However, the vessel soon again proceeded to Vung Tau and worked diligently for the first three weeks in November. The job consisted of … On 11 July, her crew moved to loving spaces on board a non-self-propelled barracks ship, and the overhaul began in earnest. Although asbestos itself is an inexpensive material used in the ships’ construction, removal can be extremely costly, as one study concluded that it would cost $945,000 to remove asbestos materials from engineering spaces on the USS Anchorage warship. However, the vessel soon again proceeded to Vung Tau and worked diligently for the first three weeks in November. Meanwhile, ground forces took outlying islands, including the forward base for the operation, the Kerama Islands. There, she and VESTAL (AR 4) repaired combatant ships through the Hollandia strikes and during preparations for the Marianas campaign. On 12 October, after being relieved by USS Emory S. Land, Ajax sailed eastward; stopped in Bunbury and Sydney, Australia; Pearl Harbor; and finally reached San Diego on 20 November. After her arrival in Sasebo on 23 July, AJAX provided routine repairs and service support for ships there and in Yokosuka for the remainder of the year and the beginning of 1969. On 12 October, after being relieved by EMORY S. LAND (AS 39), AJAX sailed eastward; stopped in Bunbury and Sydney, Australia, Pearl Harbor, and finally reached San Diego on 20 November. Steaming by way of Hawaii and Guam, she arrived in the Philippines at Subic Bay on 31 August. Fifth Row - United Nations Service Medal - Republic of Vietnam Campaign Medal - Republic of Korea War Service Medal (retroactive). USS AJAX AR-6 Naval Cover 1946 Sailor's Mail PEARL HARBOR, HAWAII w/ letter It was sent 6 Apr 1946. On 25 May 1945, Ajax headed for San Pedro Bay, Leyte Gulf, to help prepare for the final assault on Japan, spending July repairing typhoon-battered USS Bennington (CV-20). AJAX remained in or near San Diego for the entire year 1976. The yard work ended on 23 February 1946, and AJAX sailed via Pearl Harbor for the Bikini Atoll to participate in the atomic bomb tests to be held there in July. Following refresher training, underway replenishment, and towing exercises with CASTOR (AKS 1), AJAX returned to Sasebo on 17 December. As the dive boat arrives at the anchor buoy, which is tied to the ship, the anticipation to see a famous World War II ship, 69 years after it … On 25 January, AJAX was ordered to proceed in company with WADLEIGH (DD 689) to the Ellice Islands, but, two days after reaching Funafuti, she moved to Makin Atoll, Gilbert Islands, to work on the ships that would occupy Majuro in the Marshall Islands. Except for two days of sea trials in April, AJAX remained at San Diego until mid-1980. USS Ajax AR-6 has 635 members. After fit out and shake down, OKINAWA's first call to service was the Cuban Missile Crisis in October … ... 1976 ZIPPO LIGHTER USMC OKINAWA CAMP HANSEN SO MANY GIRLS SO LITTLE MONEY. Among her alterations was the installation of flag office spaces for ServRon 3 staff. On May 26 a bomb fell only 25 to 40 feet away from the ship. On 3 June, the repair ship headed for Vietnam and arrived at Vung Tau on 9 June. USS OKINAWA served her country for 30 years, 8 months and 3 days, until decommissioned on 17 DEC 1992. Steaming by way of Hawaii and Guam, she arrived in the Philippines at Subic Bay on 31 August. Although that port was a rest and recreation center for the allied forces, AJAX worked without break for 13 days making badly needed repairs and providing services to ships and small craft operating in the Mekong Delta, as well as to various Army and Air Force equipment ashore. She also put to sea infrequently for trials and, on one occasion in May and June 1983, to carry her repair services to Bremerton, Wash. Ajax returned to San Diego from that mission on 10 June 1983 and, the next day, began a month of final preparations for overhaul. The Okinawa was Benjamin Sisko's assignment prior to his posting on the USS Saratoga. AJAX continued her usual routine of servicing ships in Sasebo, Yokosuka, and Subic Bay during 1969, including a two-week stay in Vung Tau from 27 September to 10 October. Over the next seven months, the ship provided repair services for units of the Pacific Fleet at San Diego, served as a training facility for naval reserve detachments undergoing their annual two weeks of active duty, and made preparations for a regular overhaul. The resulting casualties for Ajax were two dead and three wounded.[1]. The following morning, Ajax got underway for Japan and six months in Yokosuka. She departed Hawaii on 8 December and arrived in her home port on the 15th in time for a holiday in a leave and upkeep period. On 31 July, the repair ship embarked upon the final overseas assignment of her Navy career. On 16 September, she got underway to conduct exercises and then head back to San Diego. (DS9: "Homefront", "Paradise Lost") The Okinawa … The repair ship made two "rest and relaxation" cruises, one in April to Keelung and the other in July to Hong Kong. AJAX returned to San Diego on 26 April and devoted the next four and one-half months to operations in various shipyards and ports along the coast of California. From Subic Bay, she voyaged to Singapore where she stopped between 24 September and 3 October. USS Ajax was awarded the following Awards in order of precedence: Prior to that date, AJAX continued servicing Vung Tau from 13 April to 9 May in support of the American offensive in Cambodia. On 22 January, the ship left Diego Garcia in her wake and set course for Pattaya, Thailand, where she spent most of the first week in February. Dale Norris became the first woman officer on board Ajax to become surface warfare qualified. On 5 October, she got underway for a two-month visit to Pearl Harbor to provide repair support in the middle Pacific. On 22 January, the ship left Diego Garcia in her wake and set course for Pattaya, Thailand, where she spent most of the first week in February. She headed for Sasebo on 1 May and spent the rest of the year and early 1952 engaged in repair services in those two ports. She then became the permanent flagship of ServRon 3 in the Far East. Struck from the Navy list on 16 May 1989, Ajax was finally sold for scrapping by the Defense Reutilization and Marketing Service on 23 May 1997. The first bomb was dropped 8 miles away from the ship, the second only 6 miles away. On 6 July of that year, she got underway in company with USS Tolovana and steamed for Yokosuka which she reached on 27 July. She was at Okinawa much longer than the average merchant vessel. Typhoon Dot complicated the second cruise by closing Hong Kong harbor and causing Ajax to circle in rough waters for two extra days before pulling into port. On 22 January 1982, AJAX got underway for training and a brief port visit to Mazatlan, Mexico, and arrived back home on the last day of the month. The repair ship entered San Diego on 21 October and commenced post-deployment standdown. Ending Feb 22 at 6:20PM PST 3d 18h. On 25 May 1945, Ajax headed for San Pedro Bay, Leyte Gulf, to help prepare for the final assault on Japan, spending July repairing typhoon-battered Bennington (CV-20). The repair ship embarked upon the long voyage across the Pacific Ocean on 21 February. On 25 January, Ajax was ordered to proceed in company with USS Wadleigh (DD-689) to the Ellice Islands; but, two days after reaching Funafuti, she moved to Makin Atoll, Gilbert Islands, to work on the ships that would occupy Majuro in the Marshall Islands. Ajax carried out repair assignments at Alameda until the third week in September. On 27 January 1972, ComServGru 3 shifted his flag to HECTOR; and AJAX steamed via Pearl Harbor to San Diego where she arrived on 16 February and served for the remainder of the year. After her arrival in Sasebo on 23 July, Ajax provided routine repairs and service support for ships there and in Yokosuka for the remainder of the year and the beginning of 1969. HECTOR relieved AJAX as flagship on 10 July; and, on the 15th, the latter headed for San Diego where she arrived on 6 August. 1. Here, the repair ship USS Ajax made repairs, cutting away damaged plating and installing new guns to replace those lost. AJAX again got underway westward on 16 January and stopped at Pearl Harbor before arriving in Sasebo on 6 February to relieve Jason as flagship. Severely damaged during a torpedo attack off Formosa, CANBERRA (CA 70) received sufficient temporary repairs alongside AJAX to enable the cruiser to continue on to Manus. On 16 September, she got underway to conduct exercises and then head back to San Diego. SPEAR (AS 36) on 6 July. The repair ship continued her work at Ulithi in support of operations in the Philippines, Iwo Jima, and Okinawa. She was decommissioned and stricken from the Navy list on December 17, 1992, the OKINAWA was disposed of as a target off the coast of southern California on June 6, 2002. The repair ship's technicians worked around the clock for seven days to complete the job and return Boston to her ready status. 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. Ajax was laid down on 7 May 1941 at Los Angeles Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company, San Pedro, California, launched on 22 August 1942. Besides carrying out their normal duties, they helped run the base utilities and acted as firemen, bus drivers, and skilled practitioners of many other occupations to aid the naval activity. AJAX returned to San Diego on 15 February 1975. Late in August, bacillary dysentery broke out among the crew and soon reached epidemic proportions. But for these two incidents, her work at Okinawa was uninterrupted until 28 November, when she sailed for the United States with 800 passengers. On 5 February, she headed via Pearl Harbor for San Diego, where she arrived on 24 February. While in Sasebo on November 30, 1952 the ship that Ajax was moored next to, the USS Ashtabula (AO -51), exploded. … The entry can be found here. Except for two periods at sea in October for refresher training, Ajax spent the rest of 1984 in port repairing ships of the Pacific Fleet. After conducting availabilities for ships of the Middle East Force at Al Masirah from 22 November to 5 December, she put to sea to avoid a large dust storm. On 8 January 1944, an oil fire in her blacksmith shop threatened the entire ship, but was extinguished. One notable occurrence during the year was the reporting on board for duty of the ship' s first 30 enlisted women. The repair ship continued her work at Ulithi in support of operations in the Philippines, Iwo Jima, and Okinawa. On her 1953-1954 cruise to the Far East, Ajax, in addition to her operations out of Sasebo and Yokosuka, participated in the two-month operation "Passage to Freedom", providing support for a group of U.S. Navy ships sent to carry refugees from the Hanoi/Haiphong area of Communist North Vietnam, down to Saigon. She moved to Yokosuka in August to begin her first yard overhaul in the Orient. Receiving repair services, rather than extending them to others, occupied her time for the rest of 1983 and during the first two months of 1984. Typhoon "Dot" complicated the second "pleasure cruise" by closing Hong Kong harbor and causing AJAX to circle in rough waters for two extra days before pulling into port. From the beginning of April to late June, AJAX performed repair missions at San Diego. Commander, Service Group (ComServGru) 3, embarked; and AJAX commenced business as usual. Late in August, bacillary dysentery broke out among the crew and soon reached epidemic proportions. After conducting availabilities for ships of the Middle East Force at Al Masirah from 22 November to 5 December, she put to sea to avoid a large dust storm. Three days later, the ship got underway and steamed via Sri Lanka to Diego Garcia where she arrived and relieved USS L. Y. The first three weeks of February brought more repair work, however on the 22nd, she put to sea again bound for Long Beach. On 25 May 1945, AJAX headed for San Pedro Bay, Leyte Gulf to help prepare for the final assault on Japan, spending July repairing typhoon-battered BENNINGTON (CV 20). During her busy three months in the Indian Ocean servicing 31 ships, AJAX made a brief visit to Port Louis, Mauritius, for recreation. On 11 July, her crew moved to living spaces on board a non-self-propelled barracks ship, and the overhaul began in earnest. Her last deployment afforded Ajax a real opportunity to carry out the function for which she had been designed and built. She arrived at isolated Diego Garcia Island on 11 October but resumed her voyage again on the 13th. USS Ajax (AR-6) For other ships of the same name, see USS Ajax. It was franked with stamp Air Mail. The repair ship tied up at pierside at the Naval Station, San Diego, on 19 September. While still underway, she laid in a course for Singapore on 7 December. The repair ship got underway on 2 April 1951 for the first of many postwar cruises to Japan and arrived at Yokosuka on the 18th. During the last week in March, she was frequently at sea in the local operating area carrying out independent ship's exercises. The ship was quarantined on 1 September and detached on 9 September to proceed to Kwajalein to combat the epidemic. She made five more cruises to Japan before 1960, each time operating out of Sasebo and Yokosuka and in every instance returning to San Diego. She arrived at Diego Garcia on 7 January 1986 and provided repair services there for a fortnight. One notable occurrence during the year was the reporting on board for duty of the ship's first 30 enlisted women. Pre-overseas movement preparations throughout the next few months ensured that the repair ship was ready for her 2 April departure for the western Pacific and the Indian Ocean. Next came a three-day rest in Keelung and Taipei, Taiwan, before a run back to Sasebo to prepare for the voyage home. Over the next seven months, the ship provided repair services for units of the Pacific Fleet at San Diego, served as a training facility for naval reserve detachments undergoing their annual two weeks of active duty, and made preparations for a regular overhaul. Upon learning of Japan's capitulation on 15 August, Ajax began readying amphibious and transport ships to carry occupation forces to the Japanese home islands. After a four-day stopover in Pearl Harbor, the ship headed for Subic Bay, where she arrived on 1 May and spent three weeks providing fleet repair services before continuing on to Diego Garcia where she arrived on 1 June. On the Okinawa, Sisko was promoted to lieutenant commander and received the position of executive officer under the command of Captain Leyton. A U.S. Navy submarine missing for 75 years has been found off Okinawa, Japan. Photographed from USS California. The USS Okinawa survived wars, typhoon, fires, and crashes, but could not elude age. She headed for Sasebo on 1 May and spent the rest of the year and early 1952 engaged in repair services in those two ports. She visited Taipei, Taiwan in December and spent four days in January 1978 in Pusan, Korea. Her crew performed repairs on MARS (AFS 1) and SHASTA (AE 33) before AJAX put to sea to return to Al Masirah. Decommissioned on December 31, 1986, and stricken from the Navy list on May 16, 1989, the AJAX was sold for scrapping on May 23, 1997. back to top go to the end of the page back to top go to the end … On 14 June 1971, following a year's service on the California coast, the ship once again steamed toward Japan and arrived in Sasebo on 5 July. Following refresher training, underway replenishment, and towing exercises with Castor (AKS-1), Ajax returned to Sasebo on 17 December. She then became the permanent flagship of ServRon 3 in the Far East. USS Guadalupe (AO-32), a Cimarron ... USS Ajax (AR-6) repairing ... Okinawa marked the end of Guadalupe's service in the Pacific war. Associated Press, “Parade of Navy Ships to Bring Thousands Home From Pacific,”, Los Angeles Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company, Defense Reutilization and Marketing Service, NavSource Online: Service Ship Photo Archive: USS, Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships, List of auxiliaries of the United States Navy, Todd Pacific Shipyards, Los Angeles Division, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=USS_Ajax_(AR-6)&oldid=987101802, World War II auxiliary ships of the United States, Cold War auxiliary ships of the United States, Vietnam War auxiliary ships of the United States, Wikipedia articles incorporating text from the Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, 4 boilers, 2 steam turbines, 2 propeller shafts, 11,000 shp (8.2 MW), This page was last edited on 4 November 2020, at 22:47. $8.22 shipping. She stopped at Pearl Harbor between 8 and 10 March and arrived back in San Diego on the 18th.