USS Hector (AR-7) - End of Vietnam and Beyond

End of Vietnam and Beyond

During the evacuation of Saigon in 1975 (Operation New Life), HECTOR aided in setting up camps in Guam for Vietnamese refugees, for which Hector earned her first Humanitarian Service Award. During the same year, she completed conversion to Navy Distillate fuel and renovation to her crew's galley, mess decks and scullery.

During her deployment in 1977, Hector was called on to replenish desperately needed stores to combatant ships that had departed Pearl Harbor quickly in order to observe Soviet cruise missile triangulation operations. During this operation, the infamous "Hector Missile" was built to confuse the enemy. In July, Hector was forced to cancel an R&R visit to Keelung, Taiwan in order to evade Typhoon Vera, which struck northern Taiwan. She proceeded on to her next scheduled port, Subic Bay RP.

During the spring of 1978, Hector provided Fleet Repair Service in Seattle, WA. Her deployment in September began with a visit to Papeete, Tahiti, and later to Subic Bay, RP; Keelung, Taiwan; Pusan, Korea and finished the year providing FRS in Yokosuka, Japan.

In 1980, she received a major overhaul, and HECTOR became one of the first ships in the Pacific Fleet to have women officers report aboard. (One of whom was Ensign Darlene Iskra who served aboard as Diving Officer 1980-82 who went on to make Naval History in 1990 by becoming the first woman to command a Naval vessel, the USS Opportune.)

In 1981, HECTOR began her 25th deployment, visiting Yokosuka Japan; Diego Garcia; Mombasa, Kenya, Melbourne, Australia, Auckland, New Zealand, Tonga, Samoa, Western Samoa. While in Pearl Harbor, Hector sent a team to rescue 12 passengers of a plane which crashed 200 yards off Hector's quarter. For this she was commended by Commander in Chief, US Pacific Fleet. In October 1981, Hector's homeport was again shifted, from Mare Island to Oakland, CA.

In June 1982 the first ten enlisted women reported aboard Hector at the Naval Supply Center in Oakland, California. HECTOR received the Navy "E" Ribbon for the period 1 Jan 1982 - 30 June 1983.

In 1983, HECTOR spent a month repairing ships in Bremerton, WA. During the month of April, HECTOR temporarily served as the Logistic Command Center while Commander Task Force 73 was embarked for FLEET EX 83-1, the largest military exercise in the North Pacific since World War II.

In 1984, during the ship’s 26th deployment, HECTOR steamed over 35,000 miles. She also provided disaster relief to the storm battered island of Madagascar. On this deployment Hector received two Humanitarian Medals. One was for the rescue of 28 Vietnamese refugees from a small wooden craft. For the second award, a group of Hector volunteers spent several days in a leper colony doing maintenance on local homes, and other facilities, while in Madagascar. They also provided some much-needed medical service including dental work, amputations, etc., all with field tools and in a damaged gazebo.

Her home port was changed from Alameda to San Diego in 1985, and the HECTOR celebrated her 42nd birthday on the high seas. During transit up the Willamette River to Portland, OR in August, Hector's aft mast was snapped off as a result of coming into contact with the Burnside Bridge.

At the beginning of 1986, HECTOR provided FRS to the Midway Battle Group in Yokosuka, Japan. HECTOR's stay in Subic Bay was extended to 1 & 1/2 months during January to February due to Philippine elections and civil unrest. She later visited Al-Masirah, Ohman and Pattaya Beach, Thailand.

After 43 years of faithful and productive service to the fleet from the entire West Coast to numerous ports of the Pacific and Southeast Asia, the USS HECTOR AR-7 Deck Log was closed 31 March 1987 in San Diego, and she was duly decommissioned.

On 20 April 1989, HECTOR was leased to Pakistan and renamed MOAWIN. She was returned to U.S. custody at Singapore in 1994, and on 17 October of that year was sold to Ruby Enterprises of India. Subsequently, the USS HECTOR AR-7 suffered an ignominious demise by cutting torches at a nondescript scrap metal yard somewhere on the coastline of India.