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USS Conserver (ARS-39)

Please see below for item level images and donated collections containing photographs of USS Conserver (ARS-39)

USS Conserver (ARS-39) was laid down on 10 August 1944 at Napa, Calif., by the Basalt Rock Corp.; launched on 27 January 1945; sponsored by Mrs. H. Price; and commissioned on 9 June 1945 at South Vallejo, Calif., Lt. C. H. Rocklidge, USNR, in command.

USS Conserver (ARS-39) arrived at Sasebo, Japan, on 21 September 1945, and until 3 March 1946, she carried out salvage operations at Sasebo, Okinawa, Yokosuka, Aomori, and Hakodate in support of the occupation, and after preparations at Pearl Harbor, arrived at Bikini on 29 March. From Pearl Harbor, USS Conserver (ARS-39) returned to operate off Alaska between 14 April 1949 and 7 June, and from 10 December to 25 March 1950. With the outbreak of the Korean war, USS Conserver (ARS-39) arrived at Yokosuka on 15 July, and between 15 July and 1 August carried out salvage and diving assignments in Korean waters. After a brief overhaul at Yokosuka, she salvaged a fuel pipeline at Iwo Jima, and from 10 September until 24 December returned to Korean waters.

After operating on the west coast until 4 August 1952, USS Conserver (ARS-39) sailed for brief duty at Pearl Harbor, Kwajalein, Guam, Subic Bay, Bangkok, Singapore, and Sangley Point, returning to Pearl Harbor on 22 October. On 6 April 1953, she returned to Sasebo for duty in Korean waters until 9 November, when she cleared for Pearl Harbor. From the close of the Korean war through 1960, USS Conserver (ARS-39) alternated operations in the Hawaiian Islands with occasional towing and salvage duty in Pacific islands and tours of duty in the Far East in 1954, 1955, 1955-56, 1957, 1958-59, 1959, and 1960.

Ultimately decommissioned on 1 April 1994, USS Conserver (ARS-39) was stricken from the Naval Vessel Register the same day [1 April 1994]. 

For a complete history of USS Conserver (ARS-39) please see its DANFS page.