The fifth USS ''Petrel'' (ASR-14) was a ''Chanticleer''-class

submarine rescue ship A submarine rescue ship is a surface support ship for submarine rescue and deep-sea salvage operations. Methods employed include the McCann Rescue Chamber, deep-submergence rescue vehicles (DSRV's) and diving operations. List of active su ...

in 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 ...

. ''Petrel'' was laid down on 26 February 1945, was built by Savannah Machine Foundry Co.,

Savannah, Georgia Savannah ( ) is the oldest city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia and the county seat of Chatham County, Georgia, Chatham County. Established in 1733 on the Savannah River, the city of Savannah became the Kingdom of Great Brita ...

; launched on 26 September 1945, sponsored by Mrs. Effie Jeffreys (in honour of her son, MMC Romie L. Jeffreys, who died along with all hands on the submarine on 11 February 1942), and commissioned at Savannah on 24 September 1946.

Service history

1946–1949

After fitting out at

Charleston, South Carolina Charleston is the List of municipalities in South Carolina, most populous city in the U.S. state of South Carolina. The city lies just south of the geographical midpoint of South Carolina's coastline on Charleston Harbor, an inlet of the Atla ...

and shakedown at Guantanamo and Panama Bays, ''Petrel'' returned to Charleston on 18 December 1946. She sailed for New London on 6 January 1947 to join SubRon 2, and operated out of that base for the next three years training and qualifying deep-sea divers and salvage crews, and escorting submarines such as and in tests.

1950–1959

Departing New London on 23 January 1950, she steamed off

Old Point Comfort Old Point Comfort is a point of land located in the Independent city (United States), independent city of Hampton, Virginia. Previously known as Point Comfort, it lies at the extreme tip of the Virginia Peninsula at the mouth of Hampton Roads in ...

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...

, where the

battleship A battleship is a large, heavily naval armour, armored warship with a main battery consisting of large naval gun, guns, designed to serve as a capital ship. From their advent in the late 1880s, battleships were among the largest and most form ...

had run aground. Divers from ''Petrel'' surveyed and excavated around the bottom of the battleship, and on 1 February ''Petrel'' aided in the "big pull" that drew ''Missouri'' into deep water. After this operation, ''Petrel'' returned to New London on 6 February, but was reassigned to

Key West Key West is an island in the Straits of Florida, at the southern end of the U.S. state of Florida. Together with all or parts of the separate islands of Dredgers Key, Fleming Key, Sunset Key, and the northern part of Stock Island, it con ...

on 5 May. ''Petrel'' continued training operations, with SubRon 4, at Key West throughout the 1950s, with occasional variations. She towed ex- off Dry Tortuga Flats in October 1950 to be sunk in firing exercises by the

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 ...

. Exercises in 1952 included re-floating the ''U–2513''. In 1956, ''Petrel'' had a key role in freeing ''Nantahala'', aground in Key West Channel. On 14 February 1958, ''Petrel'' received a distress call at

from the

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 ...

, stranded in heavy seas off

San Salvador San Salvador () is the Capital city, capital and the largest city of El Salvador and its San Salvador Department, eponymous department. It is the country's largest agglomeration, serving as the country's political, cultural, educational and fin ...

, Bahama Islands. Steaming to the area and off-loading some of ''Guavina's'' oil cargo, ''Petrel'' towed the lightened submarine to Key West.

1960–1969

''Petrel'' continued to operate along the Atlantic coast of the southern United States until sailing in early 1961 for the

Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea ( ) is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the east by the Levant in West Asia, on the north by Anatolia in West Asia and Southern ...

for exercises with SubDiv 41, 6th Fleet in June and operated off

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...

in salvage operations after a

DC-8 The Douglas DC-8 (sometimes McDonnell Douglas DC-8) is an early long-range narrow-body jetliner designed and produced by the American Douglas Aircraft Company. Work began in 1952 towards the United States Air Force's (USAF) requirement for a j ...

passenger airplane crash. ''Petrel'' returned to Charleston on 28 August for coastal operations until she again joined the 6th Fleet from January to May 1964. She departed Charleston on 12 July for

Hamilton, Bermuda Hamilton is the capital city of the British Overseas Territory of Bermuda, and the main settlement of Pembroke Parish. A port city, Hamilton is Bermuda's financial and commercial centre, and a popular tourist destination. Its population of ...

, where she aided the U.S. Air Force in recovering wreckage and personnel from a two-plane, mid-air collision. Highlights of subsequent coastal service included accompanying in sea trials in September, work with in April 1965, and duty at Guantanamo on 28–30 September and during

Hurricane Inez Hurricane Inez was a powerful Category 5 major hurricane that affected the Caribbean, Bahamas, Florida, and Mexico, killing over 1,000 people in 1966. It was the first storm on record to affect all of those areas. It originated from a tropical w ...

. ''Petrel'' departed New London on 6 January 1966 for

Holy Loch The Holy Loch () is a sea loch, part of the Firth of Clyde, in Argyll and Bute, Scotland. The "Holy Loch" name is believed to date from the 6th century, when Saint Munn landed there after leaving Ireland. Kilmun Parish Church and Argyll Mausole ...

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

, with in tow. On 17 January, an Air Force

B-52 The Boeing B-52 Stratofortress is an American long-range, subsonic, jet-powered strategic bomber. The B-52 was designed and built by Boeing, which has continued to provide support and upgrades. It has been operated by the United States Ai ...

, carrying four unarmed Mk.28 nuclear bombs, collided with a

KC-135 The Boeing KC-135 Stratotanker is an American military aerial refueling tanker aircraft that was developed from the Boeing 367-80 prototype, alongside the Boeing 707 airliner. It has a narrower fuselage and is shorter than the 707. Boeing gave ...

off Palomares,

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

. ''Petrel'' was sent to the area to aid in salvage operations and had the delicate task of maintaining position over the bomb. The weapon was brought to the surface on 7 April, by the ROV ''CURV'', placed on ''Petrel'', and transferred to the .Melson, June 1967, p.33 ''Petrel'' then returned to Charleston. Deployed to the Mediterranean again in 1968, ''Petrel'' searched for the lost

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

i submarine on 26 January, and missing on the 30th. On 12 February, she helped salvage destroyer at

Rhodes Rhodes (; ) is the largest of the Dodecanese islands of Greece and is their historical capital; it is the List of islands in the Mediterranean#By area, ninth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea. Administratively, the island forms a separ ...

Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...

. After return to Charleston in May, she joined in the search for missing submarine on the 27th, and returned to Charleston from the

Azores The Azores ( , , ; , ), officially the Autonomous Region of the Azores (), is one of the two autonomous regions of Portugal (along with Madeira). It is an archipelago composed of nine volcanic islands in the Macaronesia region of the North Atl ...

on 12 July. She continued operations with SubDiv 41 into 1970.

1970–1991

''Petrel'' departed her homeport in Charleston, South Carolina in January 1973 to participate in the Roberto Clemente aircraft search and recovery operation off the coast of San Juan, Puerto Rico. She was decommissioned on 30 September 1991, and struck from the

Naval Vessel Register The ''Naval Vessel Register'' (NVR) is the official inventory of ships and service craft in custody of or titled by the United States Navy. It contains information on ships and service craft that make up the official inventory of the Navy from t ...

on 9 October 1991. Laid up in the Atlantic Reserve Fleet, ''Petrel'' was transferred to

MARAD Marad (Sumerian: Marda, modern Tell Wannat es-Sadum or Tell as-Sadoum (also Wana-Sedoum), Iraq) was an ancient Near Eastern city. Marad was situated on the west bank of the then western branch of the Upper Euphrates River west of Nippur in moder ...

custody on 1 May 1999, for lay up in the

National Defense Reserve Fleet The National Defense Reserve Fleet (NDRF) consists of Ship, ships of the United States, mostly Merchant ship, merchant vessels, that have been Reserve fleet, mothballed but can be activated within 20 to 120 days to provide shipping during nationa ...

, at

James River The James River is a river in Virginia that begins in the Appalachian Mountains and flows from the confluence of the Cowpasture and Jackson Rivers in Botetourt County U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowli ...

, Virginia. A contract for scrapping was awarded to Bay Bridge Enterprises of Chesapeake, Virginia, and the ship was towed from the James River on 5 December 2003.

References

;Notes ;Bibliography *

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Petrel (ASR-14) Chanticleer-class submarine rescue ships Ships built in Savannah, Georgia 1945 ships