USS Hooper Island (ARG-17)

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This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships.
History
United States
NameHooper Island
NamesakeHooper's Island
BuilderBethlehem Fairfield Shipyard, Inc
Laid down16 September 1944
Launched30 October 1944
Commissioned13 July 1945
Decommissioned15 July 1959
In service1945
Out of service1959
Stricken1 July 1960
FateSold for scrapping, 2 November 1960
NotesShip International Radio Callsign: NKFP
General characteristics
Class and type
Displacement5,159 t.(lt) 14,350 t.(limiting)
Length441 feet, 6 inches
Beam56 feet 11 inches
Draft23 feet
Complement30 Officers 471 Enlisted
Armament

USS Hooper Island was an Internal Combustion Engine Repair Ship in service with the United States Navy during World War II and the Korean War. She served the Navy for 10 years in the Asiatic-Pacific Theater.

History[]

Hooper Island, ex-liberty ship SS Bert McDowell, was launched 30 October 1944, by Bethlehem-Fairfield Shipyards Inc., Fairfield, Md., under a Maritime Commission contract, sponsored by Mrs. Hattie Singer, and commissioned 13 July 1945.

After shakedown off the Virginia coast, Hooper Island departed 1 September 1945, for the western Pacific and reached Sasebo, Japan, 9 November, to provide repair services to the Pacific Fleet. She remained there on repair duty until 31 October 1946, when she sailed for Tsingtao, China, to perform similar services in support of US operations to stabilize China. Hooper Island completed her deployment 14 August 1947, when she sailed for San Francisco, arriving there 5 September. She remained there until she was decommissioned at Alameda, California, 24 January 1948 and joined the National Defense Reserve Fleet.

Korean War[]

With the outbreak of the Korean War, and the need for additional vessels to halt Communist aggression, Hooper Island was recommissioned 12 April 1952, CDR. Frank H. Rile in command. After shakedown and repair duty on the west coast, Hooper Island sailed from Long Beach, California on 3 December 1952 bound for the trouble-filled waters of the Far East. From December 1952 until December 1955 she made three deployments to the Western Pacific in support of the 7th Fleet, thereby playing a major role in America's determination to stop the spread of communism. From August 1954 to July 1955 she supported units of the fleet when they evacuated almost 300,000 citizens of North Vietnam (scheduled to be handed over to Communist authority) to the South. Vietnamese President Diem responded to this humanitarian operation known as "Passage to Freedom" by saying: "In the name of all that you have helped, in the name of those who far away are hoping, in the name of all my compatriots whom you have brought south of the 17th parallel... with all my heart I thank you."

Post-war[]

Hooper Island resumed her repair services at Long Beach, California, 5 December 1955 then shifted to San Diego on 30 April 1956. After repair services at San Diego she arrived Seattle to undergo an overhaul. While in Seattle she performed repair services for two icebreakers engaged in in the Antarctic, another of America's unending probes of the sea. She resumed her duties at San Diego 28 October and remained there until early 1958. On 15 March, Hooper Island sailed for repair operations in the Marshall Islands, returning to San Diego 19 July where she decommissioned and once again joined the Reserve Fleet 15 July 1959, where she remained until struck from the Navy List 1 July 1960. On 2 November 1960, she was sold for scrap and was removed from Suisun Bay on 5 November 1970.

Awards[]

External links[]

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