USS Anchor (ARS-13) was an commissioned by 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 ...

during

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 ...

. Her task was to come to the aid of stricken vessels. ''Anchor'' (ARS-13) was laid down on 30 April 1942 at

Stockton, California Stockton is a city in and the county seat of San Joaquin County, California, San Joaquin County in the Central Valley (California), Central Valley of the U.S. state of California. Stockton was founded by Carlos Maria Weber in 1849 after he acquir ...

, by the

Colberg Boat Works . Colberg Boat Works was a shipbuilding company in Stockton, California on the Stockton Channel. To support the World War II demand for ships Colberg Boat Works built: Minesweepers, Type V ship Tugboats, and Submarine chasers. The minesweepers w ...

; launched on 13 March 1943; sponsored by Mrs. Hattie M. Stevenson; and placed in commission at Stockton, California, on 23 October 1943.

World War II service

During November, the salvage ship was fitted out at Stockton and at

San Francisco, California San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17th ...

. Early in December, she sailed to

San Diego, California San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the eighth most populous city in the United States ...

, for

shakedown Shakedown may refer to: * Shakedown (continuum mechanics), a type of plastic deformation * Shakedown (testing) or a shakedown cruise, a period of testing undergone by a ship, airplane or other craft before being declared operational * Extortion, ...

training and salvage operations. Anchor left the

U.S. West Coast The West Coast of the United States, also known as the Pacific Coast, Pacific states, and the western seaboard, is the coastline along which the Western United States meets the North Pacific Ocean. The term typically refers to the contiguous U.S ...

soon after the beginning of 1944, bound for

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only stat ...

. Upon her arrival at

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 Re ...

on the 11th, she underwent a month of repair work and then was assigned to "ready duty," which involved standing by the entrance

buoy A buoy () is a floating device that can have many purposes. It can be anchored (stationary) or allowed to drift with ocean currents. Types Navigational buoys * Race course marker buoys are used for buoy racing, the most prevalent form of yac ...

s to the Pearl Harbor channel and giving assistance when necessary to passing vessels. The ship also conducted

torpedo A modern torpedo is an underwater ranged weapon launched above or below the water surface, self-propelled towards a target, and with an explosive warhead designed to detonate either on contact with or in proximity to the target. Historically, su ...

recovery duty.

South Pacific operations

On 16 July, ''Anchor'' departed

and sailed for

Eniwetok Enewetak Atoll (; also spelled Eniwetok Atoll or sometimes Eniewetok; mh, Ānewetak, , or , ; known to the Japanese as Brown Atoll or Brown Island; ja, ブラウン環礁) is a large coral atoll of 40 islands in the Pacific Ocean and with it ...

. She operated there during August, carrying out various duties such as recovering barges, delivering mail, transporting freight and passengers, and performing salvage operations. The ship steamed to

Saipan Saipan ( ch, Sa’ipan, cal, Seipél, formerly in es, Saipán, and in ja, 彩帆島, Saipan-tō) is the largest island of the Northern Mariana Islands, a Commonwealth (U.S. insular area), commonwealth of the United States in the western Pa ...

in early September and assumed duty as blasting control vessel in addition to her salvage work. On 4 November she left

and sailed via

back to

Salvage and recovery operations

She reached

on 21 November and entered a shipyard for repairs and alterations. ''Anchor'' left the yard on 7 February 1945 and shortly thereafter sailed for

. She arrived there on 15 March and resumed salvage and towing operations. During that stint at

, the ship conducted salvage operations on the merchant ship '' SS Esso Washington''. She moved to

Guam Guam (; ch, Guåhan ) is an organized, unincorporated territory of the United States in the Micronesia subregion of the western Pacific Ocean. It is the westernmost point and territory of the United States (reckoned from the geographic cent ...

in early May and, after a brief availability, began torpedo recovery service. Later that month, the vessel got underway for

Okinawa is a prefecture of Japan. Okinawa Prefecture is the southernmost and westernmost prefecture of Japan, has a population of 1,457,162 (as of 2 February 2020) and a geographic area of 2,281 km2 (880 sq mi). Naha is the capital and largest city ...

and arrived there on 9 June.

Under attack by Japanese aircraft

During the next seven months, the ship conducted salvage operations on sunken

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

shipping and served as a blasting control and air raid control ship for the

area. On 11 June, she was among several ships that opened fire on four enemy planes attacking Allied ships in the Anchorage. The combined fire shot down one raider.

End-of-war operations

The war in the

Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the continen ...

ended when the Japanese capitulated on 15 August, but ''Anchor'' continued to operate at

until 23 March for a cruise that would take her to

Peleliu Peleliu (or Beliliou) is an island in the island nation of Palau. Peleliu, along with two small islands to its northeast, forms one of the sixteen states of Palau. The island is notable as the location of the Battle of Peleliu in World War II. H ...

, and back to Guam. The salvage vessel left the latter port and set sail for Pearl Harbor on 18 June. She remained in port for four weeks and then got underway for the west coast of the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

Return to Stateside

''Anchor'' reached

Seattle Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...

, Washington, in early July. Shortly thereafter, she reversed her course and proceeded back to Pearl Harbor. After a brief stay there, the ship sailed back to the west coast. She touched at San Francisco on 26 July before sailing on to Seattle, Washington.

Inactivation and decommissioning

There, reparations were begun to deactivate the ship. ''Anchor'' was decommissioned at Seattle on 16 September 1946, and her name 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 ...

on 13 November 1946. The vessel was then transferred to the

Maritime Administration Maritime administrations, or flag state administrations, are the executive arms/state bodies of each government responsible for carrying out the shipping responsibilities of the state, and are tasked to administer national shipping and boating issue ...

. She was sold on 23 May 1947 to L. E. Castell, Seattle, Washington.

Military awards and honors

''Anchor'' earned one

battle star A service star is a miniature bronze or silver five-pointed star inch (4.8 mm) 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 ser ...

for her

service.

References

External links

NavSource Online: Service Ship Photo Archive - ARS-13 ''Anchor''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Anchor Anchor-class rescue and salvage ships Ships built in Stockton, California 1943 ships World War II auxiliary ships of the United States