u653

This is an official Navy photograph taken in summer 1929 at Petersburg, Alaska, showing a view of the Wrangell Narrows looking north toward Fredrick Sound. Kupreanof Island is on the left. The USS Gannet (AM-41) is tied up in foreground. At upper right, the visible signs on the buildings, left to right: Public Dock, New England Fish Co., Marlyn Fish Co.

Is that a Naval ship?

Yes, this is USS Gannet (AVP-8), which was used as the support ship for the 1929 Alaskan Aerial Survey. She'd later be "[t]orpedoed and sunk by U-653 off Bermuda 7 June 1942 while searching for a torpedoed freighter." See: historian.iwarp.com/research.htm en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Gannet_(AM-41)

As per the December 1929 issue of the journal US Air Services*, this photo features three Loening OL-8A aircraft of the Alaskan Aerial Survey on the government dock at Juneau, Alaska. From left to right they are: The aircraft designated No. "2," BuNo A-8078, named Ketchikan; the aircraft designated No. "4", BuNo A-8076, named Sitka; and the aircraft designated No. "1," BuNo A-8072, named Juneau. The fourth aircraft, designated No. "3," BuNo A-8079, and named Petersburg, took the photo. The Lapwing-class minesweeper USS Gannet (AM-41), also captured in the photo, performed the role of aircraft tender for the survey expedition, and would lift the Loening OL-8A's and place them upon the dock after the completion of each sortie. *Grinstead, Frances "Air Mapping in Alaska with Loening Amphibians." U.S. Air Services, Vol. XIV, No. 12, December 1929, pp. 43-46.