USS Ajax ( AR - 6 ) USS " Ajax " ( AR - 6 ) was the second " Vulcan " - class repair ship and the fourth ship in the United States Navy to bear the name . 1941 – 1945 . " Ajax " was laid down on 7 May 1941 at San Pedro , California , by the Los Angeles Shipbuilding and Drydock Corp . , launched on 22 August 1942 ; sponsored by Mrs . Isaac C . Johnson commissioned on 30 October 1943 , Comdr . John L . Brown in command . The repair ship departed San Pedro on 9 December , arrived at Pearl Harbor on 16 December , and began preparing small craft to be used as control vessels in the Marshall Islands campaign by installing radar , sound detection equipment , and antiaircraft guns . On 8 January 1944 , an oil fire in her blacksmith shop threatened the entire ship , but was extinguished . Nevertheless , " Ajax " spent part of January repairing her own damage . On 25 January , " Ajax " was ordered to proceed in company with to the Ellice Islands ; but , two days after reaching Funafuti , she moved to Makin Atoll , Gilbert Islands , to work on the ships that would occupy Majuro in the Marshall Islands . Upon completing that mission , the ship returned to Funafuti on 26 February , only to sail three days later for Majuro . While she was serving there , Service Squadron ( ServRon ) 4 was absorbed by ServRon 10 . There , she and repaired combatant ships through the Hollandia strikes and during preparations for the Marianas campaign . On 13 June , she sailed for Eniwetok to help set up an advance repair base where she labored through August , at one time working extensive jobs on 19 cruisers and nine battleships . Late in August , bacillary dysentery broke out among the crew and soon reached epidemic proportions . The ship was quarantined on 1 September and detached on 9 September to proceed to Kwajalein to combat the epidemic . Quarantine ended on 10 October , and " Ajax " steamed to Ulithi to resume repair work and to handle her first major battle damage job . Severely damaged during a torpedo attack off Formosa , received sufficient temporary repairs alongside " Ajax " to enable the cruiser to continue on to Manus . The repair ship continued her work at Ulithi in support of operations in the Philippines , Iwo Jima , and Okinawa . On 25 May 1945 , " Ajax " headed for San Pedro Bay , Leyte Gulf , to help prepare for the final assault on Japan , spending July repairing typhoon - battered . The job consisted of rebuilding the forward section of her flight deck and required assistance from , , and . Upon learning of Japan ' s capitulation on 15 August , " Ajax " began readying amphibious and transport ships to carry occupation forces to the Japanese home islands . On 20 September , she sailed for Guiuan , Samar ; embarked troops for passage to Okinawa ; and once there , repaired other typhoon - damaged snips . Ironically , while she was carrying out this task , typhoons forced her to go to sea herself on 28 September and on 7 October . But for these two incidents , her work at Okinawa was uninterrupted until 28 November , when she sailed for the United States with 800 passengers . She arrived at San Diego on 18 December and , three days later , entered the San Francisco Naval Shipyard for a six - week overhaul . 1946 – 1953 . The yard work ended on 23 February 1946 , and " Ajax " sailed via Pearl Harbor for the Bikini Atoll to participate in the atomic bomb tests to be held there in July . Following the tests , she returned to San Diego on 8 October . For the next few years , she tended ships primarily at San Diego . The repair ship got underway on 2 April 1951 for the first of many postwar cruises to Japan and arrived at Yokosuka on the 18th . She headed for Sasebo on 1 May and spent the rest of the year and early 1952 engaged in repair services in those two ports . " Ajax " returned to San Diego on 26 April and devoted the next four and one - half months to operations in various shipyards and ports along the coast of California . She made five more cruises to Japan before 1960 , each time operating out of Sasebo and Yokosuka and in every instance returning to San Diego . 1960 – 1964 . " Ajax " returned from the United States to Japan in February 1960 and in June received orders changing her home port from San Diego to Sasebo . She then became the permanent flagship of ServRon 3 in the Far East . She moved to Yokosuka in August to begin her first yard overhaul in the Orient . Among her alterations was the installation of flag office spaces for ServRon 3 staff . Following refresher training , underway replenishment , and towing exercises with , " Ajax " returned to Sasebo on 17 December . Early in 1961 , she became an ambassador of goodwill on a cruise in which she entertained local dignitaries as well as the local populace during visits to Kure , Beppu , Kagoshima , Iwakuni , and Kobe , Japan ; Hong Kong ; Keelung and Kaoshiung , Taiwan ; Subic Bay ; and Buckner Bay , Okinawa . A scheduled two - day visit to the last port became a three - week stay in March and April when " Ajax " remained there as backup repair ship in the event that President John F . Kennedy ' s strong diplomatic resistance to communist aggression in Laos would involve the American Navy in hostilities . When , the first nuclear submarine to put into a Japanese port , arrived at Sasebo on 12 November 1964 , " Ajax " served as a press platform for radio and television reporters who came to report the event . 1968 – 1976 . On 10 January 1968 , " Ajax " sailed for Subic Bay where she remained until mid - March , before returning to her home port . On 3 June , the repair ship headed for Vietnam and arrived at Vung Tau on 9 June . Although that port was a rest and recreation center for the allied forces , " Ajax " worked without break for 13 days making badly needed repairs and providing services to ships and small craft operating in the Mekong Delta , as well as to various Army and Air Force equipment ashore . The repair ship got underway for Subic Bay on 22 June , arrived on 25 June , and undertook a repair job of considerable significance — the regunning of 4 × mounts on . The repair ship ' s technicians worked around the clock for seven days to complete the job and return " Boston " to her ready status . After her arrival in Sasebo on 23 July , " Ajax " provided routine repairs and service support for ships there and in Yokosuka for the remainder of the year and the beginning of 1969 . " Ajax " continued her usual routine of servicing ships in Sasebo , Yokosuka , and Subic Bay during 1969 , including a two - week stay in Vung Tau from 27 September to 10 October . As 1970 began , she received word that her home port would revert to San Diego effective 1 June . Prior to that date , " Ajax " continued servicing Vung Tau from 13 April to 9 May in support of the American offensive in Cambodia . Hector relieved " Ajax " as flagship on 10 July ; and , on the 15th , the latter headed for San Diego where she arrived on 6 August . On 14 June 1971 , following a year ' s service on the California coast , the ship once again steamed toward Japan and arrived in Sasebo on 5 July . Commander , Service Group ( ComServGru ) 3 , embarked ; and " Ajax " commenced business as usual . The ship spent September in Vung Tau , but her month of hard work there was followed by five days of " rest and relaxation " in Hong Kong before she returned to Sasebo on 1 October . However , the vessel soon again proceeded to Vung Tau and worked diligently for the first three weeks in November . Next came a three - day rest in Keelung and Taipei , Taiwan , before a run back to Sasebo to prepare for the voyage home . On 27 January 1972 , ComServGru 3 shifted his flag to Hector ; and " Ajax " steamed via Pearl Harbor to San Diego where she arrived on 16 February and served for the remainder of the year . " Ajax " again got underway westward on 16 January and stopped at Pearl Harbor before arriving in Sasebo on 6 February to relieve Jason as flagship . The repair ship made two " rest and relaxation " cruises , one in April to Keelung and the other in July to Hong Kong . Typhoon " Dot " complicated the second " pleasure cruise " by closing Hong Kong harbor and causing " Ajax " to circle in rough waters for two extra days before pulling into port . Her return to Sasebo on 25 July was uneventful ; and , after being relieved by Hector on 7 August , the ship headed home , arrived at San Diego on 29 August , and remained in California for the rest of the year and the first six months of 1974 . On 6 July of that year , she got underway in company with and steamed for Yokosuka which she reached on 27 July . She operated there until 8 November when she headed for Subic Bay to provide fleet repair services . She labored in the Philippines for a month before proceeding to Kaohsiung , Taiwan , where she ended the year . " Ajax " returned to San Diego on 15 February 1975 . On 5 October , she got underway for a two - month visit to Pearl Harbor to provide repair support in the middle Pacific . She departed Hawaii on 8 December and arrived in her home port on the 15th in time for a holiday in a leave and upkeep period . " Ajax " remained in or near San Diego for the entire year 1976 . 1977 – 1986 . During the first half of 1977 , " Ajax " made ready for another deployment . The ship departed San Diego with on 24 August and arrived at Pearl Harbor on 31 August . The following morning , " Ajax " got underway for Japan and six months in Yokosuka . A series of labor strikes by Japanese employees gave the repair ship ' s crew members the opportunity to prove their expertise and capabilities . Besides carrying out their normal duties , they helped run the base utilities and acted as firemen , bus drivers , and skilled practitioners of many other occupations to aid the naval activity . She visited Taipei , Taiwan , in December and spent four days in January 1978 in Pusan , Korea . On 5 February , she headed via Pearl Harbor for San Diego , where she arrived on 24 February . Except for two days of sea trials in April , " Ajax " remained at San Diego until mid - 1980 . During this period she received an overhaul there by the National Steel and Shipbuilding Company which lasted from 21 September 1978 to 21 July 1979 . On 20 May , she sailed for the Orient and reached Subic Bay on 17 June . Three days later , the ship got underway and steamed via Sri Lanka to Diego Garcia where she arrived and relieved on 6 July . During her busy three months in the Indian Ocean servicing 31 ships , " Ajax " made a brief visit to Port Louis , Mauritius , for recreation . On 12 October , after being relieved by , " Ajax " sailed eastward ; stopped in Bunbury and Sydney , Australia ; Pearl Harbor ; and finally reached San Diego on 20 November . With the exception of two three - day visits to San Francisco and two days of training in the local operating area , " Ajax " remained in San Diego throughout 1981 . One notable occurrence during the year was the reporting on board for duty of the ship ' s first 30 enlisted women . While the women became accustomed to shipboard routine , " Ajax " underwent inspections and training . On 16 October , the ship reached another milestone in the Women at Sea program when Ens . Dale Norris became the first woman officer on board " Ajax " to become surface warfare qualified . On 22 January 1982 , " Ajax " got underway for training and a brief port visit to Mazatlan , Mexico , and arrived back home on the last day of the month . Pre - overseas movement preparations throughout the next few months ensured that the repair ship was ready for her 2 April departure for the western Pacific and the Indian Ocean . After a four - day stopover in Pearl Harbor , the ship headed for Subic Bay , where she arrived on 1 May and spent three weeks providing fleet repair services before continuing on to Diego Garcia where she arrived on 1 June . During that deployment , " Ajax " visited Berbera in Somalia , Singapore , and Pattaya in Thailand , before she returned — via Pearl Harbor — to San Diego . The repair ship entered San Diego on 21 October and commenced post - deployment standdown . Her leave and upkeep period came to an end in November , and " Ajax " set about her repair work once again . Over the next seven months , the ship provided repair services for units of the Pacific Fleet at San Diego , served as a training facility for naval reserve detachments undergoing their annual two weeks of active duty , and made preparations for a regular overhaul . She also put to sea infrequently for trials and , on one occasion in May and June 1983 , to carry her repair services to Bremerton , Wash . " Ajax " returned to San Diego from that mission on 10 June 1983 and , the next day , began a month of final preparations for overhaul . On 11 July , her crew moved to living spaces on board a non - self - propelled barracks ship , and the overhaul began in earnest . Receiving repair services , rather than extending them to others , occupied her time for the rest of 1983 and during the first two months of 1984 . On 1 and 2 March , she put to sea to conduct post - overhaul trials and , on the 3d , resumed repair services to other units of the Pacific Fleet . During the last week in March , she was frequently at sea in the local operating area carrying out independent ship ' s exercises . From the beginning of April to late June , " Ajax " performed repair missions at San Diego . On 27 June , the repair ship stood out of San Diego and , after a day of independent ship ' s exercises in the local operating area , shaped a course for the Naval Air Station , Alameda , where she moored on 29 June . " Ajax " carried out repair assignments at Alameda until the third week in September . On 16 September , she got underway to conduct exercises and then head back to San Diego . The repair ship tied up at pierside at the Naval Station , San Diego , on 19 September . Except for two periods at sea in October for refresher training , " Ajax " spent the rest of 1984 in port repairing ships of the Pacific Fleet . She continued so engaged into January 1985 , though she interrupted those efforts from the 19th to the 21st to carry out sea trials in the southern California operating area . The first three weeks of February brought more repair work ; however , on the 22nd , she put to sea again bound for Long Beach . " Ajax " reached her destination on 27 February and set about her work almost immediately . She spent the next five months — save for five days underway locally in May — performing repairs at Long Beach . On 31 July , the repair ship embarked upon the final overseas assignment of her Navy career . Her last deployment afforded " Ajax " a real opportunity to carry out the function for which she had been designed and built . Continually moving , she performed repairs at widely separated locations . Steaming by way of Hawaii and Guam , she arrived in the Philippines at Subic Bay on 31 August . From Subic Bay , she voyaged to Singapore where she stopped between 24 September and 3 October . Leaving Singapore , " Ajax " headed through the Malacca Strait into the Indian Ocean . She arrived at isolated Diego Garcia Island on 11 October but resumed her voyage again on the 13th . The repair ship dropped anchor at Al Masirah , an island in the Arabian Sea just off the east coast of Oman , on the 19th and carried out repair work there until the beginning of November . On the 2d , she headed back to Diego Garcia where she arrived on the 9th . Her crew performed repairs on and before " Ajax " put to sea to return to Al Masirah . After conducting availabilities for ships of the Middle East Force at Al Masirah from 22 November to 5 December , she put to sea to avoid a large dust storm . While still underway , she laid in a course for Singapore on 7 December . The ship reached her destination on 20 December . Following repairs on , " Ajax " set sail once again on 31 December bound for Diego Garcia Island . She arrived at Diego Garcia on 7 January 1986 and provided repair services there for a fortnight . On 22 January , the ship left Diego Garcia in her wake and set course for Pattaya , Thailand , where she spent most of the first week in February . On 12 February , " Ajax " stood into Subic Bay where she was relieved by Hector . The repair ship embarked upon the long voyage across the Pacific Ocean on 21 February . She stopped at Pearl Harbor between 8 and 10 March and arrived back in San Diego on the 18th . Following the usual leave and upkeep period , " Ajax " resumed her repair services . That activity lasted until the second week in September when she began preparations to go out of service . " Ajax " was decommissioned at San Diego on 31 December 1986 . Struck from the Navy list on 16 May 1989 , " Ajax " was finally sold for scrapping by the Defense Reutilization and Marketing Service on 23 May 1997 . " Ajax " ( AR - 6 ) received four battle stars for Korean War service and five campaign stars for service in Vietnam .