Please report any broken links or trouble you might come across to the Webmaster. Please take a moment to let us know so that we can correct any problems and make your visit as enjoyable and as informative as possible.

NavSource Online: Service Ship Photo Archive

Contributed by Mike Smolinski

Contributed by Al Grazevich

USS Conserver (ARS-39)

Flag Hoist/International Radio Call Sign:
November - Hotel - Tango - Papa NHTP

Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons

Secretary of the Navy Letter of Commendation
Precedence of awards is from top to bottom, left to right
Top Row - Navy Meritorious Unit Commendation
Second Row - Navy Battle "E" Ribbon (4) - China Service Medal - American Campaign Medal
Third Row - Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal - World War II Victory Medal - Navy Occupation Service Medal (with Asia clasp)
Fourth Row - National Defense Service Medal (3) - Korean Service Medal (8) - Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal (Taiwan Straits)
Fifth Row - Vietnam Service Medal (6) - Sea Service Deployment Ribbon - Republic of Vietnam Gallantry Cross Unit Citation
Sixth Row - United Nations Service Medal - Republic of Vietnam Campaign Medal - Republic of Korea War Service Medal (retroactive)

Bolster Class Rescue and Salvage Ship:

Laid down, 10 August 1944, at Basalt Rock Co., Napa, CA.

Launched, 27 January 1945

Commissioned USS Conserver (ARS-39), 9 June 1945, at Vallejo, CA., LT. Chester H. Rocklidge, USNR, in command

USS Conserver was assigned to Occupation and China service in the Far East for the following periods:

Navy Occupation Service Medal	China Service Medal (extended)
12 September 1945 to 21 February 1946	2 to 5 April 1956

USS Conserver (ARS-39) was assigned to Joint Task Force 1, Task Unit 1.2.7 Target Vessel Group - Salvage Units for Operation Crossroads the atomic bomb tests at Bikini Atoll in July 1946

During the Korean War Conserver (ARS-39) participated in the following campaigns:

Campaigns and Dates	Campaigns and Dates
Korean War Campaigns
North Korean Aggression 18 to 29 July 1950 18 September to 2 November 1950	UN Summer-Fall Offensive 30 October to 12 November 1951
Communist China Aggression 3 to 13 November 1950 25 November 1950	Second Korean Winter 19 December 1951 to 6 January 1952 2 February to 2 March 1952 14 March 1952 18 March 1952 12 to 30 April 1952
Inchon Landing 15 to 17 September 1950	Third Korean Winter 8 to 30 April 1953
First UN Counter Offensive 25 to 28 January 1951	Korea, Summer-Fall 1953 1 to 2 May 1953 10 to 27 July 1953

During the Vietnam War Conserver (ARS-39) participated in the following campaigns:

Campaigns and Dates	Campaigns and Dates
Vietnam War Campaigns
Vietnamese Counteroffensive - Phase II 23 November to 16 December 1966 25 to 31 January 1967	Vietnamese Counteroffensive - Phase V 1 to 11 July 1969
Tet Counteroffensive 27 March to 1 April 1968	Vietnam Summer-Fall 1969 3 to 14 August 1969 20 August to 10 October 1969
Vietnamese Counteroffensive - Phase IV 2 to 15 April 1968 14 May to 7 June 1968 10 to 30 June 1968	Vietnamese Counteroffensive - Phase VII 23 August to 8 September 1970 16 September to 13 October 1970 26 October to 9 November 1970 18 to 24 November 1970

Decommissioned 30 September 1986

Recommissioned, 25 September 1987

Decommissioned and Struck from the Naval Register, 1 April 1994

USS Conserver earned eight battle stars for Korean War service and six campaign stars for Vietnam War Service

Laid up in the Inactive Ship Maintenance Facility, Pearl Harbor, HI.

Final Disposition, sunk as a SINKEX target on or about 13 November, 2004 in the Hawaii area

Specifications:
Displacement 1,497 t.(lt) 2,048 t.(fl)
Length 213' 6"
Beam 43'
Draft 13' 9"
Speed 16 kts.

Complement

Officers 7

Enlisted 113

Largest Boom Capacity10 t.

Armament

one single 3"/50 cal dual purpose gun mount

two twin 40mm AA gun mounts

four .50 cal machine guns

Fuel Capacities

Diesel 2,150 Bbls

Gasoline 2,500 Gals

Propulsion

four Cooper-Bessemer Diesel-electric, GSB-8 engines

double Fairbanks-Morse Main Reduction Gears Ship's Service Generators
two Diesel-drive 200Kw 120V D.C.
one Diesel-drive 60Kw 120V D.C.

twin propellers, 3,000shp

Size	Image Description	Source
89k	*USS Conserver* (ARS-39)** in port, probably Long Beach, CA., date unknown	John W. Park USN
95k	*USS Conserver* (ARS-39) alongside USS Card (CVE-11)*, exchanging movies, 27 August 1945 US National Archives photo # 80-G-366398*, a US Navy photo now in the US National Archives collections	US Naval History and Heritage Command
45k	*USS Conserver* (ARS-39)** underway off the coast of Oahu near Honolulu, April 1947. Naval Photographic Center photo # K-37482	Tommy Trampp
114k	*USS Conserver* (ARS-39) towing decommissioned battleship USS New York (BB-34)** out to sea to be used as a target, Pearl Harbor, HI., July 1948 US National Archives photo # 80-G-498120, a US Navy photo now in the US National Archives collections	US Naval History and Heritage Command
88k	*USS Conserver* (ARS-39)** at Pearl Harbor, HI., October 1956 US National Archives photo # 80-G-1001125, a US Navy photo now in the US National Archives collections	US Naval History and Heritage Command
94k	*USS Conserver* (ARS-39)** rides at anchor in Kodiak Harbor, Alaska, date unknown. US Navy photo from "All Hands" magazine, April 1959	Joe Radigan MACM USN Ret.
91k	*USS Conserver* (ARS-39)** at Pearl Harbor, HI., 21 August 1958 US Navy photo # NH 96914 from the US Naval History and Heritage Command collections	US Naval History and Heritage Command
75k	*USS Conserver* (ARS-39)** at Pearl Harbor, HI., 21 August 1958 US Navy photo # NH 96915 from the US Naval History and Heritage Command collections	US Naval History and Heritage Command
152k	*USS Conserver* (ARS-39)** underway off Oahu, Hawaii, 26 May 1964. Her two 40mm gun mounts and their tubs have been replaced by a single 40mm gun on the center line on the signal bridge. US Navy photo # KN-9503, courtesy Shipscribe.com	Mike Green
119k	Rescue and Salvage ships *USS Conserver* (ARS-39), USS Grapple (ARS-7), the Submarine Rescue Ship USS Greenlet (ASR-10) and the Fleet Tugs USS Cocopa (ATF-101) and USS Sioux (ATF-75)** attempting to pull the Destroyer USS Frank Knox (DD-742) off Pratas Reef in the South China Sea, some two hundred miles south east of Hong Kong. *Frank Knox* ran aground 18 July 1965 and was finally refloated, 24 August 1965. This view was probably taken at about the time she was finally refloated on 24 August 1965. US Naval History and Heritage Command photo # NH 74179.	Tony Cowart
99k	*USS Conserver* (ARS-39)** off Oahu, HI., 26 April 1967. Photo by PH3 D. R. Hyde US Navy photo NH 96918 from the US Naval History and Heritage Command collections	US Naval History and Heritage Command
115k	*USS Conserver* (ARS-39)** off Oahu, HI., 26 April 1967. Photo by PH3 D. R. Hyder US Navy photo # NH 96916 from the US Naval History and Heritage Command collections	US Naval History and Heritage Command
92k	*USS Conserver* (ARS-39)** off Kawaii, HI., October 1971, returning from Barking Sands Underwater Range after serving as a support platform for the recovery and replacement of a defective hydrophone. Photo by PH1 Kendal Thornsley US Navy photo # NH 96917, from the US Naval Historical Center collections, courtesy Shipscribe.com.	Robert Hurst
55k	*USS Conserver* (ARS-39)** underway, date and location unknown. US Navy photo	Courtesy Elsilrac Enterprises via NAFTS National Association of Fleet Tug Sailors
317k	*USS Conserver* (ARS-39) stands off nearby as crewmen and representatives from Eastport International prepare to deploy the unmanned submersible Deep Drone, 17 September 1983, from USNS Narragansett (T-AF-167)** during the salvage operations for the downed Korean Air Lines Flight 007 (KAL-007). The commercial jet was shot down by Soviet aircraft over Sakhalin Island on August 30, 1983 in the Sea of Japan. All 269 passengers and crewmen were killed. DVIC photo # DN-ST-89-02927 by PH1 Barbante, USN, a US Navy photo now in the collections of the Defense Visual Information Center.	Bill Gonyo
65k	*USS Conserver* (ARS-39)** underway off Hawaii in 1984 US Navy photo	Courtesy Bud Andreasen via NAFTS National Association of Fleet Tug Sailors
88k	*USS Conserver* (ARS-39)** underway in June 1985 as she clears the Pearl Harbor channel enroute to the Western Pacific. US Navy photo	Courtesy John Ackerman via NAFTS National Association of Fleet Tug Sailors
62k	*USS Conserver* (ARS-39)** moored pierside, date and location unknown. US Navy photo	Tom Langford
129k	*USS Conserver* (ARS-39)** under way, date and location unknown. US Navy photo	Richard Miller BMCS USNR Ret.
174k	*USS Conserver* (ARS-39)** moored pierside, date and location unknown. US Navy photo	Richard Miller BMCS USNR Ret.

USS Conserver Additional Ships Patches
Contributed by Mike Smolinski	Contributed by Mike Smolinski

USS Conserver (ARS039)
Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships

Commanding Officers
01	LT. Rocklidge, Chester Howard	9 June 1945 - 8 May 1948
02	LT. Scoville, Charles Arthur	8 May 1948 - 26 May 1949
03	LT. Thompson, James Lydden, USN	26 May 1949 - 12 March 1950
04	LT. McGee, William	12 March 1950 - 15 March 1952
05	LT. Lewis, William Francis	15 March 1952 - 2 June 1954
06	LT. Finley, William Thomas	2 June 1954 - 22 September 1955
07	CDR. Homer, Vernon Lilburn	22 September 1955 - 9 April 1957
08	LCDR. Legg, John D.	9 April 1957 - 25 April 1959
09	LCDR. Carson, James Dantzler	25 April 1959 - 26 August 1960
10	LCDR. Callaway Jr., John Douglas, USN (USNA 1947)	26 August 1960 - 4 May 1963
11	LCDR. Lamb, Derwin Taylor	4 May 1963 - 20 August 1965
12	LCDR. Hilder, F. A.	20 August 1965 - 21 july 1967
13	LCDR. Goodale, Charles Norman	21 July 1967 - 22 August 1969
14	LCDR. Nelson, Jesse Robert	22 August 1969 - 20 November 1970
15	LCDR. Dalton, Gerard Holbrook	20 November 1970 - 18 November 1971
16	LCDR. Cablk, Steven R.	18 November 1971 - 5 November 1973
17	LCDR. Weegar, Carl Allen	5 November 1973 - 28 May 1976
18	CDR. Gehman Jr., Harold Webster :ADM	28 May 1976 - 15 June 1978
19	CDR. Heufelder, John R.	15 June 1978 - 3 April 1980
20	CDR. Bruce, Robert G.	3 April 1980 - 21 May 1982
21	LCDR. Ventgen, Robert J.	21 May 1982 - 1 June 1984
22	LCDR. Ackerman, John William, USN	1 June 1984 - 30 September 1986
	Decommissioned	30 September 1986 - 25 September 1987
23	CDR. Keensee, Jerry W.	25 September 1987 - 19 January 1990
24	CDR. Kasler, James Frederick	19 January 1990 - August 1992
25	LCDR. Sensi Jr., Joseph, USN (USNA 1980)	August 1992 - 1 April 1994


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
USS Conserver (ARS-39)
National Association of Fleet Tug Sailors

Back To The Navsource Photo Archives Main Page

Back To The Service Ship Photo Index

Back To The Salvage Ship (ARS) Photo Index

Comments, Suggestions, E-mail Webmaster.

This page is created and maintained by Gary P. Priolo

Last Updated 24 June 2016