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USN Submarine Rescue Ship 1,009 Tons 174' | 187' 10" | 35' 6" 2 x 3" guns 2 x 20mm AA ![]() ![]() USN June 1943 |
Ship
History Assigned to the United States Pacific Fleet on the west coast of the United States on 10 November 1919. Following stops at ports on the east and Gulf of Mexico coasts of the United States, and in Puerto Rico and Cuba, the naval vessel arrived at San Diego, California, on 13 June 1920. Nine days later she steamed north to the Puget Sound Navy Yard at Bremerton, Washington where she remained, with a caretaker crew, until 23 March 1921. Then, returning to the southern portion of California, the ship served as a tug for a year, and, on 3 May 1922, decommissioned at the Mare Island Navy Yard. Recommissioned on 11 July 1922, she assumed the duties of submarine tender at the submarine base at San Pedro. From 9 June to 25 August 1923, USS Ortolan conducted an extended cruise off Alaska. Early in September 1923, USS Ortolan assisted in the salvage of the seven destroyers that ran aground and were wrecked in the Navy's greatest peacetime disaster, at Point Honda, California. Following that effort, the ship resumed her submarine tender duties out of San Pedro. Operating from San Pedro until 1927, USS Ortolan ranged along the west coast of from Oregon to Panama. During January to April 1924 participated in fleet maneuvers in the Caribbean Sea. During July of 1927, Ortolan steamed westward, accompanying USS Holland (AS-3) (Submarine Tender-3) and two divisions of S Class submarines to Pearl Harbor. During the following month, she assisted in the search for competitors lost during the "Dole Race," the first flight linking the west coast of the United States and the Hawaiian Islands. During September of 1927, USS Ortolan resumed her submarine tender duties along the west coast of the United States, and, for another two years, ranged the eastern Pacific Ocean areas as submarines conducted training exercises in those waters. On September 12, 1929, her designation was changed from AM-45 to ASR-5 for Submarine Rescue Ship-5. Although her mission was now different, she continued to operate, primarily, in, and in the vicinity of, California, throughout the 1930s. Brief exceptions occurred when she participated in fleet problems, and, in 1936, when she had a four-month deployment to Pearl Harbor. During 1939, USS Ortolan was assigned to Submarine Squadron 6 at San Diego. Wartime History On 18 July 1942, USS Ortolan reported for duty for a tour with the submarines based at Pearl Harbor, recovering practice torpedoes and mines and assisting the submarines in various ways to prepare them for upcoming war patrols. The ship trained Navy divers, and, during October, prepared for combat duty with the installation of new sound gear and additional armaments. After crossing the Pacific, overhauled at Auckland during October 1942. On November 20, 1942 arrived at Espiritu Santo . For the next ten days, she salvaged needed war supplies from the sunken SS President Coolidge. Next, USS Ortolan steamed to Tulagi to provide temporary repairs to cruisers damaged during the Battle of Tassafaronga. The cruisers departed twelve days later. Then the ASR commenced a busy two months assisting vessels ranging from patrol torpedo boats to destroyers and transports and undertaking salvage and repair jobs. During this period, working with a 320' lighter, USS Ortolan salvaged two Japanese submarines and an A6M Zero. During June 1943 , divers from the USS Ortolan (ASR-5) located and raised a sunken Type A midget submarine off Guadalcanal. Divers included: J.W. Crawford, Douglas R. Kemp and Lt. F. X. Sommer (M.C.) USNR. On July 17, 1943 the divers first removed the batteries. Afterwards, the hull rose to the surface of its own volition. Inside the hull, the bodies of both crew members were found, also documents in the engine room. Afterwards, the submarine was towed to Kukum Bay. On January 17, 1944, USS Ortolan departed the Solomons bound for Noumea then returned to the United States, enroute undertaking transport and submarine training duties. Arrived at San Pedro on March 4, 1944. At the end of April, the ASR reported for duty with the Western Sea Frontier, and, for the ensuing eighteen months, operated as escort and torpedo recovery vessel for submarines conducting exercises off the coast of California. Ortolan (ASR-5) earned one battle star for her services during WWII. Two months after the formal Japanese surrender, USS Ortolan again headed west. She trained Navy divers at Pearl Harbor until April of 1946; then got underway for the Far East. Arriving at Tsingtao, China, on 18 May, she operated with submarines of the United States Seventh Fleet, and conducted various diving operations, until November. Decomissioning References Contribute
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