USS Weight ( ARS - 35 ) USS " Weight " ( ARS - 35 ) was a " Weight " - class rescue and salvage ship acquired by the U . S . Navy during World War II . Her task was to come to the aid of stricken vessels . This narrative provides a detailed account of such a task conducted under battle conditions . " Plymouth Salvor " ( a wooden - hulled salvage vessel originally earmarked for transfer to Great Britain under lend - lease and classified as BARS - 7 ) was laid down on 7 April 1942 at Wilmington , Delaware , by the American Car and Foundry Co . ; reclassified ARS - 35 on 11 January 1943 and named " Weight " on 15 March 1943 . The ship was launched on 21 April 1943 , sponsored by Mrs . H . E . Haven , the wife of the Supervisor of Shipbuilding at the Dravo Corp . of Wilmington ; and commissioned at her builder ' s yard on 14 August 1943 , Lt . Frederick J . LeaMond , USNR , in command . World War II service . " Weight " shifted to the Philadelphia Navy Yard on 16 August , where she fitted out prior to moving to Cape May , New Jersey , en route to New York City . Reaching New York late on the 23d , the salvage vessel remained there until the 27th , when she sailed for Norfolk , Virginia , in company with " Extricate " ( ARS - 16 ) . After touching at Annapolis , Maryland , en route on the 29th , the salvage ships reached Norfolk later that day . Following a brief shakedown , the ship was fitted out at the Norfolk Navy Yard from 5 to 13 September and remained in the Hampton Roads vicinity until late in the month . She departed her anchorage on 25 September and joined Convoy UGS - 19 , bound for North Africa . Italy and North Africa operations . Reaching Bizerte , Tunisia , on the 16th , " Weight " sailed for Italy on the 27th and reached Naples , Italy , on the 29th . For almost the next three months , the salvage ship performed harbor clearance and salvage operations , an existence frequently interrupted by air raid alerts , and by air raids themselves , and the results of those attacks . Late on 5 November , soon after reaching Naples , she was called upon to turn her monitors ( fire - fighting equipment ) upon a serious warehouse blaze . While the ship was maneuvering to get into the best possible position to fight the fire , her starboard propeller struck some submerged wreckage , bending one blade out of alignment and curling the others about three inches each . By 0415 on the 6th , the blaze was controlled . Moored to the wreckage of the Italian ship SS " Nirvo " , " Weight " performed salvage operations on that vessel through mid - November , before she shifted berths alongside the wrecks of " SS Irish Monarch " and " SS Silvano " . She also raised sunken " LCVP ' s " and fought a fire that had started in cargo carried by " LCT - 309 " , spending much of her time on New Year ' s Eve fighting that blaze . On 2 January 1944 , " Weight " shifted to a berth alongside the wreck of the former German merchantman SS " Resolute " where , over the next few days , she tended to the mine damage suffered by the British merchant vessel SS " Largs Bay " . " Weight " later provided fresh water to " YMS - 69 " , repairs to " LST - 861 " , " LCT 285 " , and freed the port screw of " LCI - 837 " . She also conducted salvage and wreckage clearance operations on a sunken Italian destroyer and towed HMS " Thruster " off a nearby beach where she had gone aground . Anzio operations . " Weight " sailed from Naples at 0755 on 28 January and , reaching the Anzio beachhead the next day , observed German bombers making direct hits on the British cruiser HMS " Spartan " and the American merchantman SS " Samuel Huntington " . " Weight " commenced salvage operations on the stranded " LCT - 223 " while explosions from the burning " Samuel Huntington " shook the area . After dragging " LCT - 288 " clear , " Weight " got underway to fight the blaze on the wrecked Liberty ship , " Samuel Huntington " . The salvage vessel trained both monitors ( large deck - mounted water guns ) and a 2½ - inch hose on the wreck and between 1605 and 1745 , fought the fire that ravaged the freighter . Securing at 1745 " Weight " moved briefly away with the wreck still smoking but returned at 2207 to anchor alongside and renew her efforts to contain the flames . However , " Weight ' s " work off the Anzio beaches was not yet done . In company with the British salvage vessel " Weazel " and aided by bulldozers ashore , she attempted to salvage the grounded British tank landing craft , " LCT 542 " . " Weight ' s " divers cleared the fouled screws of " SC - 497 " , and the ship ' s force repaired " LCT 288 " and again fought fires on " Samuel Huntington " . " Weight " finally departed Anzio at 0845 on 5 February and returned to Naples later that day . Naples operations . " Weight " continued her vital but unglamorous salvage routine at Naples well into April . Between 10 and 25 February , she assisted and repaired HMS " Kempenfelt " the damaged minesweeper " Pilot " ( AM - 104 ) , and " LCI - 3 " as well as " Weazel " . On the 26th , she got underway for the beach off Bagnoli , Italy , to tow off stranded ships . Collision during rescue attempt . Heavy seas and high winds proved a nemesis to the salvors . Shortly after 2000 on 26 February , " Weight " attempted to pass a line to a grounded U . S . Army tug , but in the initial attempt to do so , used up three spools of line . The second try ended also in failure when the boat went too close to shore and broached , pitching two men into the surf . Fortunately , all of the six men from " Weight ' s " motor launch reached shore safely , but the boat itself was smashed by the heavy surf . " Weight " again attempted to tow off the Army tug , alone on the next day and in company with HMS " Barholm " on the 28th . Nevertheless , even after the joint attempt , the Army tug remained hard aground and defied all of the salvors ' efforts , and the American salvage vessel subsequently returned to Naples to resume work on " Pilot " . Putting out fires on burning ships . In early March , " Weight " salvaged HMS " Boxer " and HMS " Quantock " , and fought a fire that broke out on a nearby wreck . In the latter operation , the salvors had to cut holes in the deck to pass hoses . Late on 30 March coal gas ignited on board SS " Richard Stockton " , causing a serious fire and injuries to three men . " Weight " got underway at 2220 and went to the aid of the burning merchantman . " Weight " moved in close and brought her hoses to bear , using them to cool the side plates of the cargo vessel . She also took on board three injured men from " Richard Stockton " and later transferred them to an Army hospital ashore . At 0430 on 31 March , " Weight " labored to beach the stricken merchantman to help extinguish the fires by flooding the forward section of the blazing ship . " Weight " resumed fighting the fires at 0630 and , by 1356 , finally had the blaze " under control . " After continuing salvage operations and unbeaching the ship , " Weight " returned to Naples on 1 April . Reassignment to North Africa . Following a month of local salvage operations there , " Weight " departed Naples at 1139 on 1 May , in company with SS " Carillo " and " SC - 56l " , and headed for the coast of Morocco . She arrived at Algiers on 4 May and , the next day , entered drydock at Oran for repairs to her hull and propellers . Shortly after noon on 29 May , " Weight " sailed in company with Convoy KMS 51 . Steaming as last ship in the second column of the convoy , " Weight " received orders at 2310 on 30 May to make smoke . Shortly thereafter , she observed sporadic antiaircraft fire up ahead and at 2320 went to general quarters . At 0012 on the 31st , the convoy ceased making smoke ; but , two minutes later , a white flare appeared overhead and brought the ship back to general quarters . An ensuing brief period of uneasy quiet was suddenly broken at 0020 by numerous flares ( both red and white ) which began dotting the sky above and began drifting down , illuminating the waters below . Convoy hit by Luftwaffe torpedo planes . The torpedo planes ( probably Junkers 88 ' s ) succeeded in hitting two ships . At 0030 , " Weight " intercepted a radio dispatch reporting that two ships had been torpedoed and that survivors from one were already in the water . " Weight " immediately altered course , initiating a search for the men . Rescuing survivors in the water . At 0037 , the salvage vessel sighted some survivors and proceeded into the midst of them , commencing rescue operations . After four survivors had been hauled from the water , lookouts heard a plane approaching the ship from her starboard quarter . When the target became visible approximately away , two 20 - millimeter guns immediately swung around and commenced firing . " Weight ' s " heavy antiaircraft barrage managed to dissuade the German pilot from attempting a strafing run on the survivors ; and the plane , sans torpedo , swung away from the convoy . Soon thereafter , a second Ju 88 attacked , dropping a torpedo nearby that passed ahead of the rescue ship . " Weight ' s " Oerlikons again forced the Germans to clear the area . Although the area was still brightly lighted by numerous flares , " Weight " continued rescue operations , picking up four more men from the water . Soon the British tug " HMRT Nenquist " neared the salvage vessel and informed her that she would pick up the rest of the survivors . " Weight " learned that the men she had rescued were from the British merchantman SS " Nordeflinge " which had taken an aerial torpedo amidships and gone down in two minutes . After giving the survivors medical care , food , and clothing , " Weight " transferred the eight to the British Flower - class corvette HMS " Hyderabad " . Return to Italian operations . Soon after reaching Augusta , Sicily , on the morning of 3 June , " Weight " shifted to Naples , reaching that port on the 5th . She spent a month engaged in local ship repair and salvage jobs and then shifted briefly to Palermo , Sicily , before returning to Naples , where she operated into early August . Invasion of Southern France operations . Departing Naples on 5 August , " Weight " reached the Bay of Ajaccio , Corsica , late on the 6th . During the ensuing weeks , the salvage vessel supported the invasion of southern France , earning her second battle star performing her vital but unsung salvage and repair deeds on ships ranging from landing craft to patrol vessels . She remained at Corsica for much of August , before she towed " LST - 690 " to Palermo , en route to Naples . Reaching that port on 1 September , in company with " PC - 1594 " and " PC - 1596 " , " Weight " departed Naples on 6 September . Arriving at St . Tropez on the 9th , the salvage vessel shifted to Toulon , France , on the 13th , arriving the next day . There , she commenced salvage operations on the sunken French " super - destroyer " " Vauban " on the 14th and continued them for a fortnight , moored astern of the sunken ship . After a brief trip to Dellys , Algeria , " Weight " returned to Toulon , where she performed salvage and repair operations on the mine - damaged SS " Eleanor Wylie " over ensuing days . Departing Toulon at the end of October , the salvage vessel shifted to Marseille before moving down to Oran and Mers el - Kebir . She returned briefly to the Bay of Ajaccio , Corsica , before she put into Livorno , Italy , to unload salvage gear there . Returning briefly to Naples and then to Arzew , Algeria , " Weight " departed Oran on 27 January 1945 and headed home . Homeward bound . She overtook Convoy GUS - 68 on the 29th . The ship arrived at Fayal , Horta , in the Azores , on 4 February and over the next two weeks ' time , performed salvage operations on the damaged destroyer escort " Fogg " ( DE - 57 ) . She ultimately departed the Azores on the 23d bound for Boston , Massachusetts . Assigned to the Pacific Fleet . Following an overhaul at Norfolk , Virginia , " Weight " sailed for the Pacific Ocean on 7 May . She then operated out of San Francisco , California , and Pearl Harbor through the end of hostilities with Japan in mid - August 1945 . Post - war decommissioning . Ultimately decommissioned at the Mare Island Naval Shipyard , Vallejo , California , on 29 March 1946 , " Weight " was struck from the Navy list on 1 May . Subsequently transferred to the United States Maritime Commission , the ship was sold and , on 24 July 1947 , was delivered to her purchaser , Mr . David Davidoff , at Suisun Bay , California . Military awards and honors . " Weight " won two battle stars for her World War II service . Her crew was eligible for the following medals and ribbons :