USS Repose (AH-16)
{{other ships|USS Repose}}
| {{Infobox ship begin}}
{{Infobox ship image |Ship image=USS Repose (AH-16) underway in the South China Sea off the coast of South Vietnam, 13 October 1966 (K-41441).jpg |Ship image size=300px |Ship caption=USS Repose (AH-16) off Vietnam, 1966 }} {{Infobox ship career |Hide header= |Ship country=United States |Ship flag={{shipboxflag|United States}} |Ship name= |Ship namesake= |Ship owner= |Ship operator= |Ship registry= |Ship route= |Ship ordered= |Ship awarded= |Ship builder=Sun Shipbuilding & Drydock Co., Chester, Pennsylvania |Ship original cost= |Ship yard number= |Ship way number= |Ship laid down=22 October 1943 as SS Marine Beaver |Ship launched=8 August 1944 |Ship sponsor= |Ship christened= |Ship completed= |Ship acquired=14 September 1944 |Ship commissioned=26 May 1945 |Ship decommissioned=19 January 1950 }} {{Infobox ship career |Hide header=yes |Ship recommissioned=28 October 1950 |Ship decommissioned=21 December 1954 }} {{Infobox ship career |Hide header=yes |Ship recommissioned=16 October 1965 |Ship decommissioned=May 1970 |Ship maiden voyage= |Ship in service= |Ship out of service= |Ship renamed= |Ship reclassified= |Ship refit= |Ship struck=15 March 1974 |Ship reinstated= |Ship homeport= |Ship identification= |Ship motto= |Ship nickname= |Ship honours= |Ship honors= |Ship captured= |Ship fate=Sold for scrapping, 18 April 1975 |Ship notes= |Ship badge= }} {{Infobox ship characteristics |Hide header= |Header caption= |Ship class= |Ship type= |Ship tonnage= |Ship displacement=11,141 tons empty (15,100 max) |Ship length=*520 ft (158.5 m)
|Ship beam={{convert|71|ft|6|in|m|abbr=on}} |Ship height= |Ship draught= |Ship draft={{convert|24|ft|m|abbr=on}} |Ship depth= |Ship hold depth= |Ship decks= |Ship deck clearance= |Ship ramps= |Ship ice class= |Ship power= |Ship propulsion=Geared turbine, single screw |Ship sail plan= |Ship speed=17.5 knots |Ship range= |Ship endurance= |Ship test depth= |Ship boats= |Ship capacity=800 patients |Ship troops= |Ship complement=95 officers, 606 men |Ship crew= |Ship time to activate= |Ship sensors= |Ship EW= |Ship armament=None |Ship armour= |Ship armor= |Ship aircraft= |Ship aircraft facilities= |Ship notes= }} |
The USS Repose (AH-16) was a {{sclass|Haven|hospital ship}} in service with the United States Navy. It was active from May 1945 to January 1950, from October 1950 to December 1954, and from October 1965 to May 1970.
After five additional years in reserve, she was sold for scrap in 1975.
History
The USS Repose (AH-16) was built as Marine Beaver, a type C4 class ship, in 1943 by Sun Shipbuilding & Drydock Co., Chester, Pennsylvania. She displaced 11,141 tons and had dimensions of 520 × 71.6 × 24 ft and a maximum speed of 18.7 knots. Launched on August 8, 1944, she was sponsored by Mrs. Pauline P. McIntire, and was acquired for conversion to a hospital ship by Bethlehem Shipbuilding Corporation, in Brooklyn, New York. Upon completion of her conversion to navy use, she was commissioned on May 26, 1945.
With a bed capacity of 750 and a complement of 564, the Repose departed Norfolk on July 8, 1945 for the Pacific. Serving as a casualty transport from various ports in the Pacific Ocean, the Repose also served as a base hospital ship in Shanghai and later Qingdao, China, supporting the occupation forces in northern China. The Repose remained in Asian waters, with an occasional return trip to the States until July 1949. She was decommissioned, in reserve, at San Francisco January 19, 1950.
The Repose was activated on August 26, 1950 and sailed for Pusan, Korea, picking up the navy crew in Yokosuka, Japan en route. Serving in Korean waters and evacuating patients to Japanese ports as necessary, the Repose remained on station until early 1954 with a short repair period in San Francisco from February to March 1953 and the installation of a helicopter landing pad. She remained at the Long Beach Naval Shipyard until her transfer to the Naval Reserve Fleet on September 27, 1954; she was decommissioned on December 21, 1954 at Hunters Point Naval Ship Yard.
After nearly eleven years in reserve at Suisun Bay, the Repose was recommissioned on October 16, 1965 for service in Vietnam. Arriving on January 3, 1966, she was permanently deployed to Southeast Asia and earned the nickname "Angel of the Orient." Operating mainly in the I Corps area, she served as the medical care site for more than 9,000 battle casualties and 24,000 inpatients while deployed.
Notably, the USS Repose was on station during the 1967 USS Forrestal fire that killed 134 sailors and injured 161. Her medical staff also treated marksman Staff Sergeant Carlos Hathcock in September 1969 after he and seven other U.S. Marines suffered extensive burns from an anti-tank mine blast. The Repose departed Vietnam on March 14, 1970 and was decommissioned in May 1970 and used as a hospital annex for the Long Beach Naval Hospital. When this proved uneconomical, she was sold for scrap in 1975.
Awards
Gallery
File:Hospital ship USS Repose (AH-16) in 1945.jpg|The 52-bed ward
File:USS Repose AH-16 27 July 1967.jpg|USS Repose on station during the 1967 USS Forrestal fire
References
{{Commonscat|USS Repose (AH-16)}}
- {{DANFS|https://www.history.navy.mil/content/history/nhhc/research/histories/ship-histories/danfs/r/repose.html}}
{{Haven class hospital ship}}
{{Type C4-S-B ships}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Repose (AH-16)}}
Category:Haven-class hospital ships
Category:Ships built by the Sun Shipbuilding & Drydock Company
Category:World War II auxiliary ships of the United States