- USS Mender (ARS(D)-2)
USS "Mender" (ARS(D)-2), originally designated "LSM‑550", she was reclassified (ARS(D)‑2)
24 April 1945 and was laid down on25 August 1945 byBrown Shipbuilding Corporation ,Houston, TX ; launched7 December 1945; and commissioned8 March 1946 ,Lieutenant Commander A. V. Swarthout in command.Designed for salvage work, specifically emergency harbor clearance, "Mender" completed her shakedown training in the
Norfolk, VA , area and got underway,30 April 1946 , for thePacific . Arriving atPearl Harbor 23 June she reported toCINCPAC and was assigned to joint TF 1 forOperation Crossroads . Sailing from Pearl Harbor27 June , she arrived atBikini atoll 9 July and began anchorage operations. Moving out of the harbor24 July , she witnessed the experimental explosion of theatomic bomb the following morning from area “Mercury”, 15 miles away. Within 3 hours of the detonation she returned to the harbor to assist in recovering beached and damaged craft and in gathering scientific information on underwater effects of the blast.Departing the
atoll 4 September , she operated in theHawaii an area until December when she sailed for overhaul atSan Pedro, CA . On17 July 1947 she leftLong Beach, CA for another mid‑Pacific deployment, and for the remainder of the year cleared beaches and harbors atKwajalein ,Guam , andAngaur of wrecked pontoons, targets, and sunken hulks. Included in the latter were landing craft, tugs, barges, and the bow of "Pittsburgh" (CA‑72), which she helped raise and tow out to sea for sinking.Returning to Pearl Harbor
1 January 1948 , she sailed on the 5th forSan Diego, CA . There she reported to thePacific Reserve Fleet 17 January and decommissioned on the 21st. She remained out of commission in reserve until recommissioned12 September 1951 . On19 November she got underway for her home port, Pearl Harbor, arriving on the 29th. She departed Hawaiian waters2 February and sailed toEniwetok where she replaced moorings before continuing on toJapan , arriving at Sasebo14 March .On
12 April she headed for the Korean combat zone to salvage SS "Park Benjamin", grounded with several compartments flooded nearPusan . In May she salvaged "LST‑578" offCheju-do . During the next 3 months, she cruised theKorea n coast to clear anchorages, conduct surveys, and plantbuoy s and moorings. Then on2 September she pointed her bow south for thePhilippines and for the next month and a half conducted diving and demolition operations to ridSubic Bay of the hulk of the Japanese vessel "Oroyoku Maru".Arriving back at Pearl Harbor
17 December "Mender" operated in the mid‑Pacific area until sailing for Japan20 August 1953 . Dropping anchor at Sasebo11 September , she sailed again forInchon on the 23d. There, until mid-January 1954, she carried out a harbor clearance project. After a similar assignment near Paengyong Do in February, she began preparations for her secondatomic test ,Operation Castle . Arriving at Bikini24 March , she fulfilled much the same role as on her first such assignment until11 May , then sailed viaJohnston Island , to Pearl Harbor. Arriving23 May , "Mender" did various salvage jobs in the Hawaiians until10 October 1955 , when she got underway forAstoria, OR . Here she decommissioned and joined the Columbia River group of the Pacific Reserve Fleet20 December 1955 . Later transferred to San Diego, she remained in reserve until struck from theNaval Register ,1 June 1973 . She was sold for scrapping by the Defense Reutilization and Marketing Service (DRMS),1 January 1974 .Awards
The USS "Mender" received:
(retroactive)References
External links
* [http://www.navsource.org/archives/09/33/3302.htm navsource.org: USS "Mender"] "(Note: Non-Public domain images of the USS Mender are available here.)"
* [http://www.history.navy.mil/danfs/m8/mender.htm history.navy.mil: USS "Mender"]
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.