USS Beaufort (ATS-2) - Return To The Far East

Return To The Far East

A restricted availability occupied her during most of January 1975. She resumed operations out of Pearl Harbor on the 27th. Type training, diving drills, and local tows kept her busy until 30 June when she entered the Dillingham Shipyard for a pre-deployment restricted availability. Beaufort resumed local operations on 23 August, and they lasted until 8 September when she got underway for the Far East.

The salvage tug stopped at Guam from 15 to 19 September and then continued on to the Philippines. She arrived in Subic Bay on the 24th and operated out of that port until 18 November when she set a course for Japan. Between 24 November and 4 December, Beaufort salvaged some amphibious equipment that had been blown to sea by a storm near Numazu, Japan. On 5 December, she put into Sasebo, Japan, for two days of upkeep. She returned to sea on the 7th, bound for Chinhae, Korea, where she spent the period between 9 and 19 December supporting Republic of Korea Navy salvage training operations. On 20 December, she returned to Sasebo and remained there through the end of the year.

Beaufort departed Sasebo on 3 January 1976 and shaped a course for Taiwan. After visits to Keelung and Tsoying, Taiwan, she conducted five days of salvage training with the Taiwanese Navy before heading back to Subic Bay on the 17th. She operated out of Subic Bay until 14 February when she departed the Philippines for Guam towing Kittaton. The salvage tug brought her charge into Apra Harbor on 22 February and, two days later, got underway with USS Tuscumbia in tow and headed for Midway Island. Beaufort dropped her tow off at Midway on 6 March and continued her voyage back to Pearl Harbor.

The ship arrived at Oahu on 9 March and began a month of post-deployment leave and upkeep. She underwent a restricted availability for the installation of firefighting equipment and new navigational lights during the latter part of April and most of May. She resumed operations out of Pearl Harbor on 27 May. Concluding those operations on 16 August, she reentered the Dillingham Shipyard for a regular overhaul.

The yard work took about a year, occupying the remainder of 1976 and the first eight months of 1977. During the final three months of the overhaul, however, Beaufort put to sea occasionally for tests and evaluations. After 24 May, additional repairs were made at the Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard. She resumed normal operations in September, conducting refresher training in the local operating area between the 6th and the 25th. Normal operations—salvage training and diving drills—occupied her time until the end of the first week in November.