''Nashira'' (AK-85) was planned as a civilian cargo ship for the

United States Maritime Commission The United States Maritime Commission (MARCOM) 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, 195 ...

, transferred to the Navy for construction then transferred to the U.S. Army and renamed two days after launching. The ship was never commissioned, thus never bore the USS designation, and had no significant naval service. Only USS ''Enceladus'' (AK-80) of the ten ships of the ''Enceladus'' class, composed of Maritime Commission N3-M-A1 type small cargo vessels, saw significant naval service. Of the other nine, excpting USS ''Hydra'' (AK-82), all were transferred within months or days of shipyard delivery to Navy to the Army. ''Hydra'' was transferred to Army shortly after commissioning and trials. Navy had assumed the administration of contracts for these ships from the Maritime Commission on 1 January 1943 during or before construction and thus most were only administratively Navy, including names and numbers, during construction. The ship was converted to the

U.S. Army Engineer Port Repair ship The U.S. Army acquired ten ships during World War II as Engineer Port Repair Ships, also sometimes known as Port Rehabilitation ships, for use by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to clear war damaged harbors. The need was anticipated by 1942 for t ...

''Richard R. Arnold'' and served in the Pacific during 1945.

Construction and launch

''Nashira'' (AK-85), named after Nashira, the third-brightest star in the constellation Capricorn, was a Maritime Commission type N3-M-A1 cargo vessel originally assigned the name ''Josiah Paul''. The ship was transferred from the control of the Maritime Commission to the

U.S. Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage of ...

1 January 1943, prior to the start of construction. Renamed ''Nashira'' 30 October 1943, she was laid down by

Penn-Jersey Shipbuilding Corp. Penn-Jersey Shipbuilding Corp. of Camden, New Jersey was a shipyard opened in March 1940 to build ships for World War II under the Emergency Shipbuilding Program. The shipyard was on Cooper Point, Camden, Cooper Point at north end of North 5th ...

Camden, New Jersey Camden is a city in and the county seat of Camden County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Camden is part of the Delaware Valley metropolitan area and is located directly across the Delaware River from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. At the 2020 ...

, 1 November 1943; launched 23 April 1944; sponsored by Miss Patricia Palmer; delivered to the Navy 25 April 1944; and transferred to the

U.S. Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...

the same day for use as a U.S. Army Port Repair ship. ''Nashira'' was struck from the

Navy List A Navy Directory, formerly the Navy List or Naval Register is an official list of naval officers, their ranks and seniority, the ships which they command or to which they are appointed, etc., that is published by the government or naval author ...

9 June 1944.

Army Port Repair Ship

The Army renamed the ship ''Richard R. Arnold'' after an Engineer officer, Colonel Richard R. Arnold, on General Eisenhower's personal staff killed by a mine 6 June 1943 in North Africa while commanding the 20th Engineer Regiment.http://www.20thengineers.com/ww2.html , World War II - 20th Engineers The ship and its crew served as part of the Army Corps of Engineers (1070th Engineer Service Detachment) in the Pacific during 1945, participated in the

Battle of Luzon The Battle of Luzon ( tl, Labanan sa Luzon; ja, ルソン島の戦い; es, Batalla de Luzón) was a land battle of the Pacific Theater of Operations of World War II by the Allied forces of the U.S., its colony the Philippines, and allies agai ...

(Philippines), crossed the equator four times, was present in Japan after the war, and returned to San Francisco on 24 December 1945.)

Disposal

''Richard R. Arnold'' was turned in to the Maritime Commission for disposal 17 July 1947 and placed in the

Suisun Bay Reserve Fleet The Suisun Bay Reserve Fleet is located on the northwest side of Suisun Bay (the northern portion of the greater San Francisco Bay estuary) in Benicia, California. The fleet is within a regulated navigation area that is about long and wide. It ...

where it remained until sold for $31,151 on 4 March 1965 to Kelbar, Inc. for scrap.

Notes

References

External links

NavSource Online: AK-85 ''Nashira''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nashira (AK-85) Port repair ships of the United States Army Enceladus-class cargo ships Ships built in Camden, New Jersey 1944 ships Type N3 ships of the United States Army World War II auxiliary ships of the United States