USS Pine Island (AV-12), a Currituck-class

Currituck class seaplane tender

The Currituck class seaplane tenders were four ships built for the United States Navy during World War II. The role of a seaplane tender was to provide base facilities for squadrons of seaplanes in a similar way that an aircraft carrier does for its squadrons.The four ships of the class were:The...

 seaplane tender

Seaplane tender

A seaplane tender is a ship that provides facilities for operating seaplanes. These ships were the first aircraft carriers and appeared just before the First World War.-History:...

, is the only ship of the United States Navy

United States Navy

The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...

 to hold this name. The ship was named after Pine Island Sound (off the coast of Lee County

Lee County, Florida

Lee County is a county located in the U.S. state of Florida. Located in southwest Florida, the principal cities in the county are Fort Myers and Cape Coral...

, Florida

Florida

Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...

).

Pine Island was laid down on 16 November 1942 at the Todd Pacific Shipyards

Todd Pacific Shipyards

Vigor Shipyards was founded in 1916 as the William H. Todd Corporation through the merger of Robins Dry Dock & Repair Company of Erie Basin, Brooklyn, New York, the Tietjen & Long Dry Dock Company of Hoboken, New Jersey, and the Seattle Construction and Dry Dock Company...

 Corporation, in San Pedro, California; launched on 26 February 1944, sponsored by Mrs. Knefler McGinnis; and commissioned on 26 April 1945, Commander

Commander

Commander is a naval rank which is also sometimes used as a military title depending on the individual customs of a given military service. Commander is also used as a rank or title in some organizations outside of the armed forces, particularly in police and law enforcement.-Commander as a naval...

 Henry Titus Hodgskin in command.
Departing California on 16 June 1945, Pine Island steamed to Okinawa.