Vulcan (AR 5) - Naval Cruise Book

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and merchant ships anchored in the harbor. Photograph taken from USS Yorktown (CV-10). Planes on deck include SB2C and TBF tvpes. History USS VULCAN (AR-5) departing the Naval Station Norfolk. Virginia for the Mediterranean Sea on 22 June 1943. Note the tugs assisting her and the old ‘four-piper' destroyers

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VULCAN HISTORY USS VULCAN (AR-5) is the third service vessel to carry the name “VULCAN”. Recognized by the Naval Historical Center as “the Fleet’s first Repair Ship,” a steamship called CHATAM was purchased by the Navy, renamed VULCAN and converted into a mobile workshop and storeship to support the U.S. warships off Cuba in the Spanish American War. The first VULCAN was commissioned on May 31, 1898 in Boston and decommissioned on January 12, 1899 in Philadelphia, having served her purpose well during the short conflict in the Caribbean. The second VULCAN was a collier Ship of 11,250 tons displacement, 385 feet in length, 53 feet wide, having a mean draft of 24 feet and maximum speed of 12.8 knots. VULCAN (the collier) was built in 1909 and in 1911 sailed to France to supply vessels of the Atlantic Fleet, and then on to Norway with coal for the Naval Academy Practice Squadron. The collier remained at the Navy Yard in Portsmouth, New Hampshire from July 1913 to February 1914 before leaving again to join the Atlantic Fleet. In November 1915, VULCAN sailed to Haiti to load coal and stores for the Cruiser Squadron in the Cuban waters. From here she sailed to Mexico and later served entirely in the Caribbean. VULCAN was placed out of commission in Norfolk, Virginia, July 20, 1921. VULCAN (AR-5) is the first of the modern repair ships. Her keel was laid on December 16, 1939 at the Camden, New Jersey Yard of the New Yorki Shipbuilding Company. At the launching ceremony on December 14, 1941, Mrs. James Forrestal, wife of the first Secretary of Defense, broke the traditional bottle of champagne as VULCAN sponsor. Official commissioning of VULCAN was held June 16, 1941. Soon after, VULCAN was pressed into service serving in many theaters of operation during World War II. From her commissioning to December 1944, VULCAN operated in the Atlantic and Mediterranean, basing at Argentia, Newfoundland; Hvalfjordur, Iceland; and off North Africa at Algiers, Oran, and Mer-El Kebir. Her first repair job was the emergency repairs made to USS KEARNEY (DD-432) after the destroyer was torpedoed by a German U-boat off the coast of Iceland in October 1941. For her participation in the Allied invasion of Normandy during the priod August 15 through September 25, 1944, VULCAN received the European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal. In December 1944, VULCAN was transferred to the Pacific Fleet where she performed vital repair and support services for Allied naval and merchant ships while based in Ulithi Atoll, Caroline Islands, and Leyte Gulf, and Phillipine Islands. In October 1945, traversing one hundred and twenty miles of mine-infested waters through the Inland Sea of Japan, the tender led a small force of service force ships to Hiro Wan. There they established a necessary and vital repair service facility in this forward area. During this deployment, VULCAN was awarded, the Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal for the period September 2, 1945 through March 10, 1946. In April 1946, VULCAN returned to the United States and the Atlantic Fleet for duty where she remained, fulfilling her repair mission. Based in Newport, Rhode Island in the post-war years, VULCAN changed her homeport to Norfolk, Virginia in early 1954. Since arriving in Norfolk VULCAN has continued to provide quality and vital Fleet Support services to ships of the U.S. Atlantic Fleet, earning Battle “E” Awards in 1961, 1972, 1973 and 1975. In November 1978, VULCAN became the first Naval ship, other than a hospital or transport ship, to have women permanently assigned as part of the crew. In 1979 VULCAN deployed as SIXTH FLEET tender, her first major deployment since World War II. VULCAN deployed to the Indian Ocean in 1984 and in June 1986 deployed as SIXTH FLEET tender. Her most recent accomplishments in 1987 include a successful Operation Propulsion Plant Examination, outstanding IMA audit, Supply Management, Command and 3M Inspection. In May 1988, VULCAN completed a three month DSRA, another outstanding IMA audit and began preparing for Refresher Training in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Following successful completion of REFTRA, VULCAN returned to Norfolk and successfully completed a Supply Management Inspection. In fall 1988, VULCAN provided repair services to ships homeported in Naval Weapons Station, Earle, New Jersey. VULCAN has proudly served the FLEET for over 48 years, upholding her motto We tend to be better”.

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MED CRUISE 1989 “I find the great thing in this world is not so much where we stand, as in what direction we are moving: To reach the port of heaven, we must sail sometimes with the wind and sometimes against it — but we must sail, and not drift, nor lie at anchor.” Oliver Wendell Holmes “Bon Voyage! relatives and friends wave to loved ones who are about to embark on a six-month Mediterranean deployment. 12 C. Departure