USS Reclaimer
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USS ''Reclaimer'' (ARS-42), was a of 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 ...
. It was the only ship of the US Navy to be named ''Reclaimer''.


Service history


1940s

''Reclaimer'' (ARS-42) was laid down on 10 November 1944 by
Basalt Rock Company Basalt Rock Company was a multifaceted industrial operation that was founded in 1920. The company started as a rock quarrying operation located a few miles south of Napa, California near Rocktram adjacent to the Napa River. It later branched ou ...
in
Napa, California Napa is the largest city and county seat of Napa County, California, Napa County and a principal city of Wine Country in Northern California, United States. Located in the North Bay (San Francisco Bay Area), North Bay region of the Bay Area, th ...
; launched 23 June 1945; sponsored by Mrs. Daniel Clark, Jr.; and commissioned on 20 December 1945. After shakedown off San Pedro, ''Reclaimer'' steamed to
Pearl Harbor Pearl Harbor is an American lagoon harbor on the island of Oahu, Hawaii, west of Honolulu. It was often visited by the naval fleet of the United States, before it was acquired from the Hawaiian Kingdom by the U.S. with the signing of the Reci ...
where she operated until assigned to Joint Task Force 1, arriving at
Bikini A bikini is a two-piece swimsuit primarily worn by women that features one piece on top that covers the breasts, and a second piece on the bottom: the front covering the pelvis but usually exposing the navel, and the back generally covering ...
on 1 June 1946. There she served as salvage vessel and was contaminated during the "
Operation Crossroads Operation Crossroads was a pair of nuclear weapon tests conducted by the United States at Bikini Atoll in mid-1946. They were the first nuclear weapon tests since Trinity on July 16, 1945, and the first detonations of nuclear devices sinc ...
" atomic tests, but received final radiological clearance on 13 January 1947. She returned to Pearl Harbor in September 1946 and to the west coast in October where she remained until decommissioned 23 June 1947. She was assigned to the Pacific Reserve Fleet and berthed at
San Diego San Diego ( , ) is a city on the Pacific coast of Southern California, adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a population of over 1.4 million, it is the List of United States cities by population, eighth-most populous city in t ...
.


1950s

''Reclaimer'' recommissioned on 1 December 1950 for service in the
Korean War The Korean War (25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953) was an armed conflict on the Korean Peninsula fought between North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea; DPRK) and South Korea (Republic of Korea; ROK) and their allies. North Korea was s ...
and, after shakedown off San Diego towed ''AP-23'' to Hawaii. Arriving at Pearl Harbor on 12 February 1951, she then proceeded on across the Pacific touched at Majuro and Guam, and reached Sasebo, Japan on 29 April. On 8 May ''Reclaimer'' got underway to aid SS ''Muhlenberg Victory'', grounded on Uku Shima, an island near Sasebo. With the aid of , she re-floated the ship a week later and on 27 May towed ''YO-179'' to Pusan, Korea. She then steamed to Wonsan for patrol duties between that port and Songjin. In mid-June, she escorted , damaged by a mine, to Sasebo. Six days later, she returned to Pusan to tow the burning merchantman ''Plymouth Victory'', back to Sasebo where the fire was extinguished. During August ''Reclaimer'' assisted in mine sweeping and laid buoys in Wonsan Harbor. On 7 September, she re-floated the beached Japanese LST Q 081 at Kangnung, Korea. On 10 October, with , she towed the
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 ...
hospital ship
RFA RFA may refer to: Groups, organizations * Radio Free Asia, a private news broadcaster and publisher in East Asia, funded in part by the U.S. government * Renewable Fuels Agency, a former UK renewable fuel regulatory agency * Renewable Fuels A ...
''Maine'' which had lost a propeller, on a westward passage through the crowded and narrow Shimonoseki Straits. This was the only hospital ship supporting U.N. forces at that time. On 22 January 1952, she departed Yokosuka to return to her homeport, Pearl Harbor, where she remained until 21 October. Returning to WestPac with ''YC-104'' in tow, ''Reclaimer'' reached Sasebo on 17 November. On 2 December she arrived at Sokeho Hang, Korea, to rescue two LST's aground in heavy seas. With one of the LST's in tow she reached Sasebo on 18 December. After brief duty with the Wonsan blockade force, ''Reclaimer'' took SS ''Gulf Haven'' in tow while she was foundering in a
typhoon A typhoon is a tropical cyclone that develops between 180° and 100°E in the Northern Hemisphere and which produces sustained hurricane-force winds of at least . This region is referred to as the Northwestern Pacific Basin, accounting for a ...
, and successfully brought her to Japan. ''Reclaimer'' continued to operate in Japan and Korea until returning to San Diego on 25 July 1953. For the next three months she operated on the West Coast, steaming back to Pearl Harbor in late October. In March 1954, she headed southwest to the
Marshall Islands The Marshall Islands, officially the Republic of the Marshall Islands, is an island country west of the International Date Line and north of the equator in the Micronesia region of the Northwestern Pacific Ocean. The territory consists of 29 c ...
for salvage work during "
Operation Castle Operation Castle was a United States series of high-yield (high-energy) nuclear tests by Joint Task Force 7 (JTF-7) at Bikini Atoll beginning in March 1954. It followed ''Operation Upshot–Knothole'' and preceded '' Operation Teapot''. Con ...
", the
hydrogen bomb A thermonuclear weapon, fusion weapon or hydrogen bomb (H-bomb) is a second-generation nuclear weapon design. Its greater sophistication affords it vastly greater destructive power than first-generation nuclear bombs, a more compact size, a lo ...
test series at Bikini. Departing Bikini on 4 May she continued on to Japan. Through the summer she operated in Japanese and Korean waters, then, during September and October, stood by off
French Indochina French Indochina (previously spelled as French Indo-China), officially known as the Indochinese Union and after 1941 as the Indochinese Federation, was a group of French dependent territories in Southeast Asia from 1887 to 1954. It was initial ...
while French and American ships, in "
Operation Passage to Freedom Operation Passage to Freedom was a term used by the United States Navy to describe the propaganda effort and the assistance in transporting 310,000 Vietnamese civilians, soldiers and non-Vietnamese members of the French Army from communist No ...
", evacuated refugees from what was to become North Vietnam. Returning to the United States, ''Reclaimer'' spent the first six months of 1955 operating off the West Coast, then deployed to the Far East. During early 1956, she operated in the Hawaiian Islands, reaching Yokosuka on 30 September. She returned to Pearl Harbor on 12 February 1957. After freeing the grounded LST from Kauai, Hawaii, she again conducted salvage operations in the Far East from 12 July to 30 November. Returning to Pearl Harbor she began a two-month tour on the West Coast in February 1958 then, following further services at Hawaii, again set sail for a four-month deployment to WestPac. She returned to Pearl Harbor in August and to the West Coast in February 1959, but was back at Pearl after only a month. In June she deployed to WestPac, returning in September.


1960s

''Reclaimer'' spent early 1960 in the Hawaiian area, and installed underwater cables near
Midway Atoll Midway Atoll (colloquialism, colloquial: Midway Islands; ; ) is a atoll in the North Pacific Ocean. Midway Atoll is an insular area of the United States and is an Insular area#Unorganized unincorporated territories, unorganized and unincorpo ...
to detect missiles fired into the area. Then she steamed for Yokosuka on 6 September. Returning to Pearl Harbor on 21 December, she operated in the Hawaiian Islands until sailing for the Far East on 26 June. Back at Pearl Harbor in November, ''Reclaimer'' undertook several assignments. Following an overhaul, ''Reclaimer'' steamed in May 1962 for
Christmas Island Christmas Island, officially the Territory of Christmas Island, is an States and territories of Australia#External territories, Australian external territory in the Indian Ocean comprising the island of the same name. It is about south o ...
and another nuclear test, "
Operation Dominic Operation Dominic was a series of 31 nuclear test explosions ("shots") with a total yield conducted in 1962 by the United States in the Pacific. This test series was scheduled quickly, in order to respond in kind to the Soviet resumption of t ...
", where she laid target moors and placed target rafts for the next two months. Arriving at Yokosuka on 6 October ''Reclaimer'' operated in the Far East until she returned to Hawaii early in 1963 and, with the exception of salvaging MV ''Shokafu'' at
Pago Pago Pago Pago ( or ; Samoan language, Samoan: )Harris, Ann G. and Esther Tuttle (2004). ''Geology of National Parks''. Kendall Hunt. Page 604. . is the capital of American Samoa. It is in Maoputasi County, American Samoa, Maoputasi County on Tutuila ...
, Samoa, in March, operated there throughout the rest of the year. Steaming back to Japan in January 1964, ''Reclaimer'' operated there and off Korea, Okinawa, and Taiwan before proceeding to Saigon to salvage , which had been damaged in Saigon Harbor by
Viet Cong The Viet Cong (VC) was an epithet and umbrella term to refer to the communist-driven armed movement and united front organization in South Vietnam. It was formally organized as and led by the National Liberation Front of South Vietnam, and ...
mines. With , ''Reclaimer'' re-floated ''Card'' and towed her to the Philippines, then returned to Pearl Harbor on 22 June and remained there for the rest of 1964. In 1965 ''Reclaimer'' participated in
Operation Market Time Operation Market Time was the United States Navy, Republic of Vietnam Navy and Royal Australian Navy operation begun in 1965 to stop the flow of troops, war material, and supplies by sea, coast, and rivers, from North Vietnam into parts of Sout ...
off
South Vietnam South Vietnam, officially the Republic of Vietnam (RVN; , VNCH), was a country in Southeast Asia that existed from 1955 to 1975. It first garnered Diplomatic recognition, international recognition in 1949 as the State of Vietnam within the ...
for two months, salvaged ''LST-559'' in
Da Nang Da Nang or DanangSee also Danang Dragons (, ) is the fifth-largest city in Vietnam by municipal population. It lies on the coast of the Western Pacific Ocean of Vietnam at the mouth of the Hàn River, and is one of Vietnam's most important p ...
Harbor, and performed various towing assignments, before returning to Pearl Harbor in July. In January 1966, she was off for WestPac again, and while so deployed was called on for three major salvage operations and for support in amphibious
Operation Jackstay Operation Jackstay was a joint U.S. Marine Corps, U.S. Navy, U.S. Coast Guard and Republic of Vietnam Marine Division operation in the Rung Sat Special Zone, South Vietnam that took place from 26 March to 6 April 1966. Background On 26 Feb ...
in rivers of the
Rung Sat Special Zone Rung Sat Special Zone (Vietnamese: ''Đặc khu Rừng Sác'') was the name given during the Vietnam War by the South Vietnam Government and American forces to a large area of the Sác Forest (Vietnamese ''Rừng Sác''), which is today known as t ...
. The first salvage job on this deployment was retracting the cargo ship SS Excellancy stranded on Triton Island west of Subic Bay in the South China Sea. ''Reclaimer'' participated in the successful salvage of the
Esso Esso () is a trading name for ExxonMobil. Originally, the name was primarily used by its predecessor Standard Oil of New Jersey after the breakup of the original Standard Oil company in 1911. The company adopted the name "Esso" (from the phon ...
tanker SS ''Sea Raven'' off the beach of
Chu Lai Chu Lai is a seaport, urban and industrial area in Núi Thành District, Quảng Nam Province, Vietnam. The city is served by Chu Lai International Airport. It is also the site of the Chu Lai Open Economic Zone (Vietnamese: ''Khu Kinh Tế M ...
. Then, steaming south, she performed similar operations for merchantmen ''SS'' ''Grertrude'' ''Therese'' grounded at Afelie Island off northern Australia. She returned to Pearl Harbor on 29 August 1966, and on 9 November was underway for Oregon to work with the cable laying ship USS Aeolus. During this period Reclaimer stood off Port Townsend, Washington to receive a Puget Sound pilot. A visitor approached ''Reclaimer'' in a rowboat who identified himself as the first CO of ''Reclaimer''. He was welcomed aboard for a coffee and visit. She returned from the West Coast to Pearl Harbor a month later. Between deployments ''Reclaimer'' was tasked in dumping four very large and dozens of small steel barrels filled with concrete and radioactive waste at a location about 400 miles SW of Pearl Harbor. In March 1967 ''Reclaimer'' rescued SS ''Norbega'', dead in the water west of Midway, before deploying to WestPac in April. In June she laid a special radar reflecting buoy in the
Gulf of Tonkin The Gulf of Tonkin is a gulf at the northwestern portion of the South China Sea, located off the coasts of Tonkin ( northern Vietnam) and South China. It has a total surface area of . It is defined in the west and northwest by the northern co ...
to aid SAR patrol ships in navigation. She continued operations off Taiwan and Vietnam, including the salvage of South Vietnamese LSM-406 aground at Phan Thiết, until returning to Pearl Harbor at the end of 1967. After spending the first half of 1968 in Pearl Harbor ''Reclaimer'' arrived at Da Nang, South Vietnam, on 29 August for standby salvage duty. In September she salvaged ''LCV-1616'' and in October ''LCU-1676''. Returning to the West Coast in mid-1969, she deployed to WestPac again at the end of the year.


1970s

''Reclaimer'' then operated off Vietnam for the whole of 1970, entering Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, on 17 March 1971. At Pearl Harbor ''Reclaimer'' underwent regular overhaul and, subsequent to overhaul, engaged in salvage and refresher training. In February 1972, she was re-deployed to WestPac, returning to Hawaii in late August. She remained in the Pearl Harbor area throughout 1972 and the first six months of 1973. In July 1973, she steamed westward again for deployment, spending the last six months of 1973 in the western Pacific. As of late January 1974, ''Reclaimer'' was making the passage from Apra, Guam, to Pearl Harbor. In June–July 1977, Reclaimer sailed to Adak, Alaska to assist the USNS Meyer in oceanographic research. In Sept-Oct, Reclaimer worked with an experimental RUWS (Remote Unmanned Work System.) :History needed from 1978-1994.''


late 1980s

''Reclaimer'' was refurbished and returned to service in the late 1980s by the men and women of the Shore Intermediate Maintenance Activity at Pearl Harbor Hawaii (SIMAPH). The Commanding Officer of the Reclaimer awarded SIMAPH's personnel with the Meritorious Unit Commendation for returning the Reclaimer to service ahead schedule and under budget. In 1985 ''Reclaimer'' was tasked to conduct overt intelligence collection operations, code named "Pony Express", against Russian naval auxiliary ships operating in the Pacific Broad Ocean Area (BOA) west of Midway Island. Reclaimer conducted photographic and electronic intelligence intercept of Russian ICBM warheads, equipped with telemetry capsules, during their re-entry phase thru the atmosphere and striking geographic coordinates simulating targets within the Russian ships operating area. The one-way transit took more time than the ship was on-station monitoring the re-entry operations, and the overall 70-day deployment ensured the ship's crew earned sea pay before returning to home port, Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. Later, ''Reclaimer'' was assigned additional intelligence collection missions around Oahu and the Hawaiian Islands during the presence of Russian intelligence collection ships, or AGIs, while in and around Hawaiian waters. ''Reclaimer'' was decommissioned and simultaneously struck from the Naval Register on 16 September 1994. She was transferred to the
Maritime Commission The United States Maritime Commission was an independent executive agency of the U.S. federal government that was created by the Merchant Marine Act of 1936, which was passed by Congress on June 29, 1936, and was abolished on May 24, 1950. The c ...
(MARAD) on 28 July 2001, 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
Suisun Bay Suisun Bay ( ; Wintun for "where the west wind blows") is a shallow tidal estuary (a northeastern extension of the San Francisco Bay) in Northern California. It lies at the confluence of the Sacramento River and San Joaquin River, forming the e ...
, Benicia, California. She was withdrawn from the Reserve Fleet on 28 November 2006, and transferred to
Concord Naval Weapons Station Concord Naval Weapons Station was a military base established in 1942 north of the city of Concord, California at the shore of the Sacramento River where it widens into Suisun Bay. The station functioned as a World War II armament storage de ...
, California for
SINKEX A target ship is a vessel — typically an obsolete or captured warship — used as a seaborne target for naval gunnery practice or for weapons testing. Targets may be used with the intention of testing effectiveness of specific types of ammunit ...
preparation. On 12 April 2011, a contract was issued by MARAD to Marine Metals of Brownsville, Texas, to dismantle ''Reclaimer'' for $462,223.31. ''Reclaimer'' departed the Suisun Bay Reserve Fleet on 16 May 2011 to be cleaned at BAE Systems San Francisco Ship Repair. ''Reclaimer'' was towed to Brownsville upon completion of the cleaning and was completely dismantled on 14 October 2011.


Awards

''Reclaimer'' earned five
battle star A service star is a miniature bronze or silver five-pointed star in diameter that is authorized to be worn by members of the eight uniformed services of the United States on medals and ribbons to denote an additional award or service period. T ...
s for Korean War service and eight campaign stars for Vietnam.


References


External links

*
Basalt Rock Company
''Shipbuilding History'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Reclaimer Bolster-class rescue and salvage ships Ships built in Napa, California 1945 ships World War II auxiliary ships of the United States Korean War auxiliary ships of the United States Vietnam War auxiliary ships of the United States