USS Hoist (ARS-40)

USS Hoist (ARS-40)
Ship name	USS Hoist (ARS-40)
Ship builder	Basalt Rock Company
Ship launched	1943
Ship commissioned	7 October 1944
Ship decommissioned	15 October 1946
Ship status	Scrapped 1974

USS Hoist (ARS-40) was a Diver-class rescue and salvage ship commissioned by the United States Navy during World War II. Designed to perform towing, salvage, firefighting, and rescue operations, she served in the Pacific Theater of Operations supporting fleet operations, amphibious campaigns, and salvage of damaged warships and merchantmen. Built to accompany carrier task forces and amphibious groups, Hoist combined heavy lifting equipment with specialized diving capability to recover critical assets and protect sea lines of communication.

Construction and Commissioning

Hoist was laid down under a Maritime Commission contract at the Basalt Rock Company shipyard in Napa, California, a yard noted for wartime construction of auxiliaries and commercial hulls. Launched in 1943, she completed fitting out with heavy-duty winches, towing machinery, a machine shop, and diving equipment customary for the Diver-class fleet of rescue and salvage ships. After trials off the California coast and shakedown operations with ships from Pearl Harbor, she was commissioned on 7 October 1944 into the United States Navy and assigned to Service Squadron logistics support for the Pacific Fleet.

World War II Service

Following commissioning, Hoist transited to the forward areas supporting operations from bases such as Ulithi Atoll and Manus Island as fleets prepared for operations at Leyte Gulf and the Okinawa campaign. Operating alongside units of Task Force 38 and auxiliaries from Service Division 102, she performed towing for damaged carriers and destroyers, conducted heavy lifting for grounded transports, and executed salvage of wreckage from air and surface engagements. Hoist’s divers worked in coordination with salvage officers from Commander Service Forces Pacific and nautical engineers from Naval Construction Battalions to patch hulls, install temporary cofferdams, and recover ordnance and aviation gasoline after kamikaze strikes.

During the final year of the war, Hoist assisted ships crippled in the Battle of Okinawa, removed navigational hazards in approaches to anchorage areas like Kerama Retto, and supported the logistics stream that enabled carrier strikes against the Japanese Home Islands. She frequently operated in concert with fleet tugs such as USS ATR-1 (ATR-1) and other salvage vessels including USS Grapple (ARS-7), participating in complex towing evolutions and salvage lifts under threat of air attacks and adverse weather. Her salvage parties often worked aboard Liberty ships and Victory ship survivors, stabilizing damaged merchantmen critical to sustainment of the United Nations war effort in the Pacific logistics war.

Postwar Operations and Decommissioning

After Japan’s surrender, Hoist continued salvage and towing operations in the Western Pacific, clearing wreckage from liberated ports like Okinawa and assisting in the occupation logistics for forces entering Tokyo Bay. She aided in the disposition of captured enemy shipping and the recovery of sunken material in harbors needed for reconstruction of maritime commerce under SCAP authorities. In the months following demobilization, Hoist returned to the continental United States for overhaul at West Coast yards such as Puget Sound Naval Shipyard and was reduced to reserve status as fleet requirements shrank with peacetime reorganization by the Chief of Naval Operations.

Hoist was decommissioned on 15 October 1946 and assigned to the Pacific Reserve Fleet at San Diego Naval Base. Stricken from the Naval Vessel Register at a later date, she remained in reserve until sold for scrapping in 1974, closing her career that had spanned active service during pivotal operations in the Pacific War.

Honors and Awards

For service in the World War II campaigns of the Pacific, Hoist's crew were eligible for campaign and service awards administered by the Department of the Navy and Department of Defense authorities. The ship’s operational record qualified her personnel for the Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal, the World War II Victory Medal, and the Navy Occupation Service Medal with Asia clasp for postwar duties. Individual sailors received citations and commendations from commanders in theater for acts performed during salvage operations that preserved capital ships and merchant vessels critical to fleet operations.

Ship Specifications and Modifications

Built to the Diver-class rescue and salvage design, Hoist featured heavy salvage gear, a reinforced hull and towing bitts designed for high-capacity towing of damaged combatants and auxiliaries. Principal characteristics included diesel-electric propulsion suitable for sustained towing and station-keeping, heavy-capacity electric winches, an A-frame for wreckage lifts, and decompression chambers to support salvage diving operations. Over her service life she received modifications tailored to Pacific operations: enhanced firefighting systems, additional radio and navigation equipment for coordination with Fleet Radio Unit Pacific, and retrofitted diving compressors to increase bottom time for salvage divers.

Key specifications and equipment (representative for Diver-class ships): - Builder: Basalt Rock Company - Commissioned: 7 October 1944 - Decommissioned: 15 October 1946 - Propulsion: diesel-electric machinery - Armament: light anti-aircraft battery suitable for self-defense alongside fleet units - Salvage equipment: heavy winches, A-frame, portable pumps, dive gear and decompression chamber

Category:United States Navy rescue and salvage ships Category:World War II auxiliary ships of the United States