Namesake
Portrait of Nathaniel Bowditch (1773-1838). This is the portrait which hung aboard USNS Bowditch T-AGS-21. The photo of the portrait was taken in 1974. USNS Bowditch was named in honor of Nathaniel Bowditch, the author of Bowditch's American Practical Navigator, Edmund M. Blunt, 1802.
Poem by P. Blaine
Aboard Bowditch 1974
P. Blain was 3rd Officer aboard USNS Bowditch. This poem appeared in the May 1974 Bowditch cruise book.
Bowditch Docked at Trondheim, Norway
Photo c. 1960-61 (no BRN-3 antenna mast, no WPN-3 whip antennas).
Original by Sigbjørn Baumeyer posted to Navsource.
Bowditch Dead in the Water, Pre-1963
Lifeboat No.1 has been lowered; presumably this picture has been taken from the lifeboat.
Photo courtesy of Chet Headley. Chet comments: this photo was given to me when I went aboard Bowditch in 1966.
Bowditch at Anchor
At Lisbon in April 1967.
Courtesy of Earl Adams.
Bowditch at Anchor
At Lisbon c. July-August 1967. These ships didn't look like much from the outside. Come to think of it they didn't look like much from the inside either.
But for an enlisted sailor in the 60s and early 70s, accommodations were luxurious beyond belief!
Courtesy of Earl Adams.
Bowditch Leaves Lisbon in May 1967
Photo from Sealift Magazine, August 1967.
Bowditch at Bremerhaven, Germany
May 1968.
Courtesy of William "Ace" Hunter.
Bowditch at La Coruna, Spain
May 1972.
Taken from the original pasteup for the May-June 1972 Bowditch Cruise Book.
Courtesy of Bob Lord.
Bowditch Underway
c. 1971-72
She even looks racy!
Contributed by Jim Bohnsack.
Bowditch Underway
In the same series, bow down.
Courtesy of Matthew Ekdahl.
Bowditch at Southampton
Bowditch at the Southampton New Docks. Photo from August 1976. This one is from the shipnostalgia.com website.
Bowditch Underway
Bowditch photo from an undated commercial postcard.
Bowditch at Rio de Janeiro
Docked at Rio, undated but probably c. 1986-87. Photo from shipspotting.com website.