USS Otus (AS-20)
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| History | |
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| Name: | USS Otus |
| Builder: | Federal Shipbuilding and Drydock Company, Kearny, New Jersey |
| Laid down: | 3 June 1940 |
| Launched: | 2 November 1940 |
| Commissioned: | 19 March 1941, as USS Otus (AS–20) |
| Decommissioned: | 20 August 1946 |
| Reclassified: | ARG–20 (Repair Ship, Internal Combustion Engines), 25 June 1945 |
| Struck: | 25 September 1946 |
| Honours and awards: |
1 battle star (WWII) |
| General characteristics | |
| Type: | Internal combustion engine repair ship |
| Displacement: | 5,775 long tons (5,868 t) light |
| Length: | 417 ft 9 in (127.33 m) |
| Beam: | 60 ft (18 m) |
| Draft: | 20 ft 2 in (6.15 m) |
| Speed: | 15 knots (28 km/h; 17 mph) |
| Complement: | 644 officers and enlisted |
| Armament: | 2 × twin 4 in (100 mm) gun mounts |
USS Otus (ARG-20) was an internal combustion engine repair ship that saw service in the United States Navy during World War II. The lone ship in her class, she was named for Otus, a mythological son of Iphimedia (wife of Aloeus) and Poseidon.
The ship was laid down under Maritime Commission Contract 3 June 1940 by the Federal Shipbuilding and Drydock Company of Kearny, New Jersey and launched as SS Fred Morris on 2 November 1940, sponsored by Mrs. Fred Allain Morris. The launch can be seen in stock footage used in the opening scenes of the 1964 film The Incredible Mr. Limpet. The SS Fred Morris was acquired by the Navy on 1 March 1941 and commissioned as the USS Otus (AS–20) on 19 March 1941 with Commander Joel Newsom in command.
Assigned to the Asiatic Fleet as a submarine tender, she was anchored in Mariveles Harbor, Philippine Islands, on 7 December 1941. On 10 December 1941 she was slightly damaged during the Japanese air raid on the Cavite Navy Yard, when several bombs landed near her starboard side. Not wanting to risk one of the few tenders in his command, Admiral Hart, Commander Asiatic Fleet ordered Otus to leave the Philippines.
Departing 10 December she arrived at Port Darwin, Australia on 28 December. Remaining at Port Darwin through January 1942 Otus steamed to Java and Trincomalee, Ceylon, during February and the first part of March. She returned to Australia on 10 March, where she tended submarines at Fremantle until departing for the United States on 25 July. Arriving Mare Island Naval Shipyard 24 August, Otus underwent an extensive overhaul until 23 January 1943. After a brief stop at Pearl Harbor she returned to Australia 22 February where she remained, steaming from port to port as the demand for her services dictated, until 1 September. From September 1943 until December 1944 Otus served at four different sites in New Guinea furnishing tender services for escort vessels, minecraft, and amphibious craft as well as submarines.
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