USS Phaon (ARB-3)

USS Phaon (ARB-3) was planned as a United States Navy LST-1-class tank landing ship, but was redesignated as one of twelve Aristaeus-class battle damage repair ships built for the United States Navy during World War II. Named for Phaon (in Greek mythology, a boatman of Mitylene in Lesbos), she was the only US Naval vessel to bear the name.

USS Phaon (ARB-3), moored to a buoy in the harbor at Saipan, c. late 1944 to early August 1945.
History
United States
Name:
  • LST-15
  • Phaon
Namesake: Phaon
Builder: Dravo Corporation, Neville Island, Pennsylvania
Laid down: 17 September 1942
Launched: 30 January 1943
Sponsored by: Mrs. Marion D. Calabreeze
Commissioned: 5 August 1943
Decommissioned: January 1947
Reclassified: Battle Damage Repair Ship, 25 January 1943
Stricken: 1 July 1961
Identification:
Honors and
awards:		 3 × battle stars (World War II)
Fate: Laid up in the Pacific Reserve Fleet, San Diego, California
Status: Sold for scrapping, 8 July 1962
General characteristics [1]
Class and type:
  • LST-1-class tank landing ship
  • Aristaeus-class battle damage repair ship
Displacement:
  • 1,781 long tons (1,810 t) (light)
  • 4,100 long tons (4,200 t) (full)
Length: 328 ft (100 m) oa
Beam: 50 ft (15 m)
Draft: 11 ft 2 in (3.40 m)
Installed power:
Propulsion:
Speed: 11.6 kn (21.5 km/h; 13.3 mph)
Complement: 20 officers, 234 enlisted men
Armament:
Service record
Operations:
Awards:

Construction

Laid down as LST-15 on 17 September 1942, by the Dravo Corporation in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; reclassified as a battle damage repair ship 25 January 1943; launched 30 January 1943;[1] sponsored by Mrs. Marion D. Calabreeze;[2] converted at Tampa, Florida, by the Tampa Shipbuilding Company for service as a battle damage repair ship; and commissioned 5 August 1943, with Lieutenant George Fay Watson, USNR, in command.[1]

Service history

As an ex-LST, Phaon had heavier armament, greater deck facilities for cargo handling, and a much longer superstructure deck, though in this case the tank deck was covered with lathes, grinders, drills, metal cutters, welding machines and other shop equipment not found on an LST.[2]

After shakedown to New Orleans, and final fitting out there, she sailed 3 September, via Guantanamo Bay and the Panama Canal for Samoa, anchoring in Pago Pago Harbor on 13 October.[2]

From Samoa, Phaon moved to Funafuti in the Ellice Islands, arriving there shortly after the occupation of that island on 18 October. There, she repaired LCTs, pontoon barges, and PT boats. She restored many craft used in the invasion of Tarawa, Gilbert Islands.[2]

From Funafuti, Phaon advanced westward to Majuro in the Marshall Islands, arriving 6 February 1944, shortly after the invasion. Here, in the same harbor with one of the mightiest fleets ever assembled, Phaon worked on minelayers, tankers, minesweepers, destroyers, and small boats (LCVPs and LCMs). On 18 March 1944, Phaon weighed anchor again, proceeded via Kwajalein to Eniwetok in the Marshalls, arriving 23 March for repair work on small boats, LCTs, and yard minesweepers.[2]

On 9 June 1944, Phaon left Eniwetok, arriving on 15 June, at Saipan, for the invasion. There, on "D-Day" plus three, the destroyer Phelps came alongside for repairs and many other ships thereafter. As metalsmiths, mechanics, and carpenters from Phaon swarmed over Phelps repairing the damaged boiler, blower, deck and bulkheads, the sturdy warship was still very much in the fight, blasting away at enemy troops and pillboxes.[2]

On 24 June, during an air raid by Japanese G4M "Betties", Phaon suffered a near-miss on the starboard side. The damage to the ship was not very serious but the shrapnel fragments killed two of her men and injured eleven others. That day, she worked on a PCS and two LCIs, also repairing other small craft in preparation for the invasion of Tinian. On 24 July, the morning of the Tinian invasion, the destroyer Norman Scott came alongside, with numerous dead and wounded officers and men. She had suffered several direct hits from a Japanese six-inch (152 mm) shore battery and her bridge was practically torn away. While Phaon's medical department cared for the wounded, her repair department patched up the ship, enabling Norman Scott to pull away two days later.[2]

The securing of Saipan by no means ended Phaon's work there. Saipan was her last invasion, but she prepared and repaired ships for Iwo Jima, Okinawa, and the Philippines. During the month between the invasions of Iwo Jima and Okinawa, Phaon worked on 96 different ships. After V-J Day, her work was still far from finished and she continued repairing and overhauling the ships that needed it.[2]

On 28 December 1945, Phaon was ordered back to the United States. In 29 months away, she had completed approximately 2,000 repair jobs, on almost everything from small boats to battleships.[2]

Phaon was assigned to Operation Crossroads, the atomic bomb tests at Bikini Atoll, in July 1946, with the Repair and Service Unit.[1]

Post-war service

She was decommissioned and placed in reserve on 15 January 1947, berthed at San Diego, struck from the Naval Vessel Register on 1 July 1961, and sold for scrapping on 8 July 1962 to Zidell Explorations, Inc. of Portland, Oregon.[2]

Awards

Phaon received three battle stars for World War II service.[2]

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References
  1. Navsource 2016.
  2. DANFS 2015.

Bibliography
  • "Phaon". Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. Naval History and Heritage Command. 20 August 2015. Retrieved 28 July 2017. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  • "USS Phaon (ARB-3)". Navsource.org. 19 February 2016. Retrieved 28 July 2017.


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