-AVB.

When Operation Iraqi Freedom began in March 2003, SS CURTISS formed part of a distributed Marine aviation-maintenance system extending between the ship, Kuwait and forward locations in Iraq. The T-AVB's principal operational emphasis was support for rotary-wing aviation. MALS-39 maintained capabilities both aboard SS CURTISS and at Ali Al Salem, allowing components to be routed between operational units, shore facilities and the ship rather than requiring all intermediate-level maintenance resources to be established at a single land base.

The aviation force supported through this network included more than 130 Marine helicopters, among them UH-1 Hueys, AH-1 Cobras, CH-46 Sea Knights and CH-53 heavy-lift helicopters. Marine Corps historical documentation records an average component repair cycle of approximately two days for the organization. MALS-39 also acted as the engine manager for Marine helicopter forces in the United States Central Command area of operations and was responsible for the buildup, delivery and installation of 109 engines during the campaign. As operations moved farther into Iraq, approximately 70 maintenance Marines moved forward to establish additional aviation-support capability at An Numaniyah. SS CURTISS meanwhile remained part of the overall sea-based maintenance network.

The 2003 employment demonstrated the operating mode envisioned when the vessel had been converted: rather than functioning only as transportation for workshops that would immediately be moved ashore, SS CURTISS could retain maintenance facilities aboard and support aircraft operating elsewhere through the movement of components and supplies between ship and shore. Marine Aviation Logistics Squadron 39 subsequently received recognition as the Marine Aviation Logistics Squadron of the Year for 2003.

SS CURTISS returned to operational service for another lengthy logistics mission in March 2005. On March 2, Marines representing 13 aviation commands boarded the ship for T-AVB Activation and Operation Iraqi Freedom Reconstitution 2005. More than 100 Marines, including personnel from Third Marine Aircraft Wing units, participated. The planned voyage was intended to take the ship from the West Coast through the Panama Canal to Military Ocean Terminal Sunny Point, North Carolina, where aviation-logistics equipment belonging to the Second Marine Aircraft Wing was to be recovered as part of the post-Iraq reconstitution process.

SS CURTISS completed her transit of the Panama Canal on March 13, 2005. It was the ship's first passage through the canal since September 1987, shortly after her conversion for military use. The 2005 transit took nearly 30 hours.

By the latter half of the decade, San Diego was regularly used for SS CURTISS activities. In February 2006, the ship was documented there in reduced operating status while her civilian crew prepared the vessel for a Maritime Administration safety inspection. The reduced-status arrangement continued to involve a small merchant-marine retention crew responsible for maintaining machinery and ship systems and preparing the vessel for activation when required.

A significant training event was conducted aboard SS CURTISS at Naval Base San Diego from March 22 through March 26, 2010. Marines from Marine Wing Communications Squadron 38 and Marine Aviation Logistics Squadrons 11, 13, 16 and 39, together with MALS-12 personnel from Hawaii, participated in a load exercise intended in part to prepare for a larger activation the following year. Mobile maintenance facilities were loaded aboard, connected to shipboard services and subsequently unloaded. Marines also trained in the operation of the vessel's cargo booms, vehicle handling and shipboard communications systems. The event concentrated on the practical procedures required to convert SS CURTISS from reduced operating status into a functioning aviation-logistics platform.

That preparation led into Pacific Horizon 11. T-AVB-related training began on February 18, 2011, and continued through March 18, while the principal SS CURTISS portion of Pacific Horizon ran from March 1 through March 14. Marine Aviation Logistics Squadron 39 served as the lead aviation-logistics organization. Approximately 120 personnel and 85 mobile facilities were associated with the T-AVB portion of the training.

Pacific Horizon combined aviation logistics with a broader Maritime Prepositioning Force scenario. USNS SGT. WILLIAM R. BUTTON (T-AK 3012) was also employed during the exercise, particularly for maritime prepositioning and cargo-transfer operations off Camp Pendleton. SS CURTISS provided the specialized aviation intermediate-maintenance component. The exercise practiced movement of cargo and equipment between ships and expeditionary shore locations without depending exclusively on a developed commercial port. Helicopter operations were incorporated into the maritime logistics system, while personnel aboard SS CURTISS trained to maintain aviation components in the ship's mobile facilities.

SS CURTISS next played a documented role in the Maritime Prepositioning Force portion of Dawn Blitz 2013. From June 13 through June 18, training at Naval Base Coronado and the Silver Strand involved SS CURTISS and USNS 1ST LT JACK LUMMUS (T-AK 3011), together with Naval Beach Group 1 and Marine forces. Approximately 100 vehicles and other items of equipment, including amphibious assault vehicles, seven-ton trucks and roughly 50 supply containers, were moved during the Maritime Prepositioning Force training. Marine personnel were also assigned to an embarkation security team aboard SS CURTISS. The activity integrated the aviation-logistics ship with wider amphibious and prepositioning-force procedures rather than using her solely as an independent maintenance vessel.

The ship returned to Dawn Blitz for the 2015 iteration of the multinational exercise off Southern California. Dawn Blitz 15 brought together United States Navy and Marine Corps forces with units from Japan, Mexico and New Zealand to train amphibious operations and command-and-control procedures.

On September 2, 2015, SS CURTISS participated in a simulated strait transit in the Pacific with USS BOXER (LHD 4), USS NEW ORLEANS (LPD 18) and USS SOMERSET (LPD 25). Mexican Navy ships ARM USUMACINTA (A 412) and ARM REVOLUCION (P 164) also participated in the strait-transit evolution. Two days later, on September 4, SS CURTISS joined a larger multinational photo exercise. The formation included USS BOXER, USS HARPERS FERRY (LSD 49), USS NEW ORLEANS, USS SOMERSET, ARM USUMACINTA, ARM REVOLUCION, JS HYUGA (DDH 181), JS ASHIGARA (DDG 178) and JS KUNISAKI (LST 4003). These evolutions placed the civilian-crewed aviation-logistics ship within a multinational amphibious formation and provided training in operating the T-AVB as part of a larger naval force.

SS CURTISS subsequently supported Valiant Shield 18, a major United States joint exercise in the western Pacific. On August 29, 2018, Marines from the First, Third and Fourth Marine Aircraft Wings began embarking aboard the ship and loading mobile maintenance facilities and related aviation-support equipment. Shipboard cranes were used to place the mobile facilities aboard, and Marines subsequently conducted familiarization, force-protection and aviation-logistics preparations while underway.

Marine Aviation Logistics Squadron 11 provided an expeditionary aviation-logistics element during the deployment. In September, SS CURTISS operated in the waters around Guam as part of Valiant Shield. In addition to aviation-logistics work, the ship was used for joint training outside her primary maintenance function. On September 18, Navy personnel conducted helicopter-based boarding, search and seizure training involving SS CURTISS. MH-60S Seahawk helicopters from Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron 25 operated with the ship, and personnel associated with Explosive Ordnance Disposal Mobile Unit 5 used the flight deck during helicopter-insertion training. On September 19, an MH-60S was again documented operating from SS CURTISS off Guam.

SS CURTISS arrived at Port Hueneme on March 6, 2019, for Pacific Blitz 19. Marines, including personnel from Marine Aviation Logistics Squadron 11, participated in loading mobile maintenance facilities and other aviation-support equipment aboard. The wider exercise ran from March 12 through March 31 and combined the former Pacific Horizon and Dawn Blitz training concepts into a larger event focused on maritime prepositioning, distributed operations and expeditionary logistics.

More than 100 Marines from Marine Aviation Logistics Squadron 16 subsequently operated from SS CURTISS during Pacific Blitz. The embarked maintainers used the mobile facilities to test, repair and maintain aircraft components while the ship was underway. By the end of the exercise, the aviation-maintenance organization aboard had repaired or otherwise processed 134 components. Boats, MV-22 Ospreys and CH-53E Super Stallions were used as part of the broader logistics network for moving people, components and supplies between dispersed locations.

The wider Pacific Blitz naval force included USS SOMERSET, USS NEW ORLEANS, USS MICHAEL MURPHY (DDG 112) and USNS SGT. WILLIAM R. BUTTON. The exercise extended well beyond the T-AVB mission and included maritime prepositioning, expeditionary-base construction, aviation support, distributed supply and at-sea logistics. On March 13, Navy cargo-handling personnel also practiced rapidly reloading a Standard Missile aboard USS MICHAEL MURPHY at Seal Beach Naval Weapons Station, illustrating the broader emphasis of Pacific Blitz on sustaining distributed naval forces.

Later in 2019, SS CURTISS participated in Turbo Activation 19 Plus, a large-scale readiness test of the United States sealift fleet. The exercise began on September 16 and simultaneously activated 33 Ready Reserve Force vessels, making it one of the largest such activations conducted in decades. The ships underwent an initial period of in-port activation procedures followed by at-sea operations intended to evaluate propulsion, communications and general readiness under conditions resembling a major surge requirement.

SS CURTISS successfully completed the principal dynamic propulsion tests required during Turbo Activation 19 Plus. After the main at-sea phase, she was among a smaller group of participating vessels retained for additional Military Sealift Command-led communications training. The overall activation concluded later in September, with SS CURTISS returning to reduced operating status after completing the required readiness evolutions. Unlike the recurring Marine aviation exercises, Turbo Activation primarily evaluated the ship as part of the national strategic sealift fleet and therefore tested the underlying readiness of the vessel itself rather than concentrating only on her embarked aviation-maintenance mission.

SS CURTISS continued to support evolving Marine expeditionary concepts during Summer Fury 21. On July 13, 2021, Marine and Navy personnel were preparing the ship at Naval Base San Diego. On July 14, she departed with Third Marine Aircraft Wing personnel embarked for the Advanced Naval Basing portion of Summer Fury. The exercise examined distributed aviation operations and the ability to sustain aviation forces through a network of geographically separated sites rather than relying on a single large air station. SS CURTISS served as an afloat logistics and sustainment platform and provided an additional node within the exercise's aviation command-and-control and support structure.

The following year, the ship was again used during Winter Fury 22. Aviation-logistics personnel operated from SS CURTISS while practicing tactical communications, maintenance support and ground-logistics procedures associated with distributed operations in a maritime environment. At the conclusion of the shipboard phase, Marines were documented unloading mobile maintenance facilities from SS CURTISS at Naval Base San Diego on February 10, 2022.

A considerably more ambitious deployment followed in 2023. On March 13, Marines from across the Third Marine Aircraft Wing, with participation from Fourth Marine Aircraft Wing personnel, worked with the merchant-marine crew at Naval Base San Diego to load aviation-support equipment aboard SS CURTISS in preparation for Immortal Warrior 23. The exercise was led by Marine Aviation Logistics Squadron 16 of the Third Marine Aircraft Wing and Marine Aviation Logistics Squadron 24 of the First Marine Aircraft Wing. Personnel from other aviation-logistics units, including MALS-39 and MALS-41, also participated in the loading process.

Immortal Warrior was intended to demonstrate several aspects of the modern T-AVB concept. In addition to conventional intermediate-level aviation maintenance and supply, the embarked organization included aircraft artisans from Fleet Readiness Centers so that depot-level skills could be integrated forward. Training included simulated aircraft battle-damage repair and experimentation with repairs involving F-35, H-1 and F/A-18 systems as well as intermediate-level component work. SS CURTISS was also employed as an opportune-lift platform capable of transporting personnel and equipment while simultaneously operating as an afloat maintenance facility.

The ship departed the San Diego area in mid-March and crossed the Pacific. During the opening phase of the deployment, Marine aviation units also used the flight deck for qualification and logistics training. On March 16, an MV-22B Osprey from Marine Medium Tiltrotor Squadron 163 conducted deck-landing qualification work with SS CURTISS off the San Diego coast before the ship continued toward the western Pacific.

Immortal Warrior was integrated with Balikatan 23 in the Philippines. The 38th iteration of the annual bilateral Armed Forces of the Philippines-United States exercise included amphibious operations, command and control, humanitarian-assistance training, urban operations, counterterrorism and coastal-defense activities. SS CURTISS provided an afloat aviation-maintenance and supply capability that could support United States forces and potentially allied and partner aircraft.

By April 12, 2023, SS CURTISS was at Subic Bay in the Philippines, where Marine aviation leaders inspected and reviewed the ship's aviation-logistics capabilities. She subsequently operated at sea in support of Balikatan. On April 18, an MV-22B Osprey from Marine Medium Tiltrotor Squadron 268 conducted a resupply mission aboard SS CURTISS off the coast of the Philippines. The evolution demonstrated the use of tiltrotor aircraft to connect the afloat maintenance and supply organization with aviation forces operating elsewhere in the theater.

After operations associated with Balikatan, SS CURTISS continued through the western Pacific. By May 10, she was visiting Koror in the Republic of Palau with MALS-16 Forward embarked. Marines participated in community-relations projects ashore, including work at Meyuns Elementary School and Meyuns Athletic Complex and other local projects. The Palau visit occurred while SS CURTISS remained deployed for Immortal Warrior and represented another stop in an exercise designed to test aviation-logistics support across widely separated Indo-Pacific locations.

SS CURTISS subsequently proceeded to Guam during the retrograde from the exercise. She arrived there on May 14, 2023, with 124 Marines and sailors aboard and stopped at X-Ray Wharf. The Guam call was intended in part to discharge an aviation-support package consisting of personnel and aeronautical equipment for later Third Marine Aircraft Wing training. The planned stay was overtaken by the approach of Typhoon Mawar. One of SS CURTISS's two main propulsion boilers was unavailable, preventing the ship from safely joining other large vessels that sortied from Guam before the storm. She therefore remained secured at X-Ray Wharf when Mawar crossed Guam on May 24. The ship survived the storm at the pier. Contemporary reporting based on information provided by the Maritime Administration identified damage to the ship's anemometer but no comparable major casualty to the vessel itself.

Beginning on May 25, the embarked Marines and sailors shifted from their original training and retrograde mission to typhoon-recovery work. MALS-16 Forward personnel worked with the United States Coast Guard, 30th Naval Construction Regiment, Task Force 75, Naval Base Guam and Joint Region Marianas to help restore facilities and support recovery activity. The unplanned mission added disaster-response work to a deployment that had begun as an aviation-logistics exercise. After repair of the propulsion problem, SS CURTISS was able to continue her return toward the continental United States.

The ship's long association with Southern California changed later in 2023. MARAD records initially listed SS CURTISS in transit to a new layberth in Vancouver, Washington. She arrived at the Port of Vancouver on December 5, 2023, and was assigned to Terminal 5, Berth 17. The movement did not represent retirement or removal from the Ready Reserve Force. Instead, Vancouver became the layberth from which the aging ship continued to be maintained in reserve status.

SS CURTISS remained at Vancouver during 2024. Although more than half a century had elapsed since her construction, she was still retained because the Marine Corps continued to possess only two ships specifically configured for the T-AVB aviation-logistics role. Her status remained that of an active Ready Reserve Force vessel maintained for Department of Defense surge-sealift and Marine aviation-logistics requirements rather than a vessel awaiting disposal.

In September 2025, MARAD added a projected retirement date of Fiscal Year 2032 to the status remarks for SS CURTISS. The entry represented a planning date and did not constitute retirement, deactivation or removal from the Ready Reserve Force. At that time the ship continued to be listed at her Vancouver layberth.

Another layberth change occurred in 2026. MARAD subsequently recorded that SS CURTISS arrived at a new layberth on July 24, 2026, and her assigned location was changed from Vancouver to Long Beach, California. The July 2026 inventory retained the projected Fiscal Year 2032 retirement while confirming that she remained in Ready Reserve Force status.

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SS CURTISS Image Gallery:

The photos below were taken by me and show the CURTISS at Naval Base San Diego, Calif. The first two photos were taken on March 10, 2008, while the last two photos were taken two years later on March 24, 2010.

The photos below were taken by Michael Jenning and show the CURTISS at Naval Base San Diego, Calif., on December 27, 2014.

The photos below were taken by Michael Jenning and show the CURTISS at Naval Base San Diego, Calif., on October 2, 2015.

The photos below were taken by Sebastian Thoma and show the CURTISS at Naval Base San Diego, Calif., on December 20, 2016.

The photo below was taken by Michael Jenning and shows the CURTISS at Naval Base San Diego, Calif., on March 2, 2019.

The photos below were taken by Sebastian Thoma and show the CURTISS at Naval Base San Diego, Calif., on November 28 and November 29 (aerial photos), 2021.

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