View source for USS Current

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|Ship country=United States
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|Ship laid down=2 April 1943
|Ship launched=25 September 1943
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|Ship commissioned=14 June 1944
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|Ship tonnage=1,441 tons
|Ship displacement=1,630&nbsp;tons
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'''USS ''Current'' (ARS-22)''' was a {{sclass|Diver|rescue and salvage ship}} commissioned by the [[U.S. Navy]] during [[World War II]]. Her task was to come to the aid of stricken vessels.

''Current'' (ARS-22) was launched 25 September 1943 by [[Basalt Rock Company]] in [[Napa, California]]; sponsored by Mrs. E. R. Booker; and commissioned 14 June 1944.

==Service history==
=== World War II service ===
 
Clearing [[San Francisco, California]], 6 August 1944, ''Current'' sailed on towing duty to [[Ulithi]], arriving 14 October. She carried out local towing and salvage operations from this port until 19 May 1945. Among her most important repair operations were the emergency salvage work performed on {{USS|Houston|CL-81|2}} (CL-81) and {{USS|Canberra|CA-70|2}} (CA-70) from 19 October to 14 December 1944, and the valiant fire fighting on {{USS|Randolph|CV-15|2}} (CV-15) 11 March 1945.
 
After replenishing in [[San Pedro Bay (Philippines)|San Pedro Bay]], [[Leyte]], ''Current'' arrived off [[Okinawa Island|Okinawa]] 2 June 1945 for salvage operations aiding the many ships damaged by [[Empire of Japan|Japanese]] air attack, and those sailing in the [[U.S. 3rd Fleet]] and the [[U.S. 5th Fleet]] raids on the Japanese homeland. She served ships of the occupation forces at Okinawa until 5 January 1946 when she sailed by way of [[Sasebo]], Japan to San Francisco, arriving 27 February.

=== Atomic testing ===
 
Between 15 April 1946 and 22 July 1947 ''Current'' served with JTF-1 on [[Operation Crossroads]], the [[nuclear testing|atomic weapons tests]] in the [[Marshall Islands]]. She returned to [[San Diego, California]], 23 August 1947 and was placed out of commission in reserve 9 February 1948.

=== Korean War ===
 
Recommissioned 10 October 1951, ''Current'' sailed from [[Long Beach, California]] 7 December and arrived at [[Pearl Harbor]] a week later. Following a 1952 tour of duty in the [[Far East]] during the [[Korean War]], she carried out an extensive salvage operation on the merchant ship {{SS|Quartette||2}} off [[Midway Island]], saving approximately 2,000&nbsp;tons of grain between 23 December 1952 and 6 March 1953. During her 1953 tour of duty off [[Korea]], ''Current'' refloated the stranded {{USS|LST-578||2}} at [[Jeju Island|Cheju]] and in a lengthy and difficult operation salvaged the stern half of ''[[SS Cornhusker Mariner]]'' which had gone aground off [[Pusan]]. Her next Far Eastern tour in 1954 and 1955 included duty with the [[Taiwan]] Patrol, visits to Japanese ports, and participation in the [[Operation Passage to Freedom]] evacuation of refugees from [[North Vietnam]].
 
After alterations to fit her for duty in the [[Arctic]], ''Current'' arrived at [[Seattle, Washington]], 25 June 1955. She carried construction equipment and materials into the poorly charted waters along the northern coast of [[Canada]] and [[Alaska]] from 15 July to 30 September, when she returned to [[Pearl Harbor]] for repairs. She voyaged to [[Kwajalein]] to inspect the work on mooring buoys between 16 January and 22 February 1956, then arrived in Seattle 29 June to join a [[convoy]] carrying supplies to stations of the [[Distant Early Warning line]] from 15 July to 10 September, returning to Pearl Harbor for local operations.
 
During her 1957 deployment to the Western Pacific, ''Current'' took part in a mine recovery training exercise in the [[Marianas]]; surveyed and blasted a channel in [[Scarborough Shoal]] in the [[South China Sea]]; salvaged aircraft and vessels off Japan; and performed a mercy mission by treating a Japanese diver stricken with the bends off [[Honshū]]. After local operations at Pearl Harbor, she returned to the Far East to operate with [[destroyer]]s off Japan and with the [[U.S. 7th Fleet]] in the [[Taiwan Straits]] from October 1957 to February 1958.
 
From July to December 1958 ''Current'' operated on diving training duty at [[Pusan]], [[Korea]] and salvaged several vessels and aircraft in Japanese waters. In March and April 1959, she carried passengers to [[Samoa]] where her divers worked on a sunken hulk, and in November returned to the Far East for duty until March 1960, when she put back to [[Pearl Harbor]] for duty in the [[Hawaii]]an group for the remainder of the year. In 1965 she assisted in [[Operation Sailor Hat]] with the moorings of target ships. May 1967 the rescued the {{SS|Minot Victory}}.
[[Image:Current midget sub.jpg|thumb|Raising of a midget sub from Keehi Lagoon by USS ''Current'' in 1960]]

''Current'' was decommissioned 28 April 1972 and struck from the [[Naval Register]], 1 June 1973.  Final Disposition: she was sold for scrapping, 27 June 1975, by the [[Defense Reutilization and Marketing Service]], for $78,000 to Valor Navigation Co., [[New York, New York]].

== Military awards and honors ==
USS ''Current'' was awarded two [[battle star]]s for World War II service, three battle stars for Korean War service, and six [[campaign star]]s for Vietnam War service.

== References ==
{{DANFS|http://www.history.navy.mil/danfs/c16/current.htm}}

== External links ==
* {{navsource|09/37/3722|Current}}
* USS Current Web Page [https://web.archive.org/web/20091027154949/http://geocities.com/jimvasko_94555/index.htm]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20111010123441/http://shipbuildinghistory.com/history/shipyards/4emergencysmall/basalt.htm] Basalt Rock Company Shipbuilding History

{{Diver class rescue ships}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Current (ARS-22)}}
[[Category:Diver-class rescue and salvage ships]]
[[Category:Ships built in Napa, California]]
[[Category:World War II auxiliary ships of the United States]]
[[Category:Korean War auxiliary ships of the United States]]
[[Category:1943 ships]]