USS Mender ( ARS ( D ) - 2 ) USS " Mender " ( ARS ( D ) - 2 ) was a " Gypsy " - class salvage lifting vessel of the United States Navy . Originally designated LSM ‑ 550 , she was reclassified ( ARS ( D ) ‑ 2 ) on 24 April 1945 , and was laid down on 25 August 1945 by Brown Shipbuilding Corporation , Houston , Texas . Launched on 7 December 1945 ; and commissioned on 8 March 1946 , Lieutenant Commander A . V . Swarthout in command . Service history . 1946 – 1948 . Designed for salvage work , specifically emergency harbor clearance , " Mender " completed her shakedown training in the Norfolk , VA , area and got underway , 30 April 1946 , for the Pacific . Arriving at Pearl Harbor on 23 June she reported to CINCPAC and was assigned to joint TF 1 for " Operation Crossroads " . Sailing from Pearl Harbor on 27 June , she arrived at Bikini Atoll on 9 July and began anchorage operations . Moving out of the harbor on 24 July , she witnessed the experimental explosion of the atomic bomb the following morning from area " Mercury " , 15 miles away . Within three hours of the detonation she returned to the harbor to assist in recovering beached and damaged craft and in gathering scientific information on underwater effects of the blast . Departing the atoll on 4 September , she operated in the Hawaiian area until December when she sailed for overhaul at San Pedro , CA . On 17 July 1947 she left Long Beach , CA for another mid ‑ Pacific deployment , and for the remainder of the year cleared beaches and harbors at Kwajalein , Guam , and Angaur of wrecked pontoons , targets , and sunken hulks . Included in the latter were landing craft , tugs , barges , and the bow of the , which she helped raise and tow out to sea for sinking . Returning to Pearl Harbor on 1 January 1948 , she sailed on the 5th for San Diego , CA . There she reported to the Pacific Reserve Fleet on 17 January and decommissioned on the 21st . 1951 – 1955 . She remained out of commission in reserve until recommissioned on 12 September 1951 . On 19 November she got underway for her home port , Pearl Harbor , arriving on the 29th . She departed Hawaiian waters 2 February and sailed to Eniwetok where she replaced moorings before continuing on to Japan , arriving at Sasebo on 14 March . On 12 April she headed for the Korean combat zone to salvage SS " Park Benjamin " , grounded with several compartments flooded near Pusan . In May she salvaged off Cheju - do . During the next three months , she cruised the Korean coast to clear anchorages , conduct surveys , and plant buoys and moorings . Then on 2 September she pointed her bow south for the Philippines and for the next month and a half conducted diving and demolition operations to rid Subic Bay of the hulk of the Japanese vessel " Oroyoku Maru " . Arriving back at Pearl Harbor on 17 December " Mender " operated in the mid ‑ Pacific area until sailing for Japan on 20 August 1953 . Dropping anchor at Sasebo on 11 September , she sailed again for Inchon on the 23rd . There , until mid - January 1954 , she carried out a harbor clearance project . After a similar assignment near Paengyong Do in February , she began preparations for her second atomic test , " Operation Castle " . Arriving at Bikini on 24 March , she fulfilled much the same role as on her first such assignment until 11 May , then sailed via Johnston Island , to Pearl Harbor . Arriving 23 May , " Mender " did various salvage jobs in the Hawaiians until 10 October 1955 , when she got underway for Astoria , OR . Here she decommissioned and joined the Columbia River group of the Pacific Reserve Fleet on 20 December 1955 . Later transferred to San Diego , she remained in reserve until struck from the Naval Register , 1 June 1973 . She was sold for scrapping by the Defense Reutilization and Marketing Service ( DRMS ) , 1 January 1974 . Awards . USS " Mender " received : Two battle stars for the Korean War . World War II Victory Medal National Defense Service Medal Korean Service Medal ( ×2 ) United Nations Service Medal Republic of Korea War Service Medal ( retroactive )