USS Luzon ( ARG - 2 ) The USS " Luzon " ( ARG - 2 ) was an internal combustion engine repair ship that saw service in the United States Navy during World War II . The lead ship in her class , she was named for the Island of Luzon , the chief island in the northern Philippines and site of the capital city of Manila , the second U . S . Naval vessel to bear the name . Originally built as " SS Samuel Bowles " by the Bethlehem - Fairfield Shipyard , Inc . in Baltimore , Maryland , her keel was laid down on 8 April 1943 under a Maritime Commission contract ; launched 14 May 1943 ; sponsored by Mrs . H . E . Sigman ; acquired by the Navy and renamed USS " Luzon " ( ARG - 2 ) 24 May 1943 ; and commissioned 12 October 1943 with Commander Elmer R . Runquist in command . After shakedown in Chesapeake Bay , she departed Norfolk , Virginia 28 November for duty in the Pacific . She transited the Panama Canal 6 December and arrived the Ellice Islands 3 January 1944 . Assigned to Service Squadron 4 , she operated at Funafuti and provided repair facilities for amphibious , patrol , and landing craft . Following the invasion of the Marshall Islands on 31 January , she steamed for Kwajalein Atoll on 23 February and arrived there on 4 March . During the next 5 months , she served there as repair ship and tender for harbor craft . As American seapower spearheaded the Allied advance across the Pacific , Luzon steamed to Guam after the conquest of the Marianas . Departing Kwajalein on 2 September , she sailed via Eniwetok and reached Apra , Guam , on 11 September . As a unit of Service Squadron 10 , she maintained a busy repair schedule there until 1 March 1945 when she steamed to Saipan for 6 months of duty at that important harbor . Following the surrender of Japan to the Allied Powers , " Luzon " departed the Marianas on 1 October for Japanese waters . After touching at Iwo Jima , she reached Wakanoura Wan , Honshū on 8 October . She proceeded to Nagoya , Honshū , the 19th until 22 December , she provided fleet and repair services to ships supporting occupation operations in Japan . She then departed for the United States , and , after touching at Pearl Harbor and the Panama Canal , she arrived at Orange , Texas on 9 February 1946 . Assigned to the Atlantic Reserve Fleet , she was decommissioned on 24 June 1947 . In response to the outbreak of the Korean War , " Luzon " was recommissioned on 20 September 1950 , Commander Alan B . Sutherland in command . After steaming to Norfolk in early in October , she departed for the West Coast on 15 November . She reached San Diego on 6 December , proceeded to San Francisco on the 11th , and sailed for the Far East on 26 December . She arrived at Sasebo , Kyūshū on 23 January 1951 and during the remainder of the year , she provided valuable repair services for ships of the 7th Fleet . She departed Japan for the west coast 19 January 1952 ; after reaching San Francisco on 9 February , she operated out of San Francisco , San Diego , Pearl Harbor , and Long Beach during the next 15 months . Departing Long Reach on 2 May 1953 , " Luzon " deployed to the western Pacific and arrived at Sasebo on 2 June . Except for a run to Pusan , South Korea , and back in mid - July , she provided repair facilities at Sasebo until sailing to Yokosuka on 15 January 1954 . She departed the Far East for home on 2 February and arrived at Long Beach on the 28th . She was placed in commission , in reserve on 15 March 1955 while undergoing repair at Mare Island . After returning to San Diego on 29 April , she was placed in service , in reserve . " Luzon " was recommissioned at San Diego on 3 November , with Commander W . F . Christie in command . After completing training off southern California , she sailed for the Far East on 9 March 1956 . She arrived at Sasebo on 9 April and began duty as station repair ship for Service Squadron 3 . During the next 4 years she remained in the western Pacific , supporting peacekeeping operations of the 7th Fleet . Although based at Sasebo , she steamed to Okinawa , Taiwan , Hong Kong , and to various Japanese ports while carrying out her assigned tasks . " Luzon " returned to San Diego on 31 May 1960 then steamed to Mare Island on 3 June for deactivation . She was decommissioned there on 1 July 1960 , and her name was struck from the Naval Vessel Register on 1 September 1961 . " Luzon " received one battle star for her Korean war service . While docked at the Norfolk Navy Yard in 1951 , she appeared in the background of the opening scene of the film " You ' re in the Navy Now " .