USS Windlass (ARS(D)-4)
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USS ''Windlass'' (ARS(D)-4), a Gypsy-class salvage lifting vessel of the United States Navy, was originally conceived as ''LSM-552'' and laid down on 27 August 1945 at
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, by
Brown Shipbuilding The Brown Shipbuilding Company was founded in Houston, Texas, in 1942 as a subsidiary of Brown and Root (now KBR) by brothers Herman and George R. Brown to build ships for the U.S. Navy during World War II. Brown Shipbuilding Company ranked 68th ...
Corporation. Launched on 7 December 1945; and commissioned on 9 April 1946 in Houston at the Tennessee Coal and Iron Docks.


1945–1948

Following further alterations and trials, ''Windlass'' shifted to
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, on 13 December, en route to her home port,
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. The salvage ship operated locally out of Charleston into May 1947 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 ...
in May to conduct a towing exercise with her sister ship, . The two ships departed the tidewater area for
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, on 18 June, before they shifted to Narragansett Bay to salvage the tug — sunk in a collision in December 1946. ''Windlass'' and ''Salvager'' pooled their efforts to lift the sunken yard tug from 130 feet of water. One body still on board the sunken tug was recovered and taken ashore for burial. ''Windlass'' and her sister ship returned to
Bayonne, New Jersey Bayonne ( ) is a city in Hudson County, New Jersey, United States. Located in the Gateway Region, Bayonne is situated on a peninsula located between Newark Bay to the west, the Kill Van Kull to the south, and New York Bay to the east. As of ...
on 28 July, but sailed for Mexico early the next month. Arriving at Veracruz on 15 August, ''Windlass'' assisted ''Salvager'' in raising two sunken Mexican barges in a two-week operation. Both salvage vessels then headed northward, bound for Bayonne. After touching at
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, and Norfolk, they conducted exercises in Chesapeake Bay before they reached Bayonne early in September. On 10 September, ''Windlass'', in company with ''Salvager'', began searching for the sunken patrol craft ''YP-387''. She located the wreck and began salvage operations while ''Salvager'' returned to Bayonne, apparently to get necessary equipment. ''Windlass'' apparently shifted briefly to Norfolk, for the same reason before both heavy-lifting salvage vessels returned to the site of the sunken YP off Hereford, New Jersey, on 1 October. Two days later, they placed demolition charges in the sunken "
Yippie boat Yard Patrol craft are used by the United States Navy for training and for research purposes. They are designated as YP in the hull classification symbol system. They were nicknamed "Yippy boats" after the "YP" classification symbol. World War I ...
" and blew her up to prevent her from being a hazard to navigation. ''Windlass'' and her sister ship then returned to Bayonne. Later that month, though, ''Windlass'' and ''Salvager'' again went to sea via Charleston, this time to 31°19'N/80°58'W, to search for ''YTB-274''. Aided by a blimp, the two salvage vessels streamed sweep wires and eventually located the sunken wreck of the YTB on 21 October. ''Windlass'' and ''Salvager'' went into three-point moors over the sunken ship and commenced salvage operations. They recovered one body on 27 October before they blew up the wreck on 2 November to prevent its becoming a navigational menace. After exercises on their return voyage, the two salvage vessels made port at Bayonne on 3 November. ''Windlass'' underwent a regular overhaul at the
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in April 1948, during which time she received additional radio and electronic gear and heavier anchors. The yard also reinforced the hull and added various engineering features. Upon completion of those alterations, ''Windlass'' returned to her home berth at Bayonne in June and remained there until 5 August, when she and ''Salvager'' sailed for Norfolk.


U-1105

''Windlass'' and ''Salvager'' assisted in a four-point moor over on 10 August 1948 and conducted salvage tests off
Piney Point, Maryland Piney Point (also known simply as "The Point"), is an unincorporated community and census-designated place in St. Mary's County, Maryland, United States. It is known for the Paul Hall Center for Maritime Training and Education, houses along the ...
on the former
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U-boat until 25 August. Hurricane Carol interrupted operations as she swept through the area on 30 and 31 August, but both salvage vessels rode out the storm without damage, despite the force 5 winds. ''Windlass'' took the almost-submerged ''U-1105'' undertow, supporting her partially with pontoons, and moored the ship on 28 September. ''Windlass'' and ''Salvager'' then performed various moors and salvage operations on the
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 ...
's hulk off Piney Point until 18 November before returning to Bayonne. There, ''Windlass'' remained into 1949. Again in company with ''Salvager'', ''Windlass'' moved to Newport, Rhode Island, in early February 1949, for a period of upkeep alongside . Later that month, ''Windlass'' shifted to Newport and trained there before she returned to Bayonne on 23 March. ''Windlass'' conducted mooring operations with USCG ''Tug 8188'' and ''YTB-541'' at Little Placentia Sound,
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,
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, in late May before returning to Bayonne on 1 June. She remained in port there until the 28th. When she got underway for Norfolk, again in company with ''Salvager''. ''Windlass'' remained at Norfolk until 8 July, when she headed for Piney Point, the scene of her earlier experimental salvage evolutions on ''U-1105''. From 11 July to 26 September, ''Windlass'' and ''Salvager'' assisted in the shifting of moorings of ''U-1105'' while salvage tests were being conducted upon the ship. During that time, a heavy storm with winds up to 80 knots passed through the area, forcing ''Windlass'' to shift her mooring to deeper water where her anchors would hold. For the remainder of 1949, ''Windlass'' operated in company with ''Salvager'', at Norfolk, Bayonne, and in the Little Creek, Delaware area, before both ships underwent availability alongside at Charleston. From there, the longstanding partners returned to Bayonne to await their next assignment.


USS Missouri

In January 1950, ran aground off the
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Station in Chesapeake Bay. ''Windlass'' and all other available salvage vessels were called to the scene to assist in one of the largest single salvage efforts since World War II. Various attempts to float the
battleship A battleship is a large armored warship with a main battery consisting of large caliber guns. It dominated naval warfare in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The term ''battleship'' came into use in the late 1880s to describe a type of ...
off the
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proved unsuccessful. That included running a division of
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 ...
s by at high speed (an attempt to dislodge the ship by the wave force from the wakes of the ships) and the off-loading of fuel and ammunition. Still, the big battlewagon refused to budge. Finally, however, a solution was worked out. With ''Windlass'' and ''Salvager'' in keystone positions, the various tugs, salvage ships, and submarine rescue vessels were utilized so as to maximize their pulling power. As a result of that combined effort, ''Missouri'' finally slid free but nearly ran down several of the salvage ships, including ''Windlass''. For her part in that operation, ''Windlass'' received a commendation.


1950–1952

For the remainder of 1950, ''Windlass'' performed various salvage tasks off the eastern seaboard and in the British West Indies. She investigated the wreck of SS ''Chile'' off
Cape Henry Cape Henry is a cape on the Atlantic shore of Virginia located in the northeast corner of Virginia Beach. It is the southern boundary of the entrance to the long estuary of the Chesapeake Bay. Across the mouth of the bay to the north is Cape Cha ...
, ascertaining whether or not the wreck was of sufficient danger to be a hazard to navigation; recovered practice mines; raised an LCVP off
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house; and planted moorings at Bermuda. Early in 1951, the ship continued planting moorings, this time in
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. ''Windlass divers cleared a fouled tug propeller and removed several objects from Norfolk harbor. After conducting a channel survey at Charleston, in April, ''Windlass'' returned to the
Hampton Roads Hampton Roads is the name of both a body of water in the United States that serves as a wide channel for the James River, James, Nansemond River, Nansemond and Elizabeth River (Virginia), Elizabeth rivers between Old Point Comfort and Sewell's ...
area, where she was present when the
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caught fire on 14 May 1951. ''Windlass'' rendered fire fighting assistance, pumped necessary compartments dry, and maintained flooding boundaries while rigging temporary gasoline lines and removing the volatile aviation gas from the seaplane tender's storage tanks. ''Windlass'' divers subsequently inspected that ship for underwater damage, and ''Windlass'' herself received a commendation for her part in averting a near disaster. Other operations performed by ''Windlass'' during 1951 included removing channel obstructions, raising an LCM and a small boat, refloating the grounded ''PC-572'' off Cedar Point, removing the obstruction which had fouled a propeller of , righting a target sled, conducting diving school, and mooring the hulk of the former ''YC-313'' in the Potomac River. ''Windlass'' arrived at the Charleston Naval Shipyard on 12 November 1951 and remained there until 8 January 1952, undergoing an overhaul. During that time, the ship's hull was again stiffened and her engines overhauled. After leaving the shipyard, ''Windlass'' conducted diving operations off Cape Charles, Virginia before she proceeded to
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, to assist in rigging ''YC-1060'' for technical tests. On 14 February 1952, ''Windlass'', towing ''YC-1010'', got underway for Norfolk. Two days later, while the salvage ship and her charge were en route to their destination, an explosion occurred in ''Windlass'' port engine crankcase, injuring one man and starting a fire. After the crew extinguished the blaze with no further damage, ''Windlass'' proceeded the remainder of the way to Norfolk on one engine. After arrival, both of ''Windlass'' engines were inspected carefully and again overhauled. In March, April, and May 1952, ''Windlass'' operated at
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, Puerto Rico, rigging test targets for demolition experiments. In addition, she set off the charges and retrieved underwater models before returning to Norfolk, again towing ''YC-1010''. The ship continued her association with ordnance-related projects that summer, surveying a mooring site; and mooring underwater explosive barges and (ex-SS-428) in Chesapeake Bay at the mouth of the Patuxent River for the Naval Ordnance Laboratory (NOL), Solomons, Maryland. During July and August, the ship set off some of the charges involved in NOL's testing program. ''Windlass'' then sailed to
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, later that summer and surveyed the area around the sunken ''YSD-68''. A hurricane caused a brief change in plans, however, as the salvage ship shifted briefly to Charleston to avoid it. On 29 September, ''Windlass'' began dragging the bottom with a "hawk" anchor and, on 6 October, located the self-propelled seaplane wrecking derrick on the bottom, upside down. Despite a period of "unusually adverse weather" and what ''Windlass command history termed "the usual salvage job setbacks," ''Windlass'' raised ''YSD-68'' early in November. The bad weather during that period had meant frequent interruptions to put into the nearest port,
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.


1953–1955

Returning to the Norfolk area after salvaging ''YSD-68'', ''Windlass'' conducted local salvage and diving operations for the remainder of 1952. The salvage vessel remained at Norfolk into February 1953, when she commenced a search for a downed Navy plane on the 5th of the month. Crash boats from
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,
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, assisted ''Windlass'' in the dragging operations begun that same day and located the plane, minus its tail section, soon thereafter. ''Windlass'' raised the plane, brought it on board between the two "horns" forward, and returned to Norfolk where the aircraft was removed by a dockside crane. That salvage effort set a precedent for the new and useful application of ships like ''Windlass'' and her sisters. After salvaging a target raft at
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, ''Windlass'' pulled the grounded yacht ''Boudoin'' off the south shore of the Potomac River on 18 February before resuming local operations that carried into the summer of 1953. ''Windlass'' emerged from her overhaul in early October and proceeded thence to St. Thomas and Roosevelt Roads, where the ship assisted in underwater explosive experiments in November. Shifting back to Norfolk, ''Windlass'' served as standby and duty salvage vessel there into the spring of 1954, recovering several practice mines and anchors during that time. She participated in Project "Caesar" out of Shelburne harbor, Nova Scotia, trenching and blasting in the ocean floor off the Nova Scotia coast. At one point during the mission, ''Windlass'' took shelter in Shelburne harbor from Hurricane Edna. In September, ''Windlass'' returned to Norfolk where she resumed her local operations. Two months later, on 8 November 1954, ''Windlass'' headed to a point off
Cape Henry Cape Henry is a cape on the Atlantic shore of Virginia located in the northeast corner of Virginia Beach. It is the southern boundary of the entrance to the long estuary of the Chesapeake Bay. Across the mouth of the bay to the north is Cape Cha ...
where she commenced salvage operations trying to raise two sunken planes. One broke up while being raised and could not be recovered. On 13 November, ''Windlass'' recovered the body of one aviator that had been lost in one of the downed planes. ''Windlass'' operated locally out of Norfolk into 1955. The following summer, she again participated in Project "Caesar" evolutions—in mid-June off Shelburne; in late July off Cape May, New Jersey; and in September off Cape Hatteras, North Carolina. After underway training out of Newport and rest and recreation at
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, ''Windlass'' attempted the salvage of the sunken yacht ''Turbatross'' off Tangier Island in Chesapeake Bay. Although the Navy salvage effort was initially successful in raising the sunken vessel, ''Turbatross hull warped badly and sank again when a sling strap parted.


USS Basilone

''Windlass'' received a summons to assist in refloating the grounded destroyer off
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. Rough weather hampered the operations which were begun on 5 January 1956, and also ran aground during the attempt to pull ''Basilone'' free. Wires snapped on board , and ''Windlass'' dragged dangerously near the destroyer and the beach but managed to cut loose and steer clear. With ice on her decks and rigging, ''Windlass'' returned to Norfolk the next day. When the weather moderated, ''Windlass'' and ''Salvager'' returned to the scene of the dual grounding. The former pulled off stranded ''Seneca'', and the latter pulled ''Basilone'' free. ''Windlass'' remained in the vicinity to pick up beach gear anchors and wires strewn over the bottom, recovering a total of 14 anchors.


1956–1964

For the next 10 years, ''Windlass'' conducted a regular schedule of operations out of Norfolk or Charleston, performing salvage and diving jobs of many different types. In mid-July 1956, the ship again participated in Project "Caesar"; she pulled a target sled off a beach in Chesapeake Bay in November, and finished the year by pulling off the beach east of Little Creek. In the spring of 1957, ''Windlass'' operated for three weeks at
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, in a
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nose cone recovery. That summer, the ship recovered most of the wreckage from two AJ Savage bombers that had collided late in June off Ocean View, Virginia. She later conducted exercises with ''Salvager'' before returning to Norfolk for diver qualifications; she was preparing to enjoy Christmas liberty when an emergency work request to raise the sunken ''YSD-56'' came through. On 16 December 1957, the ship put to sea and spent five days engaged in the task, only to admit defeat when the badly wrecked YSD appeared so badly torn and ruptured that refloatation was impossible, and the YSD sank again on 23 December. At 2315 that evening, Commander, Service Force, Atlantic Fleet, sent a dispatch releasing ''Windlass'' from recovery operations so that all hands could enjoy the Christmas holidays. ''Windlass'' subsequently recovered the wrecks of airplanes, salvaged small landing craft that had sunk during amphibious maneuvers, and participated in other classified projects in locales that ranged from
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, to Chesapeake Bay; from Guantanamo Bay to Assateague Island; and from
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to Nova Scotia. In addition, the ship cleared navigational channels and, again operating in company with ''Salvager'', raised the sunken ''YTB-495'' in mid-June 1960. She retrieved the downed airship ''KE-5'' in mid-July of that year and recovered two destroyer anchors slipped during
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in September 1960. The year 1961 was one which held both honor and tragedy for the ship. In May 1961, she received the Ney Award for having the best general mess in ships of her class. Unfortunately in May 1961, one man was killed and one seriously injured during the salvage of which had run aground under tow off Montauk Point.


1965–1973

In July 1965, the ship's home port was changed from Little Creek, to Davisville, R.I. No sooner had she shifted her base northward when she was called to the Mississippi River on salvage alert due to the passage of
Hurricane Betsy Hurricane Betsy was an intense and destructive tropical cyclone that brought widespread damage to areas of Florida and the central United States Gulf Coast in September 1965. The storm's erratic nature, coupled with its intensity and minim ...
. She departed Davisville on 11 September and arrived at New Orleans, Louisiana on 20 September to commence salvage operations on the USNS ''Kellar'' (T-AGS-25), sunk in the Mississippi. She moored over ''Kellar'' on the 23rd; commenced salvage rigging; and ultimately righted the Military Sea Transportation Service ship on 7 October. After salvage operations on ''Kellar'' were completed on 11 November, ''Windlass'' began preparations for decommissioning. On 23 November 1965, ''Windlass'' was decommissioned at New Orleans and converted to a non-self-propelled craft over the ensuing months. Re-classified as a medium salvage craft on 16 October 1967 and given the hull number YMLC-4, ''Windlass'' was placed in service with Advanced Bases, Pacific area, but was used minimally in ensuing years. Since replacement craft attained superior lift capability, the need for ''Windlass'' services diminished; she was accordingly struck from the Naval Vessel Register on 1 August 1972 and sold on 6 March 1973 to the Union Minerals & Alloys Corporation, New York City, where she was cut up for scrap.


Awards

USS ''Windlass'' has received:


References


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Windlass (ARS(D)-4) Ships built in Houston 1945 ships Gypsy-class salvage lifting vessels