USS Okala (ARST-2)

Career
Name: USS Okala
Namesake: Okala, an island off the coast of Molokai
Builder: Jeffersonville Boat and Machine Company, Jeffersonville, Indiana
Laid down: 1 December 1944
Launched: 8 February 1945
Commissioned: 28 June 1945
Decommissioned: 5 August 1946
Renamed: Okala, 23 December 1944
Reclassified: ARST-2, 8 December 1944
Struck: 15 October 1946
Fate: Sold 25 July 1947
General characteristics
Type:Laysan Island class-class salvage craft tender
Displacement:
4,100 long tons (4,166 t) full
Length:328 ft (100 m)
Beam:50 ft (15 m)
Draft:11 ft 2 in (3.40 m)
Propulsion:two General Motors 12-567A Diesel engines

single Falk Main Reduction Gears four Diesel-drive 100Kw 120V/240V D.C. twin rudders

twin propellers, 1,800shp
Speed:11.6 knots (21.5 km/h; 13.3 mph)
Complement:269
Armament:• 2 x quad 40mm AA gun
• 12 x single 20mm AA guns

USS Okala (ARST-2) was a Laysan Island class salvage craft tender of the United States Navy.

Service History

She was laid down on 1 December 1944 as LST-1099 by the Jeffersonville Boat and Machine Company in Jeffersonville, Indiana. She was named Okala on 23 December 1944 and commissioned on 28 June 1945 with Lieutenant Louis Silver commanding.[1]

After a monthlong shakedown in the Gulf of Mexico, Okala transited the Panama Canal and steamed to Buckner Bay in Okinawa on 27 September. She was based there until transfer to Yokosuka in late November. She sailed to Seattle on 25 March 1946 and was decommissioned there on 5 August 1946, struck on 15 October 1946 and sold 25 July 1947.

References

This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships.

  1. "Navsource Online: Service Ship Photo Archive - USS Okala (ARST-2)".