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NavSource Online: Service Ship Photo Archive

USS Clamp (ARS-33)


International Radio Call Sign:
November - Hotel - Echo - Oscar
 NHEO
Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons


Precedence of awards is from top to bottom, left to right
Top Row - Combat Action Ribbon (retroactive - 10 November 1943)
Bottom Row - American Campaign Medal - Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal (4) - World War II Victory Medal
Diver Class Rescue and Salvage Ship:
  • Laid down, 3 February 1942, as HMS Atlantic Salvor (BARS-3), under a Maritime Commission contract at Basalt Rock Co., Napa, CA.
  • Reallocated to the US Navy prior to launch
  • Launched, 24 October 1942
  • Commissioned USS Clamp (ARS-33), 23 August 1943, LT. L. H. Curtis in command.
  • During WWII USS Clamp was assigned to Asiatic-Pacific Theater and participated in the following campaigns:
    Asiatic-Pacific Campaigns
    Campaign and Dates Campaign and Dates
    Gilbert Islands operation Okinawa Gunto operation
    Assault and occupation of Okinawa Gunto, 25 March to 15 May 1945
    Marianas operation Iwo Jima operation
    Assault and occupation of Iwo Jima, 19 February to 2 March 1945

  • Decommissioned, 6 May 1947, and laid up in the Pacific Reserve Fleet at San Pedro, CA.
  • Custody transferred to the Maritime Administration (MARAD) for lay up in the National Defense Reserve Fleet, Suisun Bay, Benecia, CA., 25 October 1962
  • Permanent custody assumed by MARAD,1 July 1963
  • Towed from Suisun Bay to Naval Shipyard Hunters Point, San Francisco, 7 March 1966, for removal of spare parts
  • Returned to Suisun Bay, 11 March 1966
  • Struck from the Naval Register, 1 July 1973
  • Title transfer to MARAD, 1 February 1999
  • Final Disposition, fate unknown
  • USS Clamp received four battle stars for World War II service
    Specifications:
    Displacement 1,630 t.
    Length 213' 6"
    Beam 39'
    Draft 14' 4"
    Speed 15 kts.
    Complement 120
    Armament
    four single 40mm AA gun mounts
    four single .50 cal machine guns
    Propulsion diesel-electric, twin screws, 2,780hp
    Click On Image
    For Full Size Image    		 Size Image Description Contributed
    By
    Clamp 26k USS Clamp (ARS-33) underway, date and location unknown. Courtesy Eugene Rabom
    and
    The National Association
    of Fleet Tug Sailors
    Clamp 78k EX-USS Clamp (ARS-33) laid up in reserve in the National Defense Reserve Fleet, Suisun Bay, Benecia, CA., in October 1999 . Photo from "Warship Boneyards" by Kit and Carolyn Bonner, authors collection. Robert Hurst
    View the USS Clamp (ARS-33)
    DANFS history entry located at the US Naval Historical Center
    Crew Contact And Reunion Information
    U.S. Navy Memorial Foundation - Navy Log
    Fleet Reserve Association
    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
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    This page is created and maintained by Gary P. Priolo
    © 2005 Gary P. Priolo © 1996 - 2009 NavSource Naval History. All Rights Reserved.
    Last Updated 12 May 2008