USS Current ( ARS - 22 ) USS Current ( ARS - 22 ) was an " Diver " - class 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 , Lieutenant Commander J . B . Duff , Jr . , USNR , in command . 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 ( CL - 81 ) and ( CA - 70 ) from 19 October to 14 December 1944 , and the valiant fire fighting on ( CV - 15 ) 11 March 1945 . Okinawa operations . After replenishing in San Pedro Bay , Leyte , " Current " arrived off Okinawa 2 June 1945 for salvage operations aiding the many ships damaged by 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 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 . Recommissioned during 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 " off Midway Island , saving approximately 2 , 000 tons of grain between 23 December 1952 and 6 March 1953 . During her 1953 tour of duty off Korea , " Current " refloated the stranded " LST - 578 " at 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 . Arctic operations . 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 . 1957 Western Pacific deployment . 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 destroyers off Japan and with the U . S . 7th Fleet in the Taiwan Straits from October 1957 to February 1958 . Other operations . 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 Hawaiian group for the remainder of the year . Decommissioning . " 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 .