USNS Grapple (T-ARS-53)
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USS Grapple (ARS 53).
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| History | |
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| Name: |
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| Ordered: | 29 October 1982 |
| Builder: | Peterson Builders, Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin |
| Laid down: | 25 April 1984 |
| Launched: | 8 December 1984 |
| Commissioned: | 15 November 1986 |
| Decommissioned: | 13 July 2006 |
| Identification: |
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| Motto: | Ready to Serve |
| Honours and awards: |
Marjorie Sterrett Battleship Fund Award (2000) |
| Fate: | Transferred to MSC NFAF |
| Badge: |  |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type: | Safeguard-class salvage ship |
| Displacement: |
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| Length: | 255 ft (78 m) |
| Beam: | 51 ft (16 m) |
| Draft: | 17 ft (5.2 m) |
| Propulsion: | 4 × Caterpillar 399 diesel engines |
| Speed: | 15 kn (28 km/h; 17 mph) |
| Complement: |
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| Armament: |
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USS Grapple (ARS-53) is a Safeguard-class salvage ship in the United States Navy. Her home port is Norfolk, Virginia. On 13 July 2006 Grapple was decommissioned from US Navy service and converted to civilian operation by Military Sealift Command. She was redesignated as USNS Grapple (T-ARS 53).
Rescue and salvage ships render assistance to disabled ships, provide towing, salvage, diving, firefighting and heavy lift capabilities.
The mission of the rescue and salvage ships is fourfold: to debeach stranded vessels, heavy lift capability from ocean depths, towing of other vessels, and manned diving operations. For rescue missions, these ships are equipped with fire monitors forward and amidships which can deliver either firefighting foam or sea water. The salvage holds of these ships are outfitted with portable equipment to provide assistance to other vessels in dewatering, patching, supply of electrical power and other essential service required to return a disabled ship to an operating condition.
The Navy has responsibility for salvaging U.S. government-owned ships and, when it is in the best interests of the United States, privately owned vessels as well. The rugged construction of these steel-hulled ships, combined with speed and endurance, make these rescue and salvage ships well-suited for rescue/salvage operations of Navy and commercial shipping throughout the world. The versatility of this class of ship enables the U.S. Navy to render assistance to those in peril on the high seas.
Grapple is designed to perform combat salvage, lifting, towing, off-ship firefighting, manned diving operations, and emergency repairs to stranded or disabled vessels.
Disabled or stranded ships might require various types of assistance before retraction or towing can be attempted. In her 21,000 cubic feet (590 m3) salvage hold, Grapple carries transportable cutting and welding equipment, hydraulic and electric power sources, and de-watering gear. Grapple also has salvage and machine shops, and hull repair materials to effect temporary hull repairs on stranded or otherwise damaged ships.
Stranded vessels can be retracted from a beach or reef by the use of Grapple's towing machine and propulsion. Additional retraction force can be applied to a stranded vessel through the use of up to six legs of beach gear, consisting of 6,000-pound (2,700 kg) STATO anchors, wire rope, chain, and salvage buoys. In a typical configuration, two legs of beach gear are rigged on board Grapple, and up to four legs of beach are rigged to the stranded vessel.
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Wikipedia