USS Vulcan (AR-5)
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USS ''Vulcan'' (AR-5) was the lead ship of her class of repair ships of the United States Navy. The ship was laid down on 16 December 1939 at
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, by the New York Shipbuilding Corporation; launched on 14 December 1940; sponsored by Mrs. James Forrestal, wife of the Under Secretary of the Navy; and commissioned at the Philadelphia Navy Yard on 14 June 1941.


Service history


Iceland, 1941–1943

Following her
shakedown cruise Shakedown cruise is a nautical term in which the performance of a ship is tested. Generally, shakedown cruises are performed before a ship enters service or after major changes such as a crew change, repair or overhaul. The shakedown cruise s ...
to San Juan, Puerto Rico, and Guantanamo Bay, ''Vulcan'' underwent post-shakedown repairs at the Philadelphia Navy Yard in mid-August. Assigned to the Atlantic Fleet Train on the 20th, the repair ship departed Philadelphia the following day and proceeded, via
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, to
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. By this time, the Atlantic Fleet was becoming more fully involved in the
Battle of the Atlantic The Battle of the Atlantic, the longest continuous military campaign in World War II, ran from 1939 to the defeat of Nazi Germany in 1945, covering a major part of the naval history of World War II. At its core was the Allied naval blockade ...
. In July 1941, at the request of the Icelandic government, the United States had occupied Iceland – the strategic island which, as the German geopolitician Karl Haushofer wrote, lay pointed "like a pistol ... at the United States" – and had established bases at the barren ports of Reykjavík and Hvalfjörður. Marine wags soon nicknamed these places "Rinky Dink" and "Valley Forge", respectively. Prompted by fears that the would break out into the Atlantic as her sister ship, had done in the spring of 1941, the Navy dispatched a task force to Iceland to deter such a move. Accordingly, the unit – designated Task Force (TF) 4 and based around – sailed from Argentia on 23 September. Besides the valuable carrier, the force included , , ''Vulcan'', and a screen of four destroyers. A German U-boat, prowling to the southwest of Iceland, sighted the ships on the 26th, but could not keep up with or identify the Americans. Having outpaced their adversary, TF 4 reached "Valley Forge" on 28 September. While ''Tirpitz'' did not sortie, the U-boats continued their deadly forays against Allied shipping. By the fall of 1941, American destroyers were engaged in convoy operations half-way across the Atlantic, turning their charges over to British units at the MOMP (mid-ocean meeting point). On 4 September, narrowly avoided being torpedoed after attacking a German U-boat. During the midwatch on 17 October 1941, ''U-568'' torpedoed while the latter was screening Convoy SC-48. With 11 bluejackets dead, ''Kearny'' limped into Reykjavík, a gaping hole and buckled plating disfiguring her starboard side below and aft of the bridge. ''Vulcan'' provided timely and effective assistance to the stricken warship. Since permanent repair facilities – such as a drydock – were nonexistent, ''Kearny'' pulled up alongside the repair vessel, and her port side was flooded to raise the torpedo hole above water level. Soon, ''Vulcan's'' repair force had cut away the damaged plating and had fixed a patch. By Christmas 1941, ''Kearny'' could sail for the east coast and permanent repairs at Boston. Operations in these inhospitable climes posed natural dangers as well – fog and storms frequently hampered operations and caused collisions. In November, was rammed by a Norwegian freighter. The destroyer had been scouring Iceland's coastal waters for a straying Icelandic merchant vessel when the accident occurred, costing ''Niblack'' an anchor and putting a hole in her side plating. ''Vulcan'' swiftly fixed the damage and patched the side, enabling the destroyer to resume her vital escort duties. ''Vulcan'' remained in Iceland's chill and barren area into the spring of 1942. Meanwhile, on 7 December 1941, a Japanese task force had struck Pearl Harbor and severely crippled the battleships of the Pacific Fleet, plunging the United States into war on both oceans. ''Vulcan'' – bound for home in company with , , and the familiar ''Kearny'' – departed "Valley Forge" on 26 April 1942 and arrived at Boston on 2 May. There, the repair ship underwent a drydocking before she returned northward to support the Fleet's operations in the North Atlantic. Based at Argentia from 16 June to 14 November, Vulcan shifted to Hvalfjörður and relieved there on 18 November. She remained at "Valley Forge" until she got underway on 6 April 1943, bound via
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, Northern Ireland, for
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.


Mediterranean, 1943–1944

After repairs at Norfolk from 8 to 22 June, ''Vulcan'' headed for the Mediterranean and arrived at Oran, Algeria, on the 27th. Shifting to Algiers in late June, ''Vulcan'' sent a fire and rescue party to the burning British ammunition ship ''Arrow''. Three ''Vulcan'' sailors brought a boat alongside the flaming vessel and cut through her side plating to rescue British sailors trapped below decks. For their bravery and resourcefulness, the trio from the repair ship received decorations from the British government and Navy and Marine Corps Medals from their own. ''Vulcan'' remained based on the North African coast into the summer of 1944. In August and September, the repair ship supported the invasion of southern France and received her sole battle star for providing repair services to the ships and craft involved in the operation.


Pacific, 1945–1946

By late 1944, ''Vulcan'' was urgently required in the Pacific, and she accordingly departed the Mediterranean on 23 November 1944 in Convoy GUS-59. After voyage repairs at Norfolk which lasted into January 1945, the repair ship sailed for the South Pacific. Arriving at
Guadalcanal Guadalcanal (; indigenous name: ''Isatabu'') is the principal island in Guadalcanal Province of Solomon Islands, located in the south-western Pacific, northeast of Australia. It is the largest island in the Solomon Islands by area, and the seco ...
on 9 February 1945, ''Vulcan'' operated successively out of Tulagi, Nouméa, and Ulithi for the remainder of the war. From Ulithi, ''Vulcan'' serviced the amphibious units which participated in the assault on the key island of Okinawa. After hostilities with Japan ceased, Vulcan shifted to Okinawa and entered Buckner Bay in the wake of a destructive typhoon which had forced some ships aground and had severely damaged others. Repair work was well in hand by late September, when another typhoon threatened the anchorage. Vulcan led 17 merchantmen to sea in a typhoon evasion sortie – a mission successfully accomplished without loss or damage by 28 September. ''Vulcan'' sailed for Japan immediately thereafter to support the occupation of the erstwhile enemy's home islands. Leading a group of service force ships and oilers through dangerous, still-mined waters, ''Vulcan'' arrived in
Hiro Wan The , sometimes shortened to the Inland Sea, is the body of water separating Honshū, Shikoku, and Kyūshū, three of the four main islands of Japan. It serves as a waterway connecting the Pacific Ocean to the Sea of Japan. It connects to Osa ...
, near Kure, Japan, on 8 October. Here, the repair ship established an advance service unit to provide food, oil, and water to the ships of the occupation force based there. She also set up mail, medical, and recreational facilities ashore. In addition, she performed maintenance tasks on the diesel-powered vessels of the mine forces then clearing the waters around the Japanese home islands. Vulcan also operated out of
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and Yokosuka into the new year. Departing Yokosuka on 9 March 1946, the repair ship sailed for the east coast of the United States, calling at Pearl Harbor and transiting the Panama Canal en route. She arrived at Brooklyn, New York, on 15 April 1946.


Atlantic Fleet, 1946–1991

Vulcan operated at Newport, Rhode Island, until February 1954, when she shifted to
Norfolk, Virginia Norfolk ( ) is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. Incorporated in 1705, it had a population of 238,005 at the 2020 census, making it the third-most populous city in Virginia after neighboring Virginia Be ...
. The ship, supporting the Atlantic Fleet with repair services, was homeported at Norfolk into the mid-1970s. During this time, she conducted repairs, alterations, and overhauls on a wide variety of vessels. She called at ports from the
Caribbean The Caribbean (, ) ( es, El Caribe; french: la Caraïbe; ht, Karayib; nl, De Caraïben) is a region of the Americas that consists of the Caribbean Sea, its islands (some surrounded by the Caribbean Sea and some bordering both the Caribbean Se ...
to Canada, providing repair services to the Fleet at such ports as Guantanamo Bay, San Juan, New York, and Boston, as well as
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, and
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. When American intelligence pinpointed the presence of Russian missiles in Cuba in the fall of 1962, the United States and the Soviet Union stood "eyeball to eyeball" in the Caribbean. ''Vulcan'' sailed to San Juan, where she provided essential repair services to the ships operating on the "quarantine" line off Cuban shores to prevent the arrival of any further Russian military equipment. The ship also assumed an additional role as electronics and ordnance repair vessel as well. After supporting the Cuban blockade from 2 to 26 November, she returned to Norfolk to resume normal operations. Only once in the 1960s and 1970s did ''Vulcan'' venture beyond her normal deployment bounds of the east coast and the Caribbean. In the fall of 1964, the repair ship sailed for Europe to participate in NATO exercises. Departing Norfolk on 8 September, bound for Scotland, she arrived at
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on 21 September. After participating in NATO Exercise "Teamwork", Vulcan called at
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, Belgium; Le Havre, France; and
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, Spain, before participating in amphibious Exercise " Operation Steel Pike I" off Huelva, Spain. She returned to Norfolk soon thereafter to again take up her regular duties. Besides type and underway training exercises at sea, ''Vulcan'' made an occasional
NROTC The Naval Reserve Officers Training Corps (NROTC) program is a college-based, commissioned officer training program of the United States Navy and the United States Marine Corps. Origins A pilot Naval Reserve unit was established in September 19 ...
midshipman cruise and conducted individual ship exercises in between her regular long assignments as repair ship at Norfolk. Among the ships for which ''Vulcan'' provided availabilities was the intelligence ship . Between 24 March and 21 April, ''Liberty'' lay alongside the repair ship before getting underway later that spring for the fateful overseas deployment in which she was attacked by Israeli planes and motor torpedo boats off El Arish on the morning of 8 June 1967. In late 1975, ''Vulcan'' paid a working visit to Cartagena, Colombia, where she tended three ex-U.S. Navy destroyers of that nation's navy. Not only did ''Vulcan'' repair the vessels, but her crew also provided valuable training to their Colombian counterparts. During the ship's nine-month major overhaul in 1976, her long-time main battery – 4 × guns – was removed and replaced by four 20-millimeter guns. In the 1970s, ''Vulcan's'' itinerary included recreational and port visits to such places as
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; Halifax, Nova Scotia; and the more regular ports such as Charleston and Guantanamo Bay. In 1977, while returning from underway training, Vulcan was called upon to assist a Portuguese destroyer named ''Coutinho''. Alongside, Vulcan provided emergency boiler feedwater to the Coutinho. By a matter of hours, ''Vulcan'' became the first non-hospital ship in the Navy to receive women officers on 1 November 1978. The first contingents of enlisted women arrived in December 1978 and January 1979. Vulcan's first point-to-point cruise with women took place in February 1979, with a trip to
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, New Jersey. In September 1979, Vulcan left Norfolk for the Navy's first Mediterranean cruise with a mixed crew. A pioneer in the Women in Navy Ships (WINS) program, USS ''Vulcan'' had reserved positions for 66 women (including six officers) in its 730-member crew female sailors."Female Sailors Go Overseas First Time on U.S. Warship", ''The New York Times'', 12 September 1979, p. A14 In September 1980, Vulcan deployed to the North Atlantic to participate in NATO exercise " Teamwork 80 " which included ships from the United States, United Kingdom, the Netherlands, and West Germany. Vulcan completed an extensive overhaul of thirteen months in mid-February 1983. Captain J. E. McConville, the ship's thirty-fourth commanding officer, guided Vulcan to a successful completion of the difficult overhaul and subsequent refresher training. In May 1983, while en route to Florida from Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, Vulcan assisted a Haitian refugee boat, the " Rose Carida, " adrift without power for three days. Port visits to St. John's New Brunswick and Earle, N.J., were made in the first half of 1984. On 1 October, Vulcan left for Málaga, Spain, before arriving on station off Al Masirah, Oman where she was scheduled to relieve , another Second World War era vessel. Vulcan resumed her Norfolk duties in mid-1985.


Decommissioning and sale

''Vulcan'' was decommissioned on 30 September 1991, struck from the Naval Vessel Register on 28 July 1992 and laid up in the Atlantic Reserve Fleet. She was transferred to the Maritime Administration on 1 February 1999, for lay up in the National Defense Reserve Fleet on the James River, Fort Eustis, Virginia. On 9 November 2006 the contract was awarded to Bay Bridge Enterprises LLC, Chesapeake, Virginia, for her scrapping, and she was towed to the shipbreakers on 19 December 2006.


Awards

*''Vulcan'' received one battle star for her World War II service. * Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal, 30-Oct-1962 to 29-Nov-1962, Cuba * Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal, 06-May-1965 to 30-May-1965, Dominican Republic * Navy E Ribbon, 01-Jul-1974 to 30-Jun-1975 *
Meritorious Unit Commendation The Meritorious Unit Commendation (MUC; pronounced ''muck'') is a mid-level unit award of the United States Armed Forces. The U.S. Army awards units the Army MUC for exceptionally meritorious conduct in performance of outstanding achievement or s ...
, 01-Jun-1989 *
Navy Unit Commendation The Navy Unit Commendation (NUC) is a United States Navy unit award that was established by order of the Secretary of the Navy James Forrestal on 18 December 1944. History Navy and U.S. Marine Corps commands may recommend any Navy or Marine Co ...
, 17-Jan-1991 to 28-Feb-1991, Desert Storm *
Southwest Asia Service Medal The Southwest Asia Service Medal (SASM or SWASM) is a military award of the United States Armed Forces which was created by order of President George H.W. Bush on March 12, 1991. The award is intended to recognize those military service members ...
, 23-Jan-1991 to 15-Feb-1991


References

* *


External links


globalsecurity.org: AR-5 ''Vulcan''
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Vulcan (Ar-5) Vulcan-class repair ships Ships built by New York Shipbuilding Corporation World War II auxiliary ships of the United States Cold War auxiliary ships of the United States 1940 ships Historic American Engineering Record in Virginia