USS Oak Ridge (ARD-19/ARDM-1), was an suitable for docking destroyers, submarines and landing craft. Self-propelled but unable to cross the ocean under her own power, she was towed, in stages across the Pacific. While in transit she was used as a van to help move the service squadron forward and at the end of August 1944 arrived at Seeadler Harbor

Seeadler Harbor

Seeadler Harbor, also known as Port Seeadler, is located on Manus Island, Admiralty Islands, Papua New Guinea and played an important role in World War II...

 carrying a YTL, 2 pontoon crane barges, and 20 LCMs and LCVPs. From Manus

Manus Island

Manus Island is part of Manus Province in northern Papua New Guinea and is the largest island of the Admiralty Islands. It is the fifth largest island in Papua New Guinea with an area of 2,100 km², measuring around 100 km × 30 km. According to the 2000 census, Manus Island had a...

 ServRon 10 provided the logistic support for the Palau

Palau

Palau , officially the Republic of Palau , is an island nation in the Pacific Ocean, east of the Philippines and south of Tokyo. In 1978, after three decades as being part of the United Nations trusteeship, Palau chose independence instead of becoming part of the Federated States of Micronesia, a...

 offensive, then moved itself forward to Ulithi

Ulithi

Ulithi is an atoll in the Caroline Islands of the western Pacific Ocean, about 191 km east of Yap. It consists of 40 islets totalling , surrounding a lagoon about long and up to wide—at one of the largest in the world. It is administered by the state of Yap in the Federated States of...

 and Kossol Roads

Kossol Roads

Kossol Roads, Palau is a large body of reef-enclosed water north of Babeldaob. During World War II, it was used by the United States Navy as the location of a floating resupply and repair base....

. The Leyte

Battle of Leyte

The Battle of Leyte in the Pacific campaign of World War II was the invasion and conquest of the island of Leyte in the Philippines by American and Filipino guerrilla forces under the command of General Douglas MacArthur, who fought against the Imperial Japanese Army in the Philippines led by...

 landings soon followed and the repair facilities were moved up to San Pedro Bay

San Pedro Bay (Philippines)

San Pedro Bay is a bay in the Philippines, at the northwest end of Leyte Gulf, about 15 km east-west and 20 km north-south. The bay is bounded on the north and east by Samar and on the east by Leyte Island. It is connected by San Juanico Strait to Carigara Bay of the Samar Sea. The...

.

On 27 November ARD-19 was moored in that bay with USS Ross (DD-563)

USS Ross (DD-563)

USS Ross was a U.S. Navy Fletcher class destroyer named for Captain David Ross, a former Continental Navy lieutenant. The Ross is the only ship in U.S. naval history to survive two underwater mine explosions....

 in dock undergoing repairs. Shortly before noon the Japan

Japan

Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

ese launched an air attack. A "Tojo" fighter crashed into the drydock, passed through the starboard wingwall of the dock, and caused gasoline fed flames to encompass the dock basin deck, searing Ross as they spread. As the fire was being contained another Japanese fighter commenced a strafing run, but was splashed by gunfire from the ARD, Ross, and . Heavy damage kept the ARD busy on self-repairs for only a brief time. She soon resumed her drydocking and repair role, and continued that service, at Subic Bay

Subic Bay

Subic Bay is a bay forming part of Luzon Sea on the west coast of the island of Luzon in Zambales, Philippines, about 100 kilometers northwest of Manila Bay. Its shores were formerly the site of a major United States Navy facility named U.S...

, Luzon

Luzon

Luzon is the largest island in the Philippines. It is located in the northernmost region of the archipelago, and is also the name for one of the three primary island groups in the country centered on the Island of Luzon...

, until after the end of World War II.

In 1948, ARD-19 was towed back across the Pacific and on 29 October she reported for duty with the Pacific Reserve Fleet at Long Beach

Long Beach Naval Shipyard

thumb|right|300px|Long Beach Naval Shipyard in 1993The Long Beach Naval Shipyard, which closed in 1997, was located at Terminal Island between the city of Long Beach and the San Pedro district of Los Angeles and approximately 23 miles south of the Los Angeles International Airport.The Long Beach...

. For the next six months she operated under that command and ServRon 1, carrying district craft to various berthing areas on the west coast. In March 1949 she carried YFN–599 to Puget Sound

Puget Sound

Puget Sound is a sound in the U.S. state of Washington. It is a complex estuarine system of interconnected marine waterways and basins, with one major and one minor connection to the Strait of Juan de Fuca and the Pacific Ocean — Admiralty Inlet being the major connection and...

, took on cranes and got underway, in tow, for the Panama Canal Zone

Panama Canal Zone

The Panama Canal Zone was a unorganized U.S. territory located within the Republic of Panama, consisting of the Panama Canal and an area generally extending 5 miles on each side of the centerline, but excluding Panama City and Colón, which otherwise would have been partly within the limits of...

. From the Canal Zone she continued on to Orange, Texas

Orange, Texas

Orange is a city in Orange County, Texas, United States. As of the 2000 census, the city population was 18,643. It is the county seat of Orange County, and is the easternmost city in Texas. Located on the Sabine River at the border with Louisiana, it is part of the Beaumont–Port Arthur...

, with more district craft in her dock basin. Arriving 10 June, she continued her ferry service until decommissioned and assigned to the Texas Group, Atlantic Reserve Fleet for berthing, 30 September 1949.

Thirteen years later, September 1962, ARD-19 was brought out of reserve and taken to Jacksonville, Florida

Jacksonville, Florida

Jacksonville is the largest city in the U.S. state of Florida in terms of both population and land area, and the largest city by area in the contiguous United States. It is the county seat of Duval County, with which the city government consolidated in 1968...

, where she was converted, by the Gibbs Shipyards to a fleet Los Angeles-class "fast attack" submarine drydock. Her length increased to 536’1” and her displacement to 9,700 tons, she became the first mobile single unit capable of such docking. She was then named, redesignated, and recommissioned as Oak Ridge (ARDM-1), 1 October 1963. Further changes, such as the replacement of two 10-ton cranes with two 25-ton cranes, kept her at Norfolk

Norfolk Naval Shipyard

The Norfolk Naval Shipyard, often called the Norfolk Navy Yard and abbreviated as NNSY, is a U.S. Navy facility in Portsmouth, Virginia, for building, remodeling, and repairing the Navy's ships. It's the oldest and largest industrial facility that belongs to the U.S. Navy as well as the most...

 until 4 June 1964 when she was taken under tow by Atakapa to begin the long journey to her homeport of Rota, Spain

Rota, Spain

-External references:*, official website * On-line since 1999! News, premiere information, pictures, weather, etc. Into Spanish, English... ****- External links :...

. With in her dock basin, she arrived at Rota 22 days later and commenced providing the services, to Polaris-equipped

UGM-27 Polaris

The Polaris missile was a two-stage solid-fuel nuclear-armed submarine-launched ballistic missile built during the Cold War by Lockheed Corporation of California for the United States Navy....

 submarines and others as required, which she continued into 1970.

Oak Ridge was decommissioned on 10 August 2001, stricken from the Naval register on 26 November 2001, and transferred to the United States Coast Guard

United States Coast Guard

The United States Coast Guard is a branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven U.S. uniformed services. The Coast Guard is a maritime, military, multi-mission service unique among the military branches for having a maritime law enforcement mission and a federal regulatory agency...

 on 8 February 2002

Oak Ridge received 1 battle star for World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

Service.

External links