USS Medusa (AR-1) - Technical Characteristics

Technical Characteristics

Authorized as part of the naval programs of 1916 and 1918, Medusa was laid down at the Puget Sound Navy Yard, Bremerton, Washington, on 2 January 1920. She was launched on 16 April 1923, sponsored by Mrs. Burns Poe, and commissioned on 18 September 1924, Captain R. T. Menner in command.

Medusa was the first U.S. Navy ship designed as a fleet repair ship for major repairs beyond the fighting ship’s own capabilities but which must be accomplished without the benefit of visiting a shipyard. Prior to the commissioning of Medusa, U.S. Navy repair ships had been converted for that purpose. As the U.S. Navy began to grow in size during the World War I years, it was felt that such conversions would prove inadequate for the Navy's needs.

The Department of the Navy designed Medusa with an eye toward at least equalling the repair facilities of the repair ship Vestal, which had been converted from a collier. Medusa was conceived as primarily a tender for battleship divisions, and so was given a speed and range that would allow her to work with the U.S. Navy's newest dreadnought battleships. Originally designated "Repair Ship No. 1", she was redesignated AR-1 when the Navy assigned alphanumeric hull numbers to all of its ships on 17 July 1920.

Medusa commissioned as a very modern repair ship by the standards of 1924, capable of blacksmith work, boiler repairs, carpentry, coppersmithing, electrical work, foundry work, pipe work, plating, sheet-metal work, welding, and repairs of optical and mechanical equipment. Her machinery shop's equipment included lathes, radial drills, milling machines, slotting machines, boring machines, optical repair equipment, armature bake ovens, and coil winding machines. To meet additional demands from the fleet, she had a motion picture shop, large laundry and bakery facilities, and large refrigeration units. She also embarked two officers and 20 enlisted men from aviation Observation Squadron 2 (VO-2) to repair floatplanes based on battleships and cruisers.