The fifth USS Petrel (ASR-14) was a Chanticleer-class submarine rescue ship

Submarine rescue ship

A Submarine rescue ship serves as a surface support ship for submarine rescue and deep-sea salvage operations. Methods employed are the McCann Rescue Chamber, Deep Submergence Rescue Vehicles and deep sea diving operations....

 in the United States Navy

United States Navy

The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...

.

Petrel was laid down on 26 February 1945, was built by Savannah Machine Foundry Co., Savannah, Georgia

Savannah, Georgia

Savannah is the largest city and the county seat of Chatham County, in the U.S. state of Georgia. Established in 1733, the city of Savannah was the colonial capital of the Province of Georgia and later the first state capital of Georgia. Today Savannah is an industrial center and an important...

; launched on 26 September 1945, sponsored by Mrs. Effie Jeffreys (in honour of her son, MMC Romie L. Jeffreys, who died along with all hands on the submarine on 11 February 1942), and commissioned at Savannah on 24 September 1946, Lt. Dennis Hima in command.

1946–1949

After fitting out at Charleston, South Carolina

Charleston, South Carolina

Charleston is the second largest city in the U.S. state of South Carolina. It was made the county seat of Charleston County in 1901 when Charleston County was founded. The city's original name was Charles Towne in 1670, and it moved to its present location from a location on the west bank of the...

 and shakedown at Guantanamo and Panama Bay

Panama Bay

Panama Bay is a large body of water off the coast of southern Panama, at . It is a part of the greater Gulf of Panama....

s, Petrel returned to Charleston on 18 December 1946. She sailed for New London

New London, Connecticut

New London is a seaport city and a port of entry on the northeast coast of the United States.It is located at the mouth of the Thames River in New London County, southeastern Connecticut....

 on 6 January 1947 to join SubRon 2, and operated out of that base for the next three years training and qualifying deep-sea divers and salvage crews, and escorting submarines such as and in tests.

1950–1959

Departing New London on 23 January 1950, she steamed off Old Point Comfort

Old Point Comfort

Old Point Comfort is a point of land located in the independent city of Hampton. It lies at the extreme tip of the Virginia Peninsula at the mouth of Hampton Roads in the United States....

, Virginia

Virginia

The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...

, where the battleship

Battleship

A battleship is a large armored warship with a main battery consisting of heavy caliber guns. Battleships were larger, better armed and armored than cruisers and destroyers. As the largest armed ships in a fleet, battleships were used to attain command of the sea and represented the apex of a...

  had run aground. Divers from Petrel surveyed and excavated around the bottom of the battleship, and on 1 February Petrel aided in the “big pull” that drew Missouri into deep water. After this operation, Petrel returned to New London on 6 February, but was reassigned to Key West

Key West

Key West is an island in the Straits of Florida on the North American continent at the southernmost tip of the Florida Keys. Key West is home to the southernmost point in the Continental United States; the island is about from Cuba....

 on 5 May.

Petrel continued training operations, with SubRon 4, at Key West throughout the 1950s, with occasional variations. She towed ex- off Dry Tortuga Flats in October 1950 to be sunk in firing exercises by the destroyer

Destroyer

In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast and maneuverable yet long-endurance warship intended to escort larger vessels in a fleet, convoy or battle group and defend them against smaller, powerful, short-range attackers. Destroyers, originally called torpedo-boat destroyers in 1892, evolved from...

 . Exercises in 1952 included re-floating the U–2513. In 1956, Petrel had a key role in freeing Nantahala, aground in Key West Channel.

On 14 February 1958, Petrel received a distress call at Key West

Key West

Key West is an island in the Straits of Florida on the North American continent at the southernmost tip of the Florida Keys. Key West is home to the southernmost point in the Continental United States; the island is about from Cuba....

 from the submarine

Submarine

A submarine is a watercraft capable of independent operation below the surface of the water. It differs from a submersible, which has more limited underwater capability...

 , stranded in heavy seas off San Salvador

San Salvador Island

San Salvador Island, also known as Watlings Island, is an island and district of the Bahamas. Until 1986, when the National Geographic Society suggested Samana Cay, it was widely believed that during his first expedition to the New World, San Salvador Island was the first land sighted and visited...

, Bahama Islands. Steaming to the area and off-loading some of Guavina's oil cargo, Petrel towed the lightened submarine to Key West.

1960–1969

Petrel continued to operate along the Atlantic coast of the southern United States until sailing in early 1961 for the Mediterranean for exercises with SubDiv 41, 6th Fleet in June and operated off Portugal

Portugal

Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...

 in salvage operations after a DC-8

Douglas DC-8

The Douglas DC-8 is a four-engined narrow-body passenger commercial jet airliner, manufactured from 1958 to 1972 by the Douglas Aircraft Company...

 passenger airplane crash. Petrel returned to Charleston on 28 August for coastal operations until she again joined the 6th Fleet from January to May 1964. She departed Charleston on 12 July for Hamilton, Bermuda

Hamilton, Bermuda

Hamilton is the capital of the British Overseas Territory of Bermuda. It is the territory's financial centre and a major port and tourist destination.-Geography:...

, where she aided the U.S. Air Force in recovering wreckage and personnel from a two-plane, mid-air collision. Highlights of subsequent coastal service included accompanying in sea trials in September, work with in April 1965, and duty at Guantanamo

Guantanamo Bay Naval Base

Guantanamo Bay Naval Base is located on of land and water at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba which the United States leased for use as a coaling station following the Cuban-American Treaty of 1903. The base is located on the shore of Guantánamo Bay at the southeastern end of Cuba. It is the oldest overseas...

 on 28–30 September and during Hurricane Inez

Hurricane Inez

Hurricane Inez was a deadly, destructive, powerful and very long-lived Cape Verde-type hurricane that carved an erratic path through the Lesser Antilles, Hispaniola, Cuba, the Bahamas, Florida, and Mexico in 1966...

.

Petrel departed New London

New London, Connecticut

New London is a seaport city and a port of entry on the northeast coast of the United States.It is located at the mouth of the Thames River in New London County, southeastern Connecticut....

 on 6 January 1966 for Holy Loch

Holy Loch

The Holy Loch is a sea loch in Argyll and Bute, Scotland.Robertson's Yard at Sandbank, a village on the loch, was a major wooden boat building company in the late 19th and early 20th centuries....

, Scotland

Scotland

Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...

, with in tow. On 17 January, an Air Force B-52

B-52 Stratofortress

The Boeing B-52 Stratofortress is a long-range, subsonic, jet-powered strategic bomber operated by the United States Air Force since the 1950s. The B-52 was designed and built by Boeing, who have continued to provide maintainence and upgrades to the aircraft in service...

, carrying four unarmed Mk.28 nuclear bombs

B28 nuclear bomb

The B28, originally Mark 28, was a thermonuclear bomb carried by U.S. tactical fighter bombers and bomber aircraft. From 1962 to 1972 under the NATO nuclear weapons sharing program, American B28s also equipped six Europe-based Canadian CF-104 squadrons known as the RCAF Nuclear Strike Force...

, collided with a KC-135

KC-135 Stratotanker

The Boeing KC-135 Stratotanker is an aerial refueling military aircraft. It and the Boeing 707 airliner were developed from the Boeing 367-80 prototype. The KC-135 was the US Air Force's first jet-powered refueling tanker and replaced the KC-97 Stratotanker...

 off Palomares

Palomares, Almería

Palomares is an agricultural, fishing and tourist village on the Mediterranean Sea in the Almería province of Andalusia, Spain. It is about 20 meters above sea level...

, Spain

Spain

Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...

. Petrel was sent to the area to aid in salvage operations and had the delicate task of maintaining position over the bomb. The weapon was brought to the surface on 7 April, by the ROV CURV, placed on Petrel, and transferred to the . Petrel then returned to Charleston.

Deployed to the Mediterranean again in 1968, Petrel searched for the lost Israel

Israel

The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...

i submarine on 26 January, and missing on the 30th. On 12 February, she helped salvage destroyer at Rhodes

Rhodes

Rhodes is an island in Greece, located in the eastern Aegean Sea. It is the largest of the Dodecanese islands in terms of both land area and population, with a population of 117,007, and also the island group's historical capital. Administratively the island forms a separate municipality within...

, Greece

Greece

Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....

. After return to Charleston in May, she joined in the search for missing submarine on the 27th, and returned to Charleston from the Azores

Azores

The Archipelago of the Azores is composed of nine volcanic islands situated in the middle of the North Atlantic Ocean, and is located about west from Lisbon and about east from the east coast of North America. The islands, and their economic exclusion zone, form the Autonomous Region of the...

 on 12 July. She continued operations with SubDiv 41 into 1970.

[1970-1991]

Petrel was decommissioned on 30 September 1991, and struck from the Naval Vessel Register

Naval Vessel Register

The Naval Vessel Register is the official inventory of ships and service craft in custody of or titled by the United States Navy. It contains information on ships and service craft that make up the official inventory of the Navy from the time a vessel is authorized through its life cycle and...

 on 9 October 1991. Laid up in the Atlantic Reserve Fleet, Petrel was transferred to MARAD

Marad

Marad was an ancient Sumerian city. Marad was situated on the west bank of the then western branch of the Upper Euphrates River west of Nippur in modern day Iraq and roughly 50 km southeast of Kish, on the Arahtu River.The city's ziggurat E-igi-kalama was dedicated to Ninurta the god of...

 custody on 1 May 1999, for lay up in the National Defense Reserve Fleet

National Defense Reserve Fleet

The National Defense Reserve Fleet consists of "mothballed" ships, mostly merchant vessels, that can be activated within 20 to 120 days to provide shipping for the United States of America during national emergencies, either military or non-military, such as commercial shipping crises.The NDRF is...

, at James River

James River

The James River may refer to:Rivers in the United States and their namesakes* James River * James River , North Dakota, South Dakota* James River * James River * James River...

, Virginia. A contract for scrapping was awarded to Bay Bridge Enterprises of Chesapeake, Virginia, and the ship was towed from the James River on 5 December 2003.