USS Nereus (AS-17)

Last updated
USS Nereus AS-17 1945.jpg
USS Nereus in 1945
History
Flag of the United States.svg
NameUSS Nereus (AS-17)
Namesake Nereus
Builder Mare Island Navy Yard
Laid down12 October 1943
Launched12 February 1945
Commissioned27 October 1945
Decommissioned27 October 1971
Fatescrapped, 2012
General characteristics
Class and type Fulton-class submarine tender
Displacement
  • 9,250 long tons (9,398 t) light
  • 16,550 long tons (16,816 t) full load
Length529 ft 6 in (161.39 m)
Beam73 ft 4 in (22.35 m)
Draft26 ft 6 in (8.08 m)
Speed15 knots (28 km/h; 17 mph)
Complement1,217
Armament

USS Nereus (AS-17) was a Fulton-class submarine tender in service with the United States Navy from 1945 to 1971. She was scrapped in 2012.

Contents

History

According to Greek mythology, Nereus was the eldest son of Pontus and Gaia, and one of the manifestations of the Old Man of the Sea. Nereus was laid down on 12 October 1943, at Mare Island Navy Yard, Vallejo, California; launched 12 February 1945; sponsored by Mrs. A. M. Hurst; and commissioned on 27 October 1945, with Captain L. D. Follmer in command. She was the third vessel to bear the name.

1945–1960

Shipfitters on the Nereus (1943) "Women shipfitters worked on board the USS NEREUS, and are shown as they neared completion of the floor in a part of... - NARA - 296892.jpg
Shipfitters on the Nereus (1943)

After shakedown in the fall of 1945, the new submarine tender departed 15 December for Japan by way of Pearl Harbor. Arriving Sasebo early in 1946, she stripped 39 Japanese submarines of all usable equipment and material before they were towed to sea for scuttling. US Marine demolition crews then sank the submarines with explosive charges in Operation "Roads End", 1–2 April.

After leaving Sasebo, she then proceeded to Subic Bay with stops in Nagasaki and Manila. At Subic, the crew loaded torpedoes for transport back to the US.

Soon underway for home, she arrived in San Diego, California, on 13 May for a year of submarine service and repair work. On 28 June 1947 she got underway for Operation "Blue Nose." This cruise was entirely novel for a submarine tender. Together with the submarines Boarfish (SS-327), Caiman (SS-323), and Cabezon (SS-334), Nereus was assigned to TG 17.3. On 15 July she left for the Aleutian Islands where Rear Admiral Alan R. McCann, Commander Submarine Force Pacific came aboard. The group was underway again 25 July, this time for the Pribiloff Islands. During this transit Army Air Force aircraft based at Adak took part in the antisubmarine training. On 30 July Nereus passed through the Bering Strait and crossed the Arctic Circle.

Following along the International Date Line, the ships of Operation Blue Nose sighted pack ice on the morning of 1 August 1947. After reaching 72’15’ north latitude, the ships continued independently along the ice pack to determine its shape.

Before returning to her home port of San Diego, Nereus visited Norton Bay, Kodiak, Juneau, and Vancouver The cruise was followed by the ship's first overhaul, at Mare Island.

Starting in 1948 Nereus was primarily engaged in submarine repair and services at San Diego. On 24 April, Vice Admiral George D. Murray, Task Fleet commander, using Nereus as his flagship, announced six days of combat training exercises to take place the following week between San Diego and San Pedro. He expected to hoist his flag aboard cruiser Saint Paul for the exercises, involving 20,000 men, 30 ships and hundreds of planes. “The fleet will concentrate on testing new weapons and techniques, Murray said.” [1]

During the next two decades, Nereus made occasional cruises to Pearl Harbor; to Acapulco, Mexico; and various west coast ports. In 1948 she was camera-ship photographing the sinking of cruiser Salt Lake City (CA-25) some 130 miles off the west coast. In the spring of 1955, she accompanied submarines Tunny (SSG-282), Carbonero (SS-337) and Cusk (SS-348) to Pearl Harbor and acted as observer ship and advance base headquarters during the first firing of operational missiles from submarines.

1960–1971

Nereus in 1966. USS Nereus (AS-17) underway in 1966.jpg
Nereus in 1966.

In November 1960 Halibut (SSGN-587) came alongside Nereus, the first nuclear submarine to be serviced by a tender on the west coast. The following year she ministered to fleet ballistic missile (Polaris) submarine Theodore Roosevelt. In the fall of 1964, Nereus provided underwater support for the operational evaluation of the ASROC weapons system. Two years later her versatility in servicing Shields (DD-596) won her praise from ComSubPac, and the destroyer’s captain.

Nereus entered the U.S. Naval Shipyard at Mare Island on 1 November for overhaul until 7 April 1967. Following refresher training she reported to ComSubFlot 1 for duty on 11 May. That month she visited Acapulco, Mexico, and became flagship for ComSubFlot 1 and ComSubRon 5. In the fall of 1967, UNIVAC 1500 data processing equipment was installed to speed the tender operations. Into 1970 the tender served the submarines of the Pacific Fleet keeping them at peak readiness.

Nereus was later decommissioned in 1971, [2] and, as of July 2012, it was to leave the Maritime Administration’s Reserve Fleet at Suisun Bay to be broken apart at ESCO Marine Inc. in Brownsville, Texas (USA), after being scrubbed of marine growth & loose exterior paint in the dry docks of Allied Defense Recycling (California Dry Dock Solutions) at Mare Island. [3]

Awards

Related Research Articles

USS <i>Arnold J. Isbell</i> Gearing-class destroyer

USS Arnold J. Isbell (DD-869), a Gearing-class destroyer, was the only ship of the United States Navy to be named for Arnold J. Isbell, an aircraft carrier captain during World War II. The ship was laid down on 14 March 1945 at Staten Island, New York, by Bethlehem Mariners Harbor, launched on 6 August 1945 and commissioned on 5 January 1946. Constructed too late to see action in World War II, the vessel initially served as a training ship with the United States Atlantic Fleet, before transferring to the Pacific and deploying to Korea during the Korean War and off the Vietnam coast during the Vietnam War. In 1972 Arnold J. Isbell was made part of the reserve training fleet and in 1974, sold to Greece where the ship was renamed Satchouris and served with the Hellenic Navy until being sold for scrap in 2002.

USS <i>Blueback</i> (SS-581) Submarine of the United States

USS Blueback (SS-581) is a Barbel-class submarine that served in the United States Navy from 1959 to 1990, and subsequently was made into an exhibit at the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry. She was the second Navy submarine to bear the name.

USS <i>Salmon</i> (SSR-573) Navy to be named for the salmon

USS Salmon (SSR/SS/AGSS-573), a Sailfish-class submarine, was the third ship of the United States Navy to be named for the salmon.

USS <i>Tang</i> (SS-563) American submarine

USS Tang (SS/AGSS-563), the lead ship of her class was the second ship of the United States Navy to be named for the tang.

USS <i>Volador</i> (SS-490) Submarine of the United States

USS Volador (SS-490), a Tench-class submarine, was the second ship of the United States Navy to be named for the volador. The contract to build her was awarded to Portsmouth Naval Shipyard in Kittery, Maine, and her keel was laid down on 15 June 1945, but work on her construction was discontinued in January 1946. Her unfinished hulk remained on the ways until August 1947 when construction resumed, now including GUPPY II enhancements to the basic Tench design. Volador was launched on 21 May 1948 sponsored by Mrs. Harriet Rose Morton widow of Commander Dudley W. Morton, and commissioned on 1 October 1948, with Lieutenant Commander Howard A. Thompson in command.

USS <i>Wahoo</i> (SS-565) Submarine of the United States

USS Wahoo (SS-565), a Tang-class submarine, was the second ship of the United States Navy to be named for the wahoo, a dark blue food fish of Florida and the West Indies. The contract to build her was awarded to the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard in Kittery, Maine, and her keel was laid down on 24 October 1949. She was launched on 16 October 1951 sponsored by Mrs. Harry W. Hill, and commissioned on Memorial Day, 30 May 1952 with Commander Eugene P. Wilkinson in command.

USS <i>Skipjack</i> (SS-184) Submarine of the United States

USS Skipjack (SS-184), a Salmon-class submarine, was the second ship of the United States Navy to be named after the fish. Her keel was laid down by the Electric Boat Company in Groton, Connecticut, on 22 July 1936. She was launched on 23 October 1937 sponsored by Miss Frances Cuthbert Van Keuren, daughter of Captain Alexander H. Van Keuren, Superintending Constructor, New York Navy Yard. The boat was commissioned on 30 June 1938 with Lieutenant Herman Sall in command. She earned multiple battle stars during World War II and then was sunk, remarkably, by an atomic bomb during post-war testing. Among the most "thoroughly sunk" ships, she was refloated and then sunk a second time as a target ship two years later.

USS <i>Archerfish</i> (SS-311) American World War 2 submarine

USS Archerfish (SS/AGSS-311) was a Balao-class submarine. She was the first ship of the United States Navy to be named for the archerfish. Archerfish is best known for sinking the Japanese aircraft carrier Shinano in November 1944, the largest warship ever sunk by a submarine. For this achievement, she received a Presidential Unit Citation after World War II.

USS <i>Medregal</i> (SS-480) Submarine of the United States

USS Medregal (SS-480/AGSS-480), a Tench-class submarine, was the only ship of the United States Navy to be named for the medregal, a streamlined, fast-swimming, bluish-colored fish of the jack family which abounds in waters of the West Indies and in the Atlantic as far north as the Carolinas.

USS <i>Tiru</i> (SS-416) Submarine of the United States

USS Tiru (SS-416), a Balao-class submarine, was a vessel of the United States Navy named for the tiru, a member of the lizardfish family.

USS <i>Ajax</i> (AR-6)

USS Ajax (AR-6), in service 1943 to 1986, was the second Vulcan-class repair ship and the fourth ship in the United States Navy to bear the name. Laid down in 1941, launched in 1942 and commissioned in 1943, she was decommissioned in 1986 and finally sold for scrap. Ajax received four battle stars for Korean War service and five campaign stars for service in Vietnam.

USS <i>Walton</i>

USS Walton (DE-361) was a John C. Butler-class destroyer escort in the United States Navy. It was named after Merrit Cecil Walton, a Marine Corps platoon sergeant with the U.S. 1st Marine Division, who died on Gavutu during the Battle of Guadalcanal and was posthumously awarded the Navy Cross for "extraordinary heroism".

USS <i>Tulare</i> (AKA-112) Cargo ship of the United States Navy

USS Tulare (AKA-112/LKA-112) was a Tulare-class attack cargo ship in service with the United States Navy from 1956 to 1986. She was sold for scrap in 2011.

USS <i>Sperry</i> (AS-12) Tender of the United States Navy

USS Sperry (AS-12) was a Fulton-class submarine tender in the United States Navy. She was named for Elmer Sperry.

USS <i>Towhee</i> (AM-388) Minesweeper of the United States Navy

USS Towhee (AM-388) was an Auk-class minesweeper acquired by the United States Navy for the dangerous task of removing mines from minefields laid in the water to prevent ships from passing.

USS <i>Jason</i> (AR-8)

USS Jason (AR-8) was the fourth of the Vulcan class repair ship of the United States Navy in service from 1944 to 1995, serving in World War II, Korea, Vietnam, and the Gulf War. At the time of her decommissioning, Jason was the oldest ship in continual commission in the United States Navy, and the final ship in continual commission from World War II onward.

USS <i>Fulton</i> (AS-11) Tender of the United States Navy

USS Fulton (AS-11) was the leader of her class of seven submarine tenders, launched on 27 December 1940 by Mare Island Navy Yard and sponsored by Mrs. A. T. Sutcliffe, great-granddaughter of Robert Fulton. Fulton was commissioned on 12 September 1941.

USS <i>Howard W. Gilmore</i> (AS-16) Tender of the United States Navy

USS Howard W. Gilmore (AS-16) was a Fulton-class submarine tender in service with the United States Navy from 1944 to 1980. She was scrapped in 2006.

USS <i>Ashtabula</i> Oiler of the United States Navy

USS Ashtabula (AO-51) was a Cimarron-class fleet oiler of the United States Navy in service from 1943 to 1991. She survived three wars and was awarded eight battle stars for World War II service, four battle stars for Korean War service, and eight campaign stars for Vietnam War service. In the mid-1960s Ashtabula became the lead ship of her class, when she and seven other Cimarron-class oilers were lengthened ("jumboized"). She has been the only U.S. Navy ship to bear the name Ashtabula, after the City of Ashtabula which was named after the Ashtabula River in northeast Ohio.

USS <i>Apache</i> (ATF-67) Tugboat of the United States Navy

USS Apache (AT-67/ATF-67) was a Navajo-class fleet tug, later fleet ocean tug, in commission in the United States Navy from 1942 to 1946 and from 1951 to 1974. She saw service in World War II, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War.

References

  1. ↑ Associated Press, “Air, Sea Attack On South Coast,” The San Bernardino Sun-Telegram, San Bernardino, California, Sunday 25 April 1948, Volume 1, Number 54, page 5.
  2. ↑ USS Nereus (AS 17)
  3. ↑

This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships .The entry can be found here.

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.