Return To The Western Pacific
At the end of January 1979, she entered the Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard for a restricted availability. Beaufort completed repairs on 11 March and resumed local operations. On 1 April, the salvage tug began preparations for overseas movement and, on the 24th, departed Pearl Harbor for the western Pacific. The ship arrived in Apra Harbor, Guam, on 5 May and operated from that port until the 27th when she got underway for the Philippine Islands.
Beaufort stopped at Legaspi between 1 and 4 June before arriving in Subic Bay on the 6th. For the next four months, she performed the usual U.S. 7th Fleet duty visiting a number of ports, towing ships, and conducting salvage training. On 29 September, she departed Yokosuka, Japan, to return to Hawaii. Beaufort arrived in Pearl Harbor on 10 October and, after post-deployment standdown, resumed local operations on 13 November.
Duty out of Pearl Harbor occupied her time through the next nine months. On 25 August 1980, she got underway for the west coast of the United States. The ship reached Oakland, California, on 1 September and remained there until the 7th. Beaufort headed back to Hawaii on 8 September and arrived there on 15 September. Five days later, she got underway for the western Pacific. The salvage tug arrived in Apra Harbor, Guam, on 6 November. Following a nine-day stopover at Guam, Beaufort weighed anchor for the Philippines. En route, she conducted a surveillance mission in the Trust Territories of the Pacific Islands.
On 26 November, the salvage tug arrived in Subic Bay but remained only until the 30th when she embarked upon a voyage which took her to Thailand and Singapore. Beaufort returned to Subic Bay on 2 January 1981. She operated out of that port until 6 April when she got underway for home. The ship stopped at Guam on 12 April but continued her voyage east on the 13th. Beaufort reentered Pearl Harbor on 28 April and remained there until 8 June when she resumed operations in the Hawaiian Islands.
Read more about this topic: USS Beaufort (ATS-2)
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