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Aircraft repair ship

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USS Chloris, an aircraft repair ship
USS Chourre, aircraft repair ship

Aircraft repair ship is a naval auxiliary ship designed to provide maintenance support to aircraft. Aircraft repair ships provide similar services to seaplane tenders, that also cared for the crew. Aircraft repair ships had their own stores of spare parts, like a depot ship. Aircraft repair ships had repair personnel and equipment to repair failures or battle damage on aircraft. Aircraft repair ships also did regular aircraft maintenance.[1] [2]

United States Navy

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After World War I two United States Navy ships were used as Lighter-than-Air Aircraft Tenders for naval kite balloon and rigid airship support.

During World War II there was a great demand for aircraft repair ships. The US Navy aircraft repair ship were manned by repair units, called Carrier Aircraft Service Units. If needed a Carrier Aircraft Service Unit could be redesignated into a Combat Aircraft Service Unit, Scout Observation Service unit or Patrol Service units. These units could also be land-based or on an aircraft repair ship.[3][4][5]

Aircraft carriers are not aircraft repair ships, but do have aircraft repair shops aboard. Most carrier-based aircraft repairs are done on the aircraft carriers.[9][10][11]

During the Vietnam War one seaplane tender was converted into a Helicopter Aircraft Repair Ship (ARVH)

Seaplane tender

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See also: List of US Seaplane tenders

The US Navy operated a fleet of seaplane tenders used to maintain the many U.S. Navy seaplanes. Some seaplane tenders were converted cargo ships. The USS Curtiss was the first ship built to be a seaplane tender. Seaplane tender serviced and repaired seaplanes used in forward bases used for long-range patrol. Seaplane tenders were able to do repair and maintenance and had all the supplies needed to operate in remote forward bases for months. Once a land-based forward base was built the seaplane tender could move on to a more forward base. Seaplane tenders acted as barracks, supply depots, workshops, air mechanic and control towers for the planes.[12][13][14] The USS Albemarle was converted to repair helicopters for the Vietnam War.[15][16][17]

The Liberty ship Rebecca Lukens, part of U.S. Army's Operation Ivory Soap, was converted into a floating machine shop, repair, and maintenance depot and rechristened as the Maj Gen Herbert A Dargue

United States Army

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Main article: Operation Ivory Soap

The demand for aircraft repair in the United States Army Air Forces in the Pacific Theatre of Operations was so high during World War II, a special program was started called Operation Ivory Soap. Operation Ivory Soap objective was to convert six Liberty ships into aircraft repair ships, called "Aircraft Repair Units (Floating)". With hundreds of Boeing B-29 Superfortress bomber aircraft operating in the Pacific the ships were stocked B-29 parts and B-29 trained personnel. In addition to the Liberty ship for the B-29, eighteen smaller auxiliary ships were built for fighter aircraft support. These eighteen ship were 187 feet (57 m) long and designated, Aircraft Maintenance Units. The eighteen ships provided repair and maintenance to smaller aircraft like the North American P-51 Mustang, Lockheed P-38 fighters, and Sikorsky R-4 helicopters.[18][19]

Parts

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The key to the aircraft repair ships was the supply of parts, keeping ship supply depots stocked with the needed parts. Both the U.S. Navy and the World War II United States Merchant Navy kept parts flowing from the United States to the aircraft repair ships where they were needed.[4][20] US Navy operated a fleet of Aviation Stores Issue Ships (AVS) to supply needed parts.[21]

During the 1950s the Navy converted 4 ships into Advance Aviation Base Ships

Royal Navy

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Main article: Aircraft maintenance carriers of the Royal Navy

The British Royal Navy for the support of its World War II aircraft, built three aircraft maintenance carriers. The first ship was HMS Unicorn in 1930. The next aircraft repair ships were two Colossus-class ships; HMS Pioneer and HMS Perseus.[22][23][24][25] The Royal Navy also operated a fleet of seaplane carriers.[26]

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See also

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References

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  1. ^ Lenton & Colledge, p.333
  2. ^ Silverstone, Paul H. (1968). U.S. Warships of World War II. Doubleday & Company.[page needed]
  3. ^ Mechanic on the Wing: The Untold Story of Carrier Aircraft Service Unit Eleven (CASU-11) 1943 - 1946, by William H Little
  4. ^ a b "The Navy's Air War, Chapter 31". penelope.uchicago.edu.
  5. ^ "US Navy War Diaries: Carrier Aircraft Service Unit 44, ACORN 35 & ACORN 39". casu44.com.
  6. ^ "Chourre (ARV-1) Class". www.shipscribe.com. Retrieved 2022-01-23.
  7. ^ "Aventinus (ARVE-3) Class". www.shipscribe.com. Retrieved 2022-01-23.
  8. ^ "Fabius (ARVA-5) Class". www.shipscribe.com. Retrieved 2022-01-23.
  9. ^ US Navy Aviation mechanic
  10. ^ Aircraft Carrier Maintenance Cycles and Their Effects, by Roland J. Yardley, James G. Kallimani, John F. Schank, Clifford A. Grammich
  11. ^ US Navy US Navy Aviation Duty Mechanic
  12. ^ "Seaplane tenders - Allied Warships of WWII - uboat.net". uboat.net.
  13. ^ "NavSource Auxiliary Ship Photo Archive". www.navsource.org.
  14. ^ Learning Pearl Harbor: What Were Seaplane Tenders?
  15. ^ Williams, James W. (September 2005). A History of Army Aviation: From Its Beginnings to the War on Terror. iUniverse. p. 141. ISBN 978-0-595-36608-8. Retrieved 10 February 2022.
  16. ^ Army. University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign: Association of the United States Army. 1964. p. 10.
  17. ^ Olsen, Ken. "'NOTHING WE COULDN'T BUILD'". The American Legion. Retrieved 10 February 2022.
  18. ^ Felknor, Bruce. "Top Secret Project Ivory Soap -- Aircraft Repair Ships". www.usmm.org. Archived from the original on Apr 22, 2012.
  19. ^ Crockett, Jeffery R. D. "Jeffery R. D. Crockett". Archived from the original on 8 February 2022. Retrieved 7 December 2017.
  20. ^ Beans, Bullets, and Black Oil, The Story of Fleet Logistics Afloat in the Pacific During World War II, by Rear Adm. Worrall Reed Carter USN (Retired)
  21. ^ "Grumium". Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. Naval History and Heritage Command.
  22. ^ Friedman, Norman (1988). British Carrier Aviation: The Evolution of the Ships and Their Aircraft. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 0-87021-054-8.
  23. ^ Hobbs, David (2007). Moving Bases: Royal Navy Maintenance Carriers and MONABs. Liskeard, Cornwall, UK: Maritime Books. ISBN 978-1-904459-30-9.
  24. ^ Lenton, H. T. (1998). British & Commonwealth Warships of the Second World War. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 1-55750-048-7.
  25. ^ Polmar, Norman & Genda, Minoru (2006). Aircraft Carriers: A History of Carrier Aviation and Its Influence on World Events. Vol. 1, 1909–1945. Washington, D.C.: Potomac Books. ISBN 1-57488-663-0.
  26. ^ D.K. Brown (1983). A Century of Naval Construction, The History of the Royal Corps of Naval Constructors. London: Conway Maritime Press. p. 114. ISBN 0-85177-282-X.
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