Operational Accomplishments
Between 1987 and 2001, Salvor has provided rescue or assistance to ships at sea in seven instances. Two cases involved collisions near Hawaii: the USNS Safeguard boat accident in August 1987, and the Collision of USS Greeneville with Eihme Maru between February and November 2001. Salvor also assisted in the Exxon Houston grounding near Barbers Point, Hawaii, in March 1989, and the Kamalu barge fire in May 1989. On three occasions, Salvor has assisted a ship at sea that has suffered a catastrophic equipment loss: recovering the primary towing pendant of the Ex-USS Duncan/USNS Navajo in January 1995, the anchor chain of the USS Willamette in February 1995, and the towed sonar array of the USS Los Angeles in June 1996. The ship was also involved in the rescue effort after the ROKS Cheonan sinking.
During the same time, Salvor participated in seven sea-recoveries of submerged military aircraft, including an A-6E Intruder (VA-145) in Puget Sound, Washington, a UH-46D Sea Knight from a world-record depth 17,251 feet (5,258 m) near Wake Island, a SH-60 Seahawk, an F/A-18C Hornet (VFA-22) near San Diego, and two United States Air Force F-16 Falcons in Korean waters and the Sea of Japan.
Other salvage operations undertaken by Salvor include repairing the propeller blades of HMAS Darwin, repairing the hull of BRP Rajah Humabon, recovering a LARC-V amphibious vehicle, recovering and disposing of a 1,000-pound (450 kg) Mark 83 bomb, pumping out oil leaking from the wreck of USS Mississinewa, and exploring the wreck of the USS Lagarto in the Gulf of Thailand.
Read more about this topic: USNS Salvor (T-ARS-52)