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NavSource Online: Service Ship Photo Archive

R/V Argo
ex
 Snatch (T-AGOR-18) (1967)
 USS Snatch (ARS-27) (1944 - 1967)


International Radio Call Sign:
November - Juliet - Alpha - Xray
 NJAX
Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons


Precedence of awards is from top to bottom, left to right
Top Row - American Campaign Medal
Bottom Row - Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Service Medal - World War II Victory Medal - Philippines Liberation Medal
Diver Class Rescue and Salvage Ship:
  • Laid down, 28 January 1943, at Basalt Rock Co., Napa, CA.
  • Launched, 8 April 1944
  • Commissioned USS Snatch (ARS-27), 11 December 1944, LT. Charles W. Johnson, USNR in command
  • Decommissioned, 23 December 1946, at San Diego, CA.
  • Laid up in the Pacific Reserve Fleet, San Diego Group
  • Assigned to the Military Sea Transportation Service (MSTS) and reclassified Oceanographic Research Ship, (T-AGOR-18), 1 April 1967
  • Custody assigned to Scripps Oceanographic Research Institute, La Jolla, CA., unofficially name R/V Argo
  • Returned to US Naval custody in March 1970
  • Struck from the Naval Register, 1 May 1970
  • Final Disposition, sold for scrapping, 8 November 1971, to S.S. Zee, Taiwan
    Specifications:
    Displacement 1,897 t.
    Length 213' 6"
    Beam 39'
    Draft 14' 8"
    Speed 15 kts.
    Complement
    Officers 7
    Enlisted 113
    Largest Boom Capacity 10 t.
    Armament
    two twin 40mm AA gun mounts
    four .50 cal. machine guns
    Fuel Capacities
    Diesel 2,150 Bbls
    Gasoline 2,560 Gals
    Propulsion
    four Cooper Bessemer GSR-8 Diesel-electric engines
    single 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, 3,780shp
    Click On Image
    For Full Size Image    		 Size Image Description Contributed
    By
    USS Snatch (ARS-27)
    Snatch 134k The crew of USS Snatch (ARS 27) at quarters for the commissioning of the ship at Basalt Rock Co., Shipyard, Napa, CA. Basalt was about 10 miles north of Mare Island up the Napa River.
    Navy Yard Mare Island photo # 7639-44    		 Darryl Baker
    Snatch 41k USS Snatch (ARS-27) at Eniwetok, Marshall Islands, circa 5 to 9 April 1945, to participate in the salvage operations of SS Esso Washington which was grounded near the entrance of Eniwetok Passage. SS Esso Washington can be seen in the left background of this photo. Chuck Trauth RM3/c USS Snatch, 1945-46
    R/V Argo
    Snatch 122k R/V Argo, under way, 2 August 1960, after conversion to a research vessel for operation by the Scripps Institution of Oceanography under contract for the Office of Naval Research.
    US Naval History and Heritage Command photo # USN 710764,courtesy Shipscribe.com.    		 Robert Hurst
    Snatch 61k R/V Argo underway, date and place unknown.
    US Navy photo from DANFS.    		 Joe Radigan MACM USN Ret.
    USS Snatch (ARS-27)
    Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships (DANFS)
    Commanding Officers
    01LT. Johnson, Charles Wilson, USNR11 December 1944 - November 1945
    02LCDR. Breashear, Troy, USNNovember 1945 - 23 December 1946
    Courtesy Wolfgang Hechler
    Crew Contact And Reunion Information
    U.S. Navy Memorial Foundation - Navy Log
    Additional Resources and Web Sites of Interest
    National Association of Fleet Tug Sailors
    Back To The Navsource Photo Archives Main Page Back To The Service Ship Photo Index Back To The Rescue and Salvage Ship (ARS) Photo Index Back To The Oceanographic Research (AGOR) Photo Index
    Comments, Suggestions, E-mail Webmaster.
    This page is created and maintained by Gary P. Priolo
    All pages copyright NavSource Naval History
    Last Updated 13 September 2019