What wouild have been the first USS Hempstead (AVP-43) was a proposed 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...

 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:...

 that was never laid down.

Construction and commissioning

Hempstead was to have been one of 41 Barnegat-class small seaplane tenders the U.S. Navy planned to commission during the early 1940s, and was to have been built at Houghton

Houghton, Washington

Houghton is one of the lakeside neighborhoods of the city of Kirkland, Washington. Consisting mostly of upscale, single-family homes, Houghton overlooks Lake Washington and is one of the wealthier districts of the Eastside suburbs of Seattle. The village was named for Willard Houghton, a local...

, Washington, by the Lake Washington Shipyard

Lake Washington Shipyard

Lake Washington Shipyards was a shipyard in Houghton, Washington on the shore of Lake Washington. Today the shipyards are the site of the lakeside Carillon Point business park...

. However, by the spring

Spring (season)

Spring is one of the four temperate seasons, the transition period between winter and summer. Spring and "springtime" refer to the season, and broadly to ideas of rebirth, renewal and regrowth. The specific definition of the exact timing of "spring" varies according to local climate, cultures and...

 of 1943 the Navy deemed that number of seaplane tenders excess to requirements, and decided to complete four of them as motor torpedo boat tenders and one as a catapult

Aircraft catapult

An aircraft catapult is a device used to launch aircraft from ships—in particular aircraft carriers—as a form of assisted take off. It consists of a track built into the flight deck, below which is a large piston or shuttle that is attached through the track to the nose gear of the aircraft, or in...

 training ship. In addition, the Navy also decided to cancel six of the Barnegat-class ships prior to their construction, freeing up the diesel engine

Diesel engine

A diesel engine is an internal combustion engine that uses the heat of compression to initiate ignition to burn the fuel, which is injected into the combustion chamber...

s that would have powered them for use in escort vessels and amphibious landing

Amphibious warfare

Amphibious warfare is the use of naval firepower, logistics and strategy to project military power ashore. In previous eras it stood as the primary method of delivering troops to non-contiguous enemy-held terrain...

craft.

Hempstead became one of the first four ships to be cancelled when the Navy cancelled its contract with Lake Washington Shipyard for her construction on 22 April 1943.