Pine Island got her name after the Pine Island Sound and there were other three ships in her class: Currituck Sound, Norton Sound, Salisbury Sound. She was laid down on Nov. 16, 1942, stayed under construction at the Todd Pacific Shipyard in San Pedro, California.
The USS Pine Island was launched almost three years after it was laid down and was officially commissioned on the 26th of April, 1945.
She was initially used for the transportation of seaplanes to their operating positions during their service but it also used to offer housing to for the aircrew and store service and repair facilities below the deck, the PineIsland-Eagle.com reports.
Her first journey started across the South Pacific Ocean, on June 16, 1945, from California to Okinawa, where she carried seaplanes responsible for air-sea rescue operation. Once the war ended, she went to Tokio Bay where she conducted seaplane flight operations for the U.S. forces during their occupation of Japan in 1945.
From 1950 and for 7 years on, she provided seaplane operations in the western Pacific Ocean, during the Korean War.
7 years later, the USS Pine Island was to return to the western Pacific Ocean where she served in Da Nang, South Vietnam in 1964 and Cam Ranh Bay, South Vietnam. She also cruised to Australia and New Zealand in 1966 for the anniversary festivities and shortly after returned to San Diego.
The USS Pine Island was taken out of service in June 1967 and became part of the Maritime Administration’s National Defense Reserve Fleet.
She was awarded with a battle star for World War II and medals for her operations during the Korean War and the Vietnam War.
On February 7, 1972, the long term war companion Pine Island which was there in the Second World War, in the Korean War and in Vietnam, was sold for scrap steel.