A repair ship is a naval

auxiliary ship An auxiliary ship is a naval ship designed to support combatant ships and other naval operations. Auxiliary ships are not primary combatant vessels, though they may have some limited combat capacity, usually for purposes of self-defense. Auxili ...

designed to provide

maintenance The technical meaning of maintenance involves functional checks, servicing, repairing or replacing of necessary devices, equipment, machinery, building infrastructure and supporting utilities in industrial, business, and residential installa ...

support to

warship A warship or combatant ship is a naval ship that is used for naval warfare. Usually they belong to the navy branch of the armed forces of a nation, though they have also been operated by individuals, cooperatives and corporations. As well as b ...

s. Repair ships provide similar services to

destroyer In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast, maneuverable, long-endurance warship intended to escort larger vessels in a fleet, convoy, or carrier battle group and defend them against a wide range of general threats. They were conceived i ...

submarine A submarine (often shortened to sub) is a watercraft capable of independent operation underwater. (It differs from a submersible, which has more limited underwater capability.) The term "submarine" is also sometimes used historically or infor ...

and

seaplane tender A seaplane tender is a boat or ship that supports the operation of seaplanes. Some of these vessels, known as seaplane carriers, could not only carry seaplanes but also provided all the facilities needed for their operation; these ships are rega ...

s or

depot ship A depot ship is an auxiliary ship used as a mobile or fixed base for submarines, destroyers, minesweepers, fast attack craft, landing craft, or other small ships with similarly limited space for maintenance equipment and crew dining, berthing an ...

s, but may offer a broader range of repair capability including equipment and personnel for repair of more significant machinery failures or battle damage.Lenton & Colledge, p.333

United States Navy

The

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...

became aware of the need for repair ships to maintain

Asiatic Fleet The United States Asiatic Fleet was a fleet of the United States Navy during much of the first half of the 20th century. Before World War II, the fleet patrolled the Philippine Islands. Much of the fleet was destroyed by the Japanese by Februar ...

ships stationed in the

Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

. Two colliers were converted to and in 1913 before the purpose-built was completed at the

Puget Sound Navy Yard Puget Sound Naval Shipyard, officially Puget Sound Naval Shipyard and Intermediate Maintenance Facility (PSNS & IMF), is a United States Navy shipyard covering 179 acres (0.7 km2) on Puget Sound at Bremerton, Washington in uninterrupted ...

in 1923.

Repair Ships (AR)

* Silverstone, p.292 * * * * * * * * Silverstone, p.293 * * * * * * Silverstone, p.296 * * * Silverstone, p.285 * *

Internal Combustion Engine Repair Ships (ARG)

Internal combustion engine repair ships specialized in the maintenance and repair of

gasoline engine A petrol engine (gasoline engine in American and Canadian English) is an internal combustion engine designed to run on petrol (gasoline). Petrol engines can often be adapted to also run on fuels such as Autogas, liquefied petroleum gas and Common ...

s and

diesel engine The diesel engine, named after the German engineer Rudolf Diesel, is an internal combustion engine in which Combustion, ignition of diesel fuel is caused by the elevated temperature of the air in the cylinder due to Mechanics, mechanical Compr ...

s. Commonly work was performed on

PT boat A PT boat (short for patrol torpedo boat) was a motor torpedo boat used by the United States Navy in World War II. It was small, fast, and inexpensive to build, and it was valued for its maneuverability and speed. However, PT boats were hampe ...

s, and many types of

landing craft Landing craft are small and medium seagoing watercraft, such as boats and barges, used to convey a landing force (infantry and vehicles) from the sea to the shore during an amphibious assault. The term excludes landing ships, which are larger. ...

and boats at

US Naval Advance Bases US Naval Advance Bases were built globally by the United States Navy during World War 2, World War II to support and project U.S. naval operations worldwide. A few were built on Allies of World War II, Allied soil, but most were captured enemy fa ...

. Most were named after islands of the

. ''Luzon''-class * USS ''Oglala'' (ARG-1) * USS ''Luzon'' (ARG-2) * USS ''Mindanao'' (ARG-3) * USS ''Tutuila'' (ARG-4) * USS ''Oahu'' (ARG-5) * USS ''Cebu'' (ARG-6) * USS ''Culebra Island'' (ARG-7) * USS ''Leyte'' (ARG-8), renamed USS ''Maui'' * USS ''Mona Island'' (ARG-9) * USS ''Palawan'' (ARG-10) * USS ''Samar'' (ARG-11) * USS ''Dumaran'' (ARG-14) * USS ''Masbate'' (ARG-15), later ARV-2 aircraft repair ship * USS ''Kermit Roosevelt'' (ARG-16) * USS ''Hooper Island'' (ARG-17) * USS ''Beaver'' (ARG-19), ex-AS-5 * USS ''Otus'' (ARG-20), ex-AS-20 ''Basilan'' class * USS ''Basilan'' (ARG-12), ex-AG-68 * USS ''Burias'' (ARG-13), ex-AG-69

Heavy-hull Repair Ships (ARH)

* USS ''Jason'' (ARH-1), later AR-8

Landing Craft Repair Ships (ARL)

Landing Craft Repair Ships were used to repair the thousands of

Landing craft Landing craft are small and medium seagoing watercraft, such as boats and barges, used to convey a landing force (infantry and vehicles) from the sea to the shore during an amphibious assault. The term excludes landing ships, which are larger. ...

built for

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

Achelous-class repair ship The ''Achelous''-class repair ship was a class of ship built by the US Navy during World War II. As the United States gained experience in amphibious warfare, amphibious operations, it was realized that some sort of mobile repair facility would ...

* USS ''Achelous'' (ARL-1), ex-''LST-10'' * USS ''Amycus'' (ARL-2), ex-''LST-489'' * USS ''Agenor'' (ARL-3), ex-''LST-490'' * USS ''Adonis'' (ARL-4), ex-''LST-83'' * USS ''ARL-5'', ex-''LST-81'' * USS ''ARL-6'', ex-''LST-82'' * USS ''Atlas'' (ARL-7), ex-''LST-231'' * USS ''Egeria'' (ARL-8), ex-''LST-136'' * USS ''Endymion'' (ARL-9), ex-''LST-513'' * USS ''Coronis'' (ARL-10), ex-''LST-1003'' * USS ''Creon'' (ARL-11), ex-''LST-1036'' * USS ''Poseidon'' (ARL-12), ex-''LST-1037'' * USS ''Menelaus'' (ARL-13), ex-''LST-971'' * USS ''Minos'' (ARL-14), ex-''LST-644'' * USS ''Minotaur'' (ARL-15), ex-''LST-645'' * USS ''Myrmidon'' (ARL-16), ex-''LST-948'' * USS ''Numitor'' (ARL-17), ex-''LST-954'' * USS ''Pandemus'' (ARL-18), ex-''LST-650'' * USS ''Patroclus'' (ARL-19), ex-''LST-955'' * USS ''Pentheus'' (ARL-20), ex-''LST-1115'' * USS ''Proserpine'' (ARL-21), ex-''LST-1116'' * USS ''Romulus'' (ARL-22), ex-''LST-961'' * USS ''Satyr'' (ARL-23), ex-''LST-852'' * USS ''Sphinx'' (ARL-24), ex-''LST-962'' * USS ''ARL-25'', canceled * USS ''Stentor'' (ARL-26), ex-''LST-858'' * USS ''Tantalus'' (ARL-27), ex-''LST-1117'' * USS ''Typhon'' (ARL-28), ex-''LST-1118'' * USS ''Amphitrite'' (ARL-29), ex-''LST-1124'' * USS ''Askari'' (ARL-30), ex-''LST-1131'' * USS ''Bellerophon'' (ARL-31), ex-''LST-1132'' * USS ''Bellona'' (ARL-32), ex-''LST-1136'' * USS ''Chimaera'' (ARL-33), ex-''LST-1137'' * USS ''Daedalus'' (ARL-35), ex-''LST-1143'' * USS ''Gordius'' (ARL-36), ex-''LST-1145'' * USS ''Indra'' (ARL-37), ex-''LST-1147'' * USS ''Krishna'' (ARL-38), ex-''LST-1149'' * USS ''Quirinus'' (ARL-39), ex-''LST-1151'' * USS ''Remus'' (ARL-40), ex-''LST-453'' * USS ''Achilles'' (ARL-41), ex-''LST-455'' * USS ''Aeolus'' (ARL-42), conversion from ''LST-310'' cancelled * USS ''Cerberus'' (ARL-43), conversion from ''LST-316'', cancelled * USS ''Conus'' (ARL-44), conversion from ''LST-317'' cancelled * USS ''Feronia'' (ARL-45), conversion from ''LST-332'' cancelled * USS ''Chandra'' (ARL-46), conversion from ''LST-350'' cancelled * USS ''Minerva'' (ARL-47), conversion from ''LST-374'' cancelled

United Kingdom

was built in 1928 and remained the sole

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...

repair ship at the outbreak of World War II. The following ships were converted to meet wartime needs: * Lenton & Colledge, p.341 * HMS ''Alaunia'' (F15)Lenton & Colledge, p.342 * * * RMS ''Ausonia'' * HMS ''Deer Sound''Lenton & Colledge, p.348 * HMS ''Kelantan'' (F166) * SS ''Ranpura''Lenton & Colledge, p.346 * HMS ''San Giorgio'' (formerly Italian cruiser San Giorgio) * * HMS ''Wayland'' (F137) * HMS ''Westernland'' (F87)

Lend/Lease

These ''Xanthus''-class repair ships were built to Royal Navy specifications by Bethlehem Fairfield Shipyard in 1944, but only the first two were temporarily loaned to the United Kingdom while the others were retained for use by the United States Navy: * AR-17 became HMS ''Assistance'' (F173) * AR-18 became HMS ''Diligence'' (F174) * was intended to be HMS ''Hecla'' (F175) * was intended to be HMS ''Dutiful'' (F176) * was intended to be HMS ''Faithful'' (F177)

Japan

Japan found repair ships valuable for Pacific island bases. The pre-dreadnought battleship ''Asahi'' was modified and recommissioned as a repair ship in 1938. The 9,000-ton purpose-designed repair ship ''Akashi'' was launched in 1938 as the intended prototype for a class of five ships, but the remaining four ships were cancelled as other wartime shipbuilding projects assumed higher priority.Watts, pp.324&325

Sources

* * *

Notes

{{Authority control Ship types