USS Medusa (AR-1) at Pearl Harbor February 1942

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. Auxil ...

designed to provide

maintenance Maintenance may refer to: Biological science * Maintenance of an organism * Maintenance respiration Non-technical maintenance * Alimony, also called ''maintenance'' in British English * Champerty and maintenance, two related legal doctrine ...

support to

warship A warship or combatant ship is a naval ship that is built and primarily intended for naval warfare. Usually they belong to the armed forces of a state. As well as being armed, warships are designed to withstand damage and are usually faster a ...

s. Repair ships provide similar services to

destroyer In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast, manoeuvrable, long-endurance warship intended to escort larger vessels in a fleet, convoy or battle group and defend them against powerful short range attackers. They were originally developed in ...

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

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 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 ...

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 (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

. 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 u ...

in 1923.

Repair ships

Repair ships: * Silverstone, p.292 * * * * * * * * Silverstone, p.293 * * * * * * Silverstone, p.296 * * * Silverstone, p.285 * *

Internal combustion engine repair ship

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

gasoline engine A petrol engine (gasoline engine in American 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 liquefied petroleum gas and ethanol blends (such as ''E ...

s and

diesel engine The diesel engine, named after Rudolf Diesel, is an internal combustion engine in which ignition of the fuel is caused by the elevated temperature of the air in the cylinder due to mechanical compression; thus, the diesel engine is a so-call ...

s. Common work was 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, valued for its maneuverability and speed but hampered at the beginning of the wa ...

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. Pr ...

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 world-wide. A few were built on Allies of World War II, allied soil, but most were captured enemy f ...

. Internal combustion engine repair ship worked on types of ships and boats. On class are the Luzon-class repair ships, named after Islands of the

: * 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 of Internal combustion engine repair ship * USS ''Basilan'' (ARG-12), ex-AG-68 * USS ''Burias'' (ARG-13), ex-AG-69
*Heavy-hull Repair Ship (ARH) * USS ''Jason'' (ARH-1), later AR-8

Landing Craft Repair Ship

Landing Craft Repair Ships (ARL), used to repair

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. Pr ...

, like the Achelous-class repair ship: Thousands of landing craft were built for

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

these ships supported the Landing craft fleet. * 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 United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...

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 The Italian cruiser ''San Giorgio'' was the name ship of her class of two armored cruisers built for the Royal Italian Navy (''Regia Marina'') in the first decade of the 20th century. Commissioned in 1910, the ship was badly damaged when she r ...

) * * HMS ''Wayland'' (F137) * HMS ''Westernland'' (F87)

Lend/Lease

These ''Xanthus''-class repair ships were built to Royal Navy specifications by

Bethlehem Fairfield Shipyard The Bethlehem-Fairfield Shipyard of Baltimore, Maryland, was a shipyard in the United States from 1941 until 1945. Located on the south shore of the Middle Branch of the Patapsco River which serves as the Helen Delich Bentley Port of Baltimore, Ba ...

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

{{Warship types of the 19th & 20th centuries Ship types