USS ''Leyte'' (ARG-8), later USS ''Maui'' (ARG-8), was a ''Luzon''-class

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repair ship A repair ship is a naval auxiliary ship designed to provide maintenance support to warships. Repair ships provide similar services to destroyer, submarine and seaplane tenders or depot ships, but may offer a broader range of repair capability incl ...

that saw service in 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 ...

from 1944 to 1946. She was scrapped in 1972.

History

''Leyte'' was laid down on 20 January 1944 at the Bethlehem-Fairfield Shipyard, Inc. in

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, Maryland; launched on 18 February 1944; sponsored by Miss Rhoda J. Braun; and commissioned on 17 August 1944. She was named after

Leyte Island Leyte ( ) is an island in the Visayas group of islands in the Philippines. It is eighth-largest and sixth-most populous island in the Philippines, with a total population of 2,626,970 as of 2020 census. Since the accessibility of land has be ...

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 ...

, she was the second U.S. Naval vessel to bear the name ''Leyte''.

Pacific War

After training in

Chesapeake Bay The Chesapeake Bay ( ) is the largest estuary in the United States. The Bay is located in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region and is primarily separated from the Atlantic Ocean by the Delmarva Peninsula (including the parts: the ...

, ''Leyte'' sailed from

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, on 3 October 1944 for

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duty. She reported to Commander Service Force

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on 26 November at Hollandia,

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. Here she became a repair ship for

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s, and continued this service until she departed for the

Philippine Islands 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 ...

on 25 February 1945. For the remainder of the War, ''Leyte'' served in

Subic Bay Subic Bay is a bay on the west coast of the island of Luzon in the Philippines, about northwest of Manila Bay. An extension of the South China Sea, its shores were formerly the site of a major United States Navy facility, U.S. Naval Base Subi ...

. Her name was changed to USS ''Maui'' (ARG-8) on 31 May (after the

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, making her the second U.S. Naval vessel to bear that name) so that the name ''Leyte'' could be assigned to a new

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then under construction, designated . The ship departed Subic Bay in early December and arrived on the west coast with 1,108 returning war veterans before Christmas 1945.

Decommissioning and fate

She became inactive in March 1946 and decommissioned at

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, California on 30 August where she was assigned to the San Diego Group of the

Pacific Reserve Fleet The United States Navy maintains a number of its ships as part of a reserve fleet, often called the "Mothball Fleet". While the details of the maintenance activity have changed several times, the basics are constant: keep the ships afloat and ...

. In June 1961 ''Maui'' was transferred to the

National Defense Reserve Fleet The National Defense Reserve Fleet (NDRF) consists of ships of the United States of America, mostly merchant vessels, that have been "mothballed" but can be activated within 20 to 120 days to provide shipping during national military emergencies ...

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 ent ...

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. The ship was 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 ...

in September 1962, at which time custody was transferred to MARAD. Reacquired by the Navy briefly in February–April 1967, after which ''Maui'' was again struck from the Naval Register and returned to MARAD, where she remained until 1972 at which time she was scrapped.

References

* * *
Photo gallery
at Naval Historical Center

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Leyte (Arg-8) Luzon-class repair ships Ships built in Sparrows Point, Maryland 1944 ships World War II auxiliary ships of the United States