USS Portunus (ARC-1)
{{Short description|1944 LSM-1-class landing ship medium}}
{{other ships|USS Portunus}}
{{Use American English|date=November 2024}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2024}}
| {{Infobox ship begin}}
{{Infobox ship image |Ship image=USS Portunus (ARC-1).jpg |Ship caption= }} {{Infobox ship career |Hide header= |Ship country=United States |Ship flag={{USN flag|1945}} |Ship name=*LSM–275 (1944—1953)
|Ship namesake= |Ship ordered= |Ship awarded= |Ship builder= |Ship original cost= |Ship yard number= |Ship way number= |Ship laid down=1 August 1944 |Ship launched=11 September 1944 |Ship sponsor= |Ship christened= |Ship completed= |Ship acquired= |Ship commissioned=6 October 1944 |Ship recommissioned= |Ship decommissioned=30 April 1959 |Ship maiden voyage= |Ship in service= |Ship out of service= |Ship renamed= |Ship reclassified= |Ship refit= |Ship struck=1 May 1959 |Ship reinstated= |Ship homeport= |Ship identification= |Ship motto= |Ship nickname= |Ship honors= |Ship captured= |Ship fate=Transferred to Portugal, 16 November 1959. |Ship notes= |Ship badge= }} {{Infobox ship career |Hide header=title |Ship country=Portugal |Ship flag={{shipboxflag|Portugal|naval}} |Ship class= |Ship name=*Medusa (1959—1969)
|Ship acquired=16 November 1959 |Ship commissioned= |Ship recommissioned= |Ship decommissioned= |Ship in service= |Ship out of service= |Ship renamed=July 1969 |Ship reclassified="Albacora" class submarine support ship July 1969 |Ship refit= |Ship captured= |Ship struck= |Ship reinstated= |Ship fate=disarmed, disposed of 1976 }} {{Infobox ship characteristics |Hide header= |Ship class={{sclass|LSM-1|landing ship medium}} |Ship displacement=1,095 tons (f.) |Ship length={{convert|203|ft|6|in|m|abbr=on}} |Ship beam={{convert|34|ft|6|in|m|abbr=on}} |Ship draft={{convert|7|ft|4|in|m|abbr=on}} |Ship depth= |Ship hold depth= |Ship decks= |Ship deck clearance= |Ship ramps= |Ship power= |Ship propulsion= |Ship speed={{convert|12|kn}} |Ship range= |Ship endurance= |Ship capacity= |Ship troops= |Ship complement=59 |Ship time to activate= |Ship sensors= |Ship EW= |Ship armament=* 1 × 40 mm gun
|Ship armor= |Ship aircraft= |Ship aircraft facilities= |Ship notes= }} |
USS Portunus (ARC-1) was an {{sclass|LSM-1|landing ship medium}} acquired by the U.S. Navy for use during World War II as a landing craft for troops, and later, as a cable repair ship.
On 16 November 1959, the ship was transferred to Portugal to become the NRP Medusa until modified during 1964 into a Marine Support Ship and assigned to the Guinea-Bissau Maritime Defense Command. In July 1969, the ship was renamed São Rafael and redesignated as an Albacora-class submarine support ship. São Rafael was disarmed and disposed of in 1976.
U.S. Navy
Portunus was laid down by the Federal Shipbuilding and Drydock Co., Kearny, New Jersey, as LSM–275 1 August 1944; launched 11 September 1944; and commissioned 6 October 1944.{{cite DANFS |url=https://www.history.navy.mil/research/histories/ship-histories/danfs/p/portunus-ii.html |title=Portunus II (ARC-1) |author=Naval History And Heritage Command |date=24 August 2015 |work=Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships |publisher=Naval History And Heritage Command |accessdate=20 May 2021}}
= World War II =
After shakedown off Norfolk, Virginia, LSM–275 steamed for Key West, Florida, the Panama Canal, and San Diego, California, before reaching Pearl Harbor on 28 January 1945.
After a trip to Guam, she steamed from Pearl Harbor in task unit TU 51.13.4 via Eniwetok and Saipan to Okinawa to land troops and supplies on the "last stepping stone" to Japan. Departing in TU 51.29.22, 25 April while the battle for Okinawa was still going on, she steamed via Saipan to Ulithi, arriving 5 May. Departing 28 June, she then put into Tulagi, the Russells, Eniwetok, Guam, and Saipan, before reaching Pearl Harbor 19 August, 5 days after the war's end.
On 4 December, she departed Pearl Harbor for San Diego. She steamed between San Diego, San Pedro, and San Francisco during the first half of 1946, then reported to Com 19th Fleet at San Diego 18 September, underwent inactivation overhaul, and decommissioned 21 April 1947 at San Pedro.
= Recommissioned as a cable-laying ship =
Ordered activated in 1951, LSM–275 was redesignated as a cable-laying and repair ship ARC–1 on 14 December, and recommissioned 2 July 1952. She operated off California ports for the next 11 months, then, on 1 June 1953, got underway for the U.S. East Coast. The ship was named Portunus 13 July 1953. Attached to the 3rd Naval District, she laid cable off Cape May, New Jersey, and off Bermuda before conducting ocean-bottom surveys and cable operations off Colombia's Atlantic and Pacific coasts, 13 October to 31 October.
Returning to New York City, Portunus underwent overhaul, and on 8 March 1954, resumed cable operations, first in the approaches to New York, off Sandy Hook, New Jersey, then off Bermuda. From 1955 to 1959, she continued to lay cable, off Key West, Sandy Hook, Bermuda, Wood Island, Maine, and Nantucket Island, and in the Narragansett area, and off Little Creek, Virginia. During this time, she continued to base at the New York Shipyard, Brooklyn, and to periodically pick up cable at Newington, New Hampshire.
= Decommissioning =
She was decommissioned at New York City on 30 April 1959, and her name was struck from the Navy List on 1 May 1959. Portunus earned one battle star for World War II service.
Portuguese Navy
The cable-repair vessel was transferred to Portugal under the Military Assistance Program, with delivery on 16 November 1959. The ship was commissioned in the Portuguese Navy 18 November 1959 as Medusa with designation A 5214. On 24 September 1964, the ship was transferred to the Arsenal do Alfeite to be modified into a marine support ship. After modification, she was assigned to the Guinea-Bissau Maritime Defense Command. In July 1969, the ship was renamed São Rafael and reclassified as an Albacora-class submarine support ship. The ship was disarmed and disposed of by the Portuguese Navy in 1976.{{cite web |last=Priolo |first=Gary P. |title=USS Portunus (ARC-1) |publisher=NavSource Online |date= 16 April 2021 |url=https://www.navsource.org/archives/10/14/14275.htm |accessdate=20 May 2021}}{{cite magazine |year=2014 |title=USS Portunus ARC-1 |magazine=USS AEOLUS Newsletter (Winter 2013-2014) |volume=8 |issue=17 |location= |publisher=USS AEOLUS Association |page=6 |url=https://ussaeolus.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/Winter2013-Newsletter.pdf |accessdate=20 May 2021}}
References
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{{DANFS}}
External links
- {{navsource|10/14/14275|Portunus}}
{{LSM-1-class landing ship medium|200}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Portunus (ARC-1)}}
Category:Ships built in Kearny, New Jersey
Category:World War II amphibious warfare vessels of the United States
Category:Repair ships of the United States Navy
Category:Cold War auxiliary ships of the United States
Category:LSM-1-class landing ships medium