Samar II ARG-11

Samar II

(ARG-11: dp. 5,159; 1. 441'6", b. 56'11", dr. 23', s. 12.5 k.; cpl. 401; a. 1 5", 3 3", 4 40mm., 12 20mm.; cl. Luzon; T. EC2-S-Cl)

The second Samar (ARG-11) was laid down on 21 September 1944 by Bethlehem-Fairfield, Sparrow's Point, Md., under a Maritime Commission contract (MC hull 2683); launched on 19 October 1944, sponsored by Mrs. Elsie M. Alexander, delivered to the Navy on 31 October 1944, converted to an internal combustion engine repair ship (ARG) by the Bethlehem Steel Co., Key Highway Plant, Baltimore, Md. and commissioned on 5 June 1945, Comdr. Andrew M. Harvey in command.

Following shakedown, Samar sailed for the Panama Canal Zone. Arriving at Coco Solo on 28 July, she transited the canal and departed Balboa on the 29th. En route to Pearl Harbor, she received word of the Japanese surrender but continued on across the Pacific. At Okinawa on 22 September, she reported for duty to ComSerDiv 101 and then proceeded to China. On the 30th, she arrived in the Yangtze; and, on 1 October she moored in the Whangpoo (Hwang Pu) at Shanghad. Within hours of her arrival, she had six vessels alongside under repair.

For five months, she remained at Shanghai to provide necessary services to ships supporting American forces there to oversee a peaceful turnover of power from Japanese to Chinese hands. On 6 March 1946, she shifted to Tsingtao, where, as a unit of TU 70.2.2—the North China service force-she continued her services on the China station until 5 May.

Samar then got underway to return to the United States. On the 27th, she arrived at San Pedro. Later shifted to San Diego, she was decommissioned on 24 July 1947 and berthed with the Pacific Reserve Fleet. She remained a unit of that fleet until struck from the Navy list and officially transferred to the Maritime Administration's National Defense Reserve Fleet at Suisun Bay, Calif., on 1 September 1962.