HNoMS Haakon VII (A537)

HNoMS Haakon VII (A537) (in Norwegian, KNM Haakon VII (A537)) was a Royal Norwegian Navy training ship in commission from 1958 to 1974.

Construction and United States Navy service 1945-1958
Haakon VII was built as the United States Navy Barnegat-class seaplane tender USS Gardiners Bay (AVP-39) at Houghton, Washington, by the Lake Washington Shipyard. commissioned on 11 February 1945, she served in the Central Pacific during the final months of World War II, and continued to serve in the Western Pacific and East Asia until 1958, including four tours of duty in the Korean War between 1950 and 1953. She was decommissioned on 1 February 1958

Royal Norwegian Navy service 1958-1974
Gardiners Bay was transferred to Norway on 17 May 1958. After undergoing conversion and rearming, she was commissioned into the Royal Norwegian Navy as the training ship HNoMS Haakon VII.

Conducting naval cadet training cruises, Haakon VII visited ports all over the world during her 16 years of Royal Norwegian Navy service.

Final disposition
Haakon VII was stricken and disposed of in 1974.