USS Harjurand (ARS-31)

USS Harjurand (ARS-31) was an "Harjurand"-class rescue and salvage ship acquired by the U.S. Navy during World War II. Her task was to come to the aid of stricken vessels.

A varied ownership

"Harjurand" was built as "SS Olesa" in 1919 by Astilleros Cardona, S.A., Barcelona, Spain. She had a long and varied merchant career, serving in the 1920's as "SS Per Skogland" under Estonian registry, 1931-32 as "SS Camberway" for the British Sunderland Steam Shipping Co., in 1933 as "SS Tento", in 1934 as "SS Marpot", and finally under Estonian ownership again as "SS Harjurand" in 1937.

Acquired by the Navy for World War II service

Requisitioned by the War Shipping Administration, she was turned over to the Navy 1 June 1942. Although Navy owned, she was operated under contract by Merritt Chapman, and Scott, under the supervision of the Bureau of Ships.

A successful salvage vessel

"Harjurand" was one of the pioneer vessels in the Navy's very successful World War II Salvage Service. One of her first major operations was the salvage of cargo from "SS Edward Luckenbach" torpedoed of Florida 1 July 1942. "Harjurand" and other salvage ships worked from 28 March to 8 December 1943 at the difficult job of bringing up her valuable cargo of metal ores, and "Harjurand" succeeded in carrying some 4,500 tons of the recovered ore to Tampa, Florida, to be utilized in the war effort.

For most of the next 18 months, "Harjurand" was engaged mainly in removing protruding parts of sunken hulks which threatened navigation off the East Coast of the United States. She worked on "SS Gulfamerica" off Jacksonville, Florida, April 1944, "SS Ashkabad" at sea east of Georgia in June, "SS Maurice Tracy" off South Carolina in August, and destroyer USS|Sturtevant|DD-240|2 (DD-240) off the Florida Keys during April 1945.

End-of-war deactivation

At the close of the war, to which the old coal-burning "Harjurand" had contributed much, the contract with Merritt Chapman, and Scott was terminated and the ship was returned to the War Shipping Administration 22 May 1946. She was stricken from the Navy List 19 June 1946. Subsequently, "Harjurand" was sold to Miraflores, S.A., of Panama, and resumed merchant service until about 1955 as "SS Dodecanese".

References

See also

* List of United States Navy ships
* World War II

External links

* [http://www.navsource.org/archives/09/37/3731.htm NavSource Online: Service Ship Photo Archive - ARS-31 Harjurand]