USNS Salvor

Safeguard class rescue and salvage ship

USNS Salvor (T ARS 52) is a , the second United States Navy ship of that name. Salvor was laid down on 16 September 1983 by Peterson Builders, Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin; launched on 28 July 1984; and commissioned on 14 June 1986. Salvor is the third ship of the auxiliary rescue and salvage class of vessel constructed for the US Navy. The rugged construction of this steel hulled vessel, combined with her speed and endurance, make Salvor well suited for rescue and salvage operations throughout the world. The hull below the waterline is ice strengthened. Her propulsion plant can develop 4200 shaft horsepower with four Caterpillar 399 diesel engines coupled in pairs to two shafts. She is fitted with a Controllable Reversible Pitch (CRP) propeller within a Kort nozzle on each shaft. The CRP propeller/Kort nozzle combination produces greater thrust and more maneuverability control than conventional propellers. Salvor is also configured with a bow thruster which provides athwartship thrust for additional control of the bow when the ship's speed is less than five knots (9 km/h). In 1995 and again in 2000, Salvor was the United States Pacific Fleet's winner of the Marjorie Sterrett Battleship Fund Award for most battle ready ship of her type. USS Salvor was decommissioned and transferred to the Military Sealift Command in January 2007. Salvor was redesignated as USNS Salvor (T ARS 52). The ship has undergone modifications for civilian crewing as well as automation and control system upgrades at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard.

Like all Safeguard class rescue and salvage ships, Salvor serves as an element of the United States Navy's Combat Logistics Support Force and provides rescue and salvage services to the fleet at sea. She also supported the protection of forces ashore through post assault salvage operations in close proximity to the shore. She is designed to perform combat salvage, lifting, towing, off ship firefighting, manned diving operations, and emergency repairs to stranded or disabled vessels.

Salvor has heavy lift system that consists of large bow and stern rollers, deck machinery, and tackle. The rollers serve as low friction fairlead for the wire rope or chain used for the lift. The tackle and deck machinery provide up to 75 tons of hauling for each lift. The two bow rollers can be used together with linear hydraulic pullers to achieve a dynamic lift of 150 tons. The stern rollers can be used with the automatic towing machine to provide a dynamic lift of 150 tons. All four rollers can be used together for a dynamic lift of 300 tons

Salvor also has two auxiliary bow rollers, which can support of 75 ton lift when used together.

Between 1987 and 2001, Salvor has provided rescue or assistance to ships at sea in seven instances. Two cases involved collisions near Hawaii: the boat accident in August 1987, and the collision of Greeneville with Ehime Maru in February 2001. Salvor also assisted in the Exxon Houston grounding near Barbers Point, Hawaii, in March 1989, and the Kamalu barge fire in May 1989. the anchor chain of the Willamette in February 1995, The ship was also involved in the rescue effort after the sinking of ROKS Cheonan. a UH 46D Sea Knight from a world record depth of 17,251 feet (5258 m) a SH 60 Seahawk, an F/A 18C Hornet (VFA 22) near San Diego,

Other salvage operations undertaken by Salvor include repairing the propeller blades of , recovering a LARC V amphibious vehicle, recovering and disposing of a Mark 83 bomb, and exploring the wreck of the Lagarto in the Gulf of Thailand.

Salvor departed Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin on her first voyage on 25 July 1986. She visited Sault Ste Marie, Michigan, before conducting diving operations for certification in Lake Superior. During the first part of August she made stops in Toronto, Quebec, and Halifax. After departing Halifax, she was diverted to New York City because of Hurricane Charlie. She arrived at Little Creek, Virginia and 21 August 1986 and received her ammunition loadout. Her next stop was Charleston, South Carolina, where she took a single navy harbor tug (ex Hyannis) in tow.

Salvor visited Kaunakakai, Molokai in January 1989 before returning to Pearl Harbor to conduct salvage training and diving operations in February and March. Salvor participated in de beaching operations when the oil tanker Exxon Houston broke free of her mooring buoy and ran aground near Barbers Point, Hawaii, on 2 March. Salvor was awarded a Meritorious Unit Commendation for her participation in the salvage of Exxon Houston. Later that month, Salvor towed the decommissioned repair ship Hector between 16 and 20 May as part of a synthetic line towing experiment and supported an MK48 torpedo exercise between 21 May and 2 June. The helicopter was recovered from a depth of approximately 17,250 feet, which was a world record at that time.

Salvor returned to Pearl Harbor on 9 March 1992, and departed en route to San Diego on 22 March. She arrived at San Diego on 1 March, and returned to Pearl Harbor on 3 May with ex Vancouver in tow. After some maintenance availability and inspections at Pearl Harbor in early March 1995, Salvor departed en route San Diego, California on 13 April 1995 and arrived there on 22 April 1995. Salvor was underway off the coast of San Diego from 25 to 31 March 1995 to conduct the recovery of a US Navy McDonnell Douglas F/A 18C Hornet, BuNo 164044 of VFA 22, which crashed on into the ocean off the Southern California coast after a night catapult launch from Abraham Lincoln on 28 January 1995, killing Lt. Glennon Kersgieter. The aircraft was recovered from a depth of 5,000 feet. She off loaded the aircraft at NAS North Island on 1 April 1995, and returned to Pearl Harbor on 15 April 1995, where she continued preparations for an OPPE inspection, which was conducted from 25 to 27 April 1995. However, Salvor towed ex Basswood from Pearl Harbor to San Francisco, California from 22 to 31 March 1999. Salvor then sailed to San Diego, California, where she participated in exercise Kernel Blitz '99 from 12 to 29 April. During this exercise, Salvor conducted mine field security, MK 5 Marine Mammal operations, and recovery of moored mines. Salvor towed a decommissioned submarine from Pearl Harbor to Bremerton, Washington from 22 July to 6 August 2000. She towed ex Pyro from Bremerton to San Francisco, California from 13 to 17 August. She then returned to Bremerton, towing ex Okinawa from 22 to 29 August. Salvor towed ex from Pearl Harbor to San Francisco, California from 16 to 26 March. Salvor supported mine shape recover operations as part of Exercise Kernel Blitz 2001 from 5 to 9 April and stopped at San Diego from 10 to 15 April. Salvor stopped at Cabo San Lucas, Mexico from 19 to 23 April before returning to Pearl Harbor on 3 May.

Salvor freed the grounded guided missile cruiser Port Royal from a coral reef near Honolulu International Airport on 9 February 2009. supporting Mobile Diving and Salvage Unit ONE and Explosive Ordnance Disposal Mobile Unit FIVE, following involvement in the 2010 joint U. S./South Korean Foal Eagle exercise. Salvor towed ex Tarawa from San Diego to Naval Inactive Ship Maintenance Facility at Middle Loch, Pearl Harbor during June 2011. Salvor towed ex Cleveland to Pearl Harbor, arriving 9 December 2011.

Salvor towed ex from Pearl Harbor to be disposed of as a target during the SINKEX portion of Exercise RIMPAC 2012 on 25 July 2012. Salvor towed ex Niagara Falls out of Pearl Harbor on 12 July 2012, to be disposed of as a target during the SINKEX portion of Exercise RIMPAC 2012 on 14 July 2012. Salvor towed ex from Pearl Harbor on 18 July 2012, to be disposed of as a target during the SINKEX portion of Exercise RIMPAC 2012 on 24 July 2012. Salvor towed ex Coronado from Pearl Harbor on 17 August 2012 to the vicinity of Guam, where Coronado was disposed of as a target during Exercise Valiant Shield 2012, on 12 September 2012. During January and February 2013, Salvor participated in the removal of the grounded mine countermeasures ship Guardian from Tubbataha Reef.

Beginning 16 May 2014, Salvor towed the Royal Canadian Navy replenishment oiler from Pearl Harbor to Esquimalt, British Columbia, after Protecteur suffered an engine room fire in waters near Hawaii. Protecteur was delivered to Esquimalt on 31 May 2014.

In January 2015 at Simpson Harbour, Rabaul, Salvor investigated and lifted the wreckage of a US Marine Corps Grumman TBF Avenger, BuNo 24264, of VMTB 233. After the cockpit drained during the recovery of remains, the aircraft wreck was replaced at approximately the same location in the harbor.

Salvor conducted recovery tests of the Orion spacecraft in the Pacific Ocean from 11–12 September 2014, before handing off the capsule to Anchorage on 15 September, for another round of testing. On 5 December 2014, Salvor, along with USS Anchorage, participated in the recovery of the Orion spacecraft capsule after the splashdown of Exploration Flight Test 1 (EFT 1) in the Pacific Ocean.

In early December 2016, Salvor and the embarked Mobile Diving and Salvage Unit (MDSU) ONE, Company 1 8, were supporting Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency operations in Okinawa. A US Marine Corps MV 22B Osprey of Marine Aircraft Group 36 crashed in the early morning of 13 December 2016, near Camp Schwab. Fortunately, all five personnel in the crash were rescued. By 15 December, Salvor was on site awaiting orders to begin recovery operations, while MDSU Company 1 8 performed a salvage survey in the tidal zone where the Osprey wreckage lay. Despite challenges such as weather and sporadic rocks in the area, the divers and Salvors crew fully recovered the aircraft wreckage by the end of 21 December 2016. During the recovery operation, USNS Salvor ran aground forcing her to undergo extensive repairs in dry dock.

In September 2017, Salvor and embarked MDSU 1 divers recovered the sunken wreckage of a US Marine Corps MV 22 Osprey, from a depth of 215 feet (66 m), approximately 18 mile (29 km) from Queensland, Australia. The VMM 265 Osprey crashed on 5 August 2017, after taking off from Bonhomme Richard and while attempting to land aboard Green Bay. Three U. S. Marines were killed in the crash, and 23 others were rescued.

As of July 2023 the ship is undergoing steel repairs at Larsen and Toubro facility in Chennai, India.