_1.jpg) USSWebster moored pierside atBethlehem Key Highway Shipyard and Fort McHenry, Baltimore, MD., circa March 1945. | |
| History | |
|---|---|
 United States | |
| Name | Webster |
| Namesake | Walter Wynne Webster |
| Builder | Bethlehem Shipbuilding Corporation |
| Laid down | 1 July 1944 |
| Launched | 5 August 1944 |
| Sponsored by | Mrs. Walter W. Webster |
| Commissioned | 15 May 1945 |
| Decommissioned | 8 June 1946 |
| Stricken | 1962 |
| Fate | Scrapped |
| General characteristics | |
| Class & type | Chourre-classaircraft repair ship |
| Displacement | 4,023 long tons (4,088 t) |
| Length | 441 ft 6 in (134.57 m) |
| Beam | 56 ft 11 in (17.35 m) |
| Draft | 22 ft 0 in (6.71 m) |
| Propulsion | Triple Expansion Machinery, Single Propeller, 2,500 hp (1,864 kW) |
| Speed | 12.5knots (23.2 km/h; 14.4 mph) |
| Complement | 578 |
| Armament | 1 x single5 in (130 mm) dual purpose gun mount, 1 x quad40 mm AA gun mount, 2 x twin40 mm AA gun mounts |
USSWebster (ARV-2) was aChourre-classaircraft repair shipaircraft repair ship that saw service in theUnited States Navy duringWorld War II.
On 30 March 1944, prior to the beginning of work on her construction,Masbate (ARG-1) was renamedWebster and reclassified ARV-2. The ship'skeel was laid down under aMaritime Commission contract (MCE hull 2666) on 1 July 1944 atBaltimore, MD, by theBethlehem Fairfield Shipyard, Inc. Sponsored by Mrs. Walter W. Webster, the widow of the ship's namesake, the ship was launched on 5 August 1944 andcommissioned at Baltimore on 17 March 1945.
Afterfitting out,Webster departed Baltimore on 22 March 1945 and arrived atNorfolk Naval Base later that day. There, the aircraft repair ship loaded supplies and provisions into the second week of April, when she got underway for shakedown and training inChesapeake Bay. After subsequent minor repairs and alterations at theNorfolk Navy Yard from 21 April to 8 May,Webster joined Convoy No. 507 on 12 May, transited thePanama Canal eight days later, and arrived at theNaval Air Station (NAS),Alameda, CA, on 6 June.
After further repairs and alterations, the ship departed Alameda on 16 June, bound for theHawaiian Islands. She arrived atPearl Harbor on the 24th and docked atNAS Ford Island, where she stayed for four days before she shifted to the navy yard for armament alterations. Shifting subsequently to a berth alongsideUSSOzark (LSV-2) on the 28th,Webster remained in Hawaiian waters through most of July.
The ship got underway for theMarshall Islands on the 31st; arrived atEniwetok Atoll on 10 August; and remained there through mid-September. During her stay at Eniwetok, thesurrender ofJapan brought World War II to a close. Meanwhile, the ship, herself, serviced thefleet carriersWasp (CV-18),Antietam (CV-36), andIntrepid (CV-11); the light fleet carrierCabot (CVL-28), and a half-dozenescort aircraft carrier's, overhauling aviation equipment and returning it to stock for reissue. The material that could not be stored on board—bulky items such as drop tanks and the like—was stored ashore in a depot onParry Island.
The end of the war had removed the necessity for the replenishment of fast carrier task forces in the fleet anchorage in the Marshall Islands andGilbert Islands advanced base sites, but there still remained theoccupation of Japan.Webster accordingly departed Eniwetok on 13 September, bound viaGuam forTokyo Bay, where she arrived on the 26th. There,Webster serviced all naval aviation activities in the Tokyo Bay area, including the carriersYorktown (CV-10),Shangri-La (CV-38),Bon Homme Richard (CV-31),Boxer (CV-21),Munda (CVE-104), andHoggatt Bay (CVE-75); the aviation units ofbattleshipsNew Jersey (BB-62),Tennessee (BB-43),California (BB-44); those of theheavy cruisersSt. Paul (CA-73) andQuincy (CA-71); and finally the planes of 10light cruisers. In addition, the aircraft repair ship serviced the planes from Marine Air Group 21 and assisted the board headed by Rear Admiral Frederick W. Pennoyer in its investigations into the development ofJapanese aircraft and aircraft engine design in World War II.
Webster remained in Tokyo Bay from 6 October to 3 November. During that time, Rear AdmiralClifton A. F. Sprague visited the ship on 20 October and conferred thePresidential Unit Citation to, among others, Capt. Johnson, the ship's commanding officer, for his service in the escort carrierGuadalcanal (CVE-60) in theAtlantic campaign.
Webster, transporting men homeward-bound for discharge, made Guam on 9 November, and stayed for only one night, getting underway for the Marshall Islands on the 10th. Six days later, she reachedRoi Island,Kwajalein Atoll and, on the 18th, got underway for the Hawaiian Islands.
Webster disembarked her passengers upon her arrival at Pearl Harbor on 27 November and stood out of Hawaiian waters on the 30th, bound forPanama. She reached the Pacific entrance of the Panama Canal at 0746 on 20 December, transited the canal later that day. and moored atCoco Solo at 1708.
The aircraft repair ship then pushed on forNorfolk, VA, on 22 December, arrived at Norfolk seven days later, and remained in theTidewater area through mid-January of the following year. On 25 January 1946,Webster departed Norfolk and arrived atPhiladelphia Naval Shipyard the following day, mooring alongside the heavy cruiserPortland (CA-33).
Berthed alongside a succession of ships—Fomalhaut (AK-22),Tranquility (AH-14),Sanctuary (AH-17),Dithmarschen (IX-301),Okanogan (APA-220), andAugusta (CA-31)—Webster awaited herdecommissioning. At 1047 on 28 June 1946, hercommissioning pennant came down for the last time. Struck from the Navy list on I September 1962, she was simultaneously transferred to theMaritime Administration for lay up. She was subsequently scrapped.
This article incorporates text from thepublic domainDictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be foundhere.