The USS Tanner (AGS-15), originally constructed as USS Pamina (AKA-34), was an Artemis-class attack cargo ship built in 1944 by Walsh-Kaiser Company in Providence, Rhode Island. Launched on January 5, 1945, and commissioned on February 10, 1945, she was initially designed for cargo transport and amphibious operations. Following her shakedown, Pamina transited the Panama Canal and joined the Amphibious Force of the Pacific Fleet at Pearl Harbor. She actively participated in World War II, operating in the South, Southwest, and Western Pacific areas. Notably, she delivered cargo to Okinawa in May 1945 and provided assistance to combat operations ashore. After Japan's surrender, she transported occupation forces to Japan and repatriated U.S. servicemen to the United States. In May 1946, Pamina was reclassified as AGS-15 and renamed Tanner in honor of U.S. Navy captain and oceanographer Zera Luther Tanner. Her new designation reflected her transition to a survey vessel. During her service as Tanner, she conducted hydrographic survey operations along the east coast of Mexico, Labrador, Trinidad, and Venezuela for several years. From 1951, the vessel focused on survey work in the Bahamas related to a guided missile testing range and later undertook extensive survey missions in northwest Greenland, including a notable survey of a small island where a harbor was named "Tanner Bay" in her honor. Between 1954 and 1958, Tanner operated primarily off Turkey's southern coast, conducting extensive survey work. She also participated in surveys in the Persian Gulf, Barents Sea, Norfolk deep dive area, and the northern Aegean Sea through the mid-1960s. In the late 1960s, she was deployed to the South China Sea and South Vietnam, supporting operations off the Mekong Delta and in the Gulf of Thailand during the Vietnam War era. After more than two decades of service, Tanner was decommissioned on July 14, 1969, struck from the Naval Vessel Register on August 1, and transferred for disposal. Throughout her service, USS Tanner received one battle star for her World War II service, marking her as a vessel of notable maritime and military significance, especially in the realm of hydrographic survey and support operations.

This description has been generated using GPT-4.1-NANO based on the Vessel's wikidata information and then modified by ShipIndex.org staff.