The U.S. Navy’s original LST (landing ship tank) probably was one of the most versatile warships ever designed, for it proved readily adaptable for a host of other functions. The boxy, 328-by-50- foot hulls were reconfigured for such diverse missions as self-propelled barracks (APBs), light repair ships (ARLs), and motor torpedo boat tenders (AGPs).
The most radical World War II reconfiguration was performed on LSTs 1098 through 1100. The ships were redesigned as salvage craft tenders ARS(T)-1 through ARS(T)-3 before their keels were laid in December 1944 by Jeffersonville Bridge and Machinery Co., at Jeffersonville, Indiana. They were named, respectively, for three small islands in and near the Hawaiian chain: Laysan Island, Okala, and Palmyra. A fourth ARS(T), the Tackle (formerly the salvage ship ARS-37, and before that, the 6,500-ton, 1912-built merchantman W. R. Chamberlain), was ARS(T)-4 for a brief period in February 1945 before becoming miscellaneous vessel IX-217.
The three Laysan Island-class tenders were easily distinguished by the 25-ton crane located amidships and from most of the other LST auxiliary conversions by the relocation of the pilothouse to a position forward. Their topsides were cluttered with hundreds of bottled-gas cylinders, some of which were used as additional—if hazardous—protection for 20-mm antiaircraft gun shields on the ARS(T)-3. The trio carried five 36-foot LCVP landing craft as work boats, two suspended in Welin davits aft and the others handled by the large crane. The bow doors and vehicle ramp remained functional, and salvage equipment could be unloaded directly onto a beach.
Commissioned in June and July 1945, the ships were too late for wartime service but made a significant contribution to postwar cleanup. The Laysan Island (ARS[T]-1) assisted in clearing wrecks, primarily in Manila Bay, from September 1945 to April 1946, before returning to the U.S. West Coast, where she was decommissioned on 21 April 1947. The Okala (ARS[T]-2) arrived at Okinawa on 29 September 1945 and departed the Far East from Yokohama on 25 March 1946; she decommissioned on 5 August 1946 and sold by the Maritime Commission for commercial service on 21 August 1947. The Palmyra (ARS[T]-3) arrived at Guam in February 1946 and was assigned to preparation for salvage operations for the target ships at the Bikini atomic bomb tests in May. Radioactive decontamination delayed her return home for decommissioning from October 1946 to the following February, and she was decommissioned at Orange, Texas, on 20 June 1947. ARS(T)-1 and ARS(T)-3 remained in the reserve fleet until stricken on 1 June 1973.
The Okala in the Mississippi River on builder’s trials on 24 June 1945 shows the camouflage paint scheme applied to all three sisters. Note the still-functional bow doors below the forward, shielded quadruple 40-mm Mk-1 Mod. 18 antiaircraft gunmount; a second “quad 40” was located at the extreme stern.
The Palmyra demonstrates the characteristic down-by-the-bow sit of these ships, which as LSTs would have drawn more water at the stern. The ARS(T) trio displaced 3,960 tons full load, had crews of 41 officers and 248 enlisted personnel, and could achieve 11.6 knots on the 1,800 horsepower provided by their two General Motors 12-567A diesels.
The first two ships of the class had the original eight single 20-mm antiaircraft guns replaced by six Mk-24 twin mounts, but the Palmyra (portside view taken 19 July 1945) kept the single mounts to the end of her active career. Note the long- reach 25-ton crane in collapsed, stowed position atop the after deckhouse.