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NavSource Online: Service Ship Photo Archive

USS Briareus (AR-12)

International Radio Call Sign:
November - Uniform - Whiskey - Papa NUWP

Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons

Precedence of awards is from top to bottom, left to right
Top Row - American Campaign Medal - Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal - World War II Victory Medal
Bottom Row - Navy Occupation Service Medal (with Asia clasp) - National Defense Service Medal - Philippines Liberation Medal

Delta Class Repair Ship:

Laid down, circa 1941, as SS Hawaiian Planter, a Maritime Commission type (C3 hull), under a Maritime Commission contract at Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Co., Newport News, VA.

Launched in 1941

Delivered, 15 May 1941, to the Matson Line

Purchased by the US Navy, 16 February 1943

Commissioned USS Briareus (AR-12), 15 November 1943, CDR. John F. Warris USN in command

Decommissioned, 15 October 1946

Laid up in the Atlantic Reserve Fleet, Norfolk Group

Recommissioned, 22 September 1951, at Norfolk, VA., CAPT. William J. O’Brien USN in command

Decommissioned, 9 September 1955, at Norfolk, VA.

Laid up in the Atlantic Reserve Fleet, Norfolk Group

Transferred to the Maritime Administration (MARAD), 7 June 1972, for lay up in the National Defense Reserve Fleet, James River, Fort Eustis, VA.

Struck from the Naval Register, 1 January 1977

Final Disposition, sold for scrapping, 19 November 1980, to Jacobson Metal Co., Chesapeake, VA.

Specifications:
Displacement 8,975 t.(lt) 14,900 t.(lim)
Length 490' 6"
Beam 69' 6"
Draft 23' 6"
Speed 18 kts (trial)

Complement

Officers 67

Enlisted 854

Largest Boom Capacity 30 t.

Armament

one single 5"/38 cal dual purpose gun mount

four single 3"/50 cal dual purpose gun mounts

two twin 40mm AA gun mounts

Fuel Capacity

NSFO 15,760 Bbls

Propulsion

one Newport News steam turbine

two Babcock and Wilcox header-type boilers 450psi 750°

double Newport News Main Reduction Gears
Ship's Service Generators
three turbo-drive 300Kw 120V/240V D.C.
five Diesel-drive 60Kw 350V A.C.

single propeller, 8,500shp

Click On Image For Full Size Image	Size	Image Description	Source
09251209	106k	*Namesake* Briareus In Greek mythology, one of three Hecatoncheires (Hundred-Handed Ones) monstrous giants, of enormous size and strength, with fifty heads and one hundred arms. The Hecatonchire Briareus used as an allegory of the multiple threat of labour unrest to Capital in a political cartoon, 1890. Source - The Guttenburg Ebook Project.	Tommy Trampp
19-N-55823	106k	*USS Briareus* (AR-12) underway near New York Navy Yard, 16 November 1943, a day after commissioning. Note, Briareus** had a pair of kingposts with booms that replaced the rotating crane found on some other Repair Ships. US National Archives photos # 19-N-55823, RG-19-LCM and 19-N-55822, RG-19-LCM, US Navy Bureau of Ships photos now in the collections of the US National Archives.	Robert Hurst
19-N-55822	117k		Robert Hurst
	53k	*USS Briareus* (AR-12)** underway, date and location unknown.	Hyperwar US Navy in WWII
09251210 NA 80-G-369704	122k	*USS Briareus* (AR-12)** moored in mid-February 1944 at Pearl Harbor. US National Archives photo #'s 80-G-369704, 80-G-369693 and 80-G-369718, US Navy photos now in the collections of the US National Archives.	Dave Schroeder and John Chiquoine.
09251211 NA 80-G-369693	102k
09251212 NA 80-G-369718	100k
09251202	71k	*USS Briareus* (AR-12)** at anchor, in 1944, Naval Station Pearl Harbor.	Robert Hurst
09251208	285k	*USS Briareus* (AR-12) moored at Espiritu, 20 or 21 July 1944, with USS George (DE-697) alongside while undergoing a seven-day tender availability. LCIs outboard of George** are from right to left; USS LCI(L)-683 USS LCI(L)-980 USS LCI(L)-981 USS LCI(L)-607 *Briareus* had a long tour of duty at Espiritu from 11 Mar to 26 Sept 1944. Photo from the *USS Lunga Point* (CVE-94)** cruise book.	John Chiquoine
	60k	*USS Briareus* (AR-12)** underway, date and location unknown. US Navy photo.	Robert Hurst
	192k	*USS Taconic* (AGC-17) and USS Briareus (AR-12)** at anchor, 4 June 1946, probably at Norfolk, VA.	Brian Miller
	189k	Aerial view of *USS Briareus* (AR-12)** underway, circa early-1950s, location unknown. US Navy photo.	Richard Miller BMCS USNR Ret.
	195k	*USS Briareus* (AR-12)** laid up in reserve in the Atlantic Reserve Fleet, Norfolk, VA., 23 June 1966.	Dave Schroeder and John Chiquoine

USS Briareus (AR-12)
Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships (DANFS)

Commanding Officers
01	CDR. Warris, John Ford, USN	15 November 1943 - 26 September 1944
02	CDR. Corbin, Clifford Thomas, USN (USNA 1926)	26 September 1944 - 11 August 1945
03	CDR. Wilkes, Charles, USN (USNA 1920)	11 August 1945 -
	Decommissioned	15 October 1946 - 22 September 1951
04	CAPT. O'Brien, William John, USN (USNA 1935)	22 September 1951 - 22 November 1952
05	CAPT. Wyatt, Joe Earle, USN (USNA 1928)	22 November 1952 - ?


Courtesy Wolfgang Hechler and Ron Reeves

Crew Contact And Reunion Information
U.S. Navy Memorial Foundation - Navy Log

Additional Resources and Web Sites of Interest
MARAD Vessel History Database
Ship's Newspaper - 11 April 1952 (No Name)
Ship's Newspaper - 18 April 1952 (The Busy Bee)

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This page is created and maintained by Gary P. Priolo

Last Updated 18 June 2021