USS Agenor

	USS Agenor in 1945
History
United States
Name	Agenor
Namesake	Agenor
Builder	Permanente Metals Corporation, Richmond
Yard number	45
Laid down	24 January 1943
Launched	3 April 1943
Commissioned	20 August 1943
Decommissioned	15 November 1946
Reclassified	ARL-3, 13 January 1943
Stricken	26 March 1951
Identification	Callsign: NJVB; ; Hull number: LST-490;
Honors and; awards	See Awards
Fate	Transferred to France, 2 March 1951
France
Name	Vulcain
Namesake	Vulcain
Acquired	2 March 1951
Stricken	26 March 1951
Identification	Hull number: A656
Fate	Transferred to the Republic of China, 15 September 1957
Republic of China
Name	Song Shan; (嵩山);
Namesake	Song Shan
Acquired	30 September 1957
Commissioned	1 November 1957
Renamed	Wu Tai, 1 August 1968; (五台);
Namesake	Wu Tai
Decommissioned	April 1983
Reclassified	ARL-236; AP-520, 1968;
Identification	Hull number: ARL-336
General characteristics
Class and type	Achelous-class repair ship
Displacement	3,900 long tons (4,000 t) (light) ; 4,100 long tons (4,200 t) (full load);
Length	328 ft (100 m)
Beam	50 ft (15 m)
Draft	11 ft 2 in (3.40 m)
Installed power	2 × 12-567A diesel engines; 1,800 kW);
Propulsion	1 × Falk main reduction gears; 2 × Propellers;
Speed	12 kn (22 km/h; 14 mph)
Complement	22 officers, 233 enlisted men
Armament	1 × 3-inch (76 mm)/50 caliber dual-purpose gun 2 × quad anti-aircraft (AA) guns 6 × twin 20 millimetres (0.79 in) Oerlikon AA cannons
Service record
Operations:	Capture and occupation of Saipan (25 June–21 July 1944); Capture and occupation of Guam (1–15 August 1944); Tinian Capture and occupation (24–31 July 1944); Assault and occupation of Iwo Jima (19 February–16 March 1945);
Awards:	American Campaign Medal; Asiatic–Pacific Campaign Medal; World War II Victory Medal;

USS Agenor (ARL-3) was one of 39

Tyre

), she was the only U.S. Naval vessel to bear the name.

Construction and career

Originally projected as LST-490, an

tank landing ship, this ship was redesignated ARL-3 and named Agenor on 13 January 1943. She was laid down on 24 January 1943, MC hull 1010, by Kaiser Shipyards, Yard No. 4, Richmond, California; launched on 3 April 1943;^[1] and commissioned at San Francisco, on 20 August 1943.^[3]

Service in the United States Navy

From December 1943 through 9 June 1944, Agenor provided repair services to numerous landing craft operating in the

Marianas. Eight days later, Japanese torpedo bombers attacked Agenor's convoy. Despite several near misses, the ship continued on safely to waters off Saipan where she arrived on 24 June.^[3]

Agenor was then assigned duty with a salvage group, Task Group 52.7 (TG 52.7). While air raids were a constant threat, the vessel carried out her work successfully. On 15 July, she moved to Tinian to supply services to invasion forces there.^[3]

The ship sailed to Guam in early August, and reported to Task Force 53 (TF 53). That island was her base of operations through 2 October, when the ship shifted to Ulithi in the Carolines. Agenor returned to Guam on 10 February 1945, to prepare for the Iwo Jima landings.^[3]

On 20 February, the repair ship arrived off Iwo Jima and joined TG 51.3. During the operations there, Agenor carried out her work despite air attack and heavy seas. The ship remained at Iwo Jima until 25 June. She then got underway for Saipan, where she dropped anchor on 29 June.^[3]

Soon after reporting to

Japanese surrender found the ship still undergoing repairs at Pearl Harbor. Upon completion of the yard work, Agenor served in the Hawaiian operating area until placed out of commission, in reserve, on 15 November 1946.^[3]

Service in the French Navy

Agenor was transferred to the government of France on 2 March 1951, under the terms of the Mutual Defense Assistance Act and renamed RFS Vulcain (A656). Her name was struck from the Naval Vessel Register on 26 March 1951.

In 1952, she was present in

Indochina to support the First Indochina War by transporting troops and repairing launching crafts.^[4]

She took part in Operation Hirondelle in July 1953.

On 15 September 1957, she was transferred to the Republic of China with the help of the United States.

Vulcain participating in Operation Hirondelle, July 1953

Service in the Republic of China Navy

Transferred by France to the

Republic of China Navy in 1957 and renamed ROCS Shung Shan (ARL-336). The ship was handed over to Taiwan by the United States in Subic Bay

, Philippines on 15 September 1957. Only by 20 September 1957, she arrived in Taiwan to be commissioned.

Before the ship was received, Taiwan had a self-modified repair ship. It was during the 1952

ROCS Chung Chuan (LST-221) was converted into a repair ship and renamed ROCS Heng Shan (ARL-335), and was stationed at the battlefield. When the Song Shan was put into service in 1957, Heng Shan was changed again but back to the original name and number.^[5]

She was later renamed ROCS Tai Wu (AP-520) in 1968.[6]

The ship was decommissioned in April 1983.

Awards

Agenor earned three

battle stars for her World War II service.^[3]

Notes

Citations

^ ^a ^b Kaiser No. 4 2014.
^ Navsource 2014.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g DANFS 2016.
^ "LST Vulcain". lst.france.free.fr. Retrieved 12 September 2021.
^ "5-共軍非戰爭軍事行動" (PDF). navy.mnd.gov.tw. Retrieved 17 February 2024.
^ Silverstone 2009, p. 171.

Bibliography

Online resources

"Agenor (ARL-3)". Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. Naval History and Heritage Command. 31 August 2016. Retrieved 7 February 2017. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
"Kaiser Permanente No. 4, Richmond CA". ShipbuildingHistory.com. 5 February 2014. Retrieved 7 February 2017.
"USS Agenor (ARL-3)". Navsource.org. 14 February 2014. Retrieved 7 February 2017.
Silverstone, Paul H. (2009). The Navy of the Nuclear Age - 1947–2007. New York and London: Routledge.
ISBN 978-0-415-97899-6
.

External links

Photo gallery of USS Agenor (ARL-3) at NavSource Naval History

[FOOTNOTEKaiser_No._42014-1] Kaiser No. 4 2014.

[FOOTNOTENavsource2014-2] Navsource 2014.

[FOOTNOTEDANFS2016-3] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g DANFS 2016.

[4] "LST Vulcain". lst.france.free.fr. Retrieved 12 September 2021.

[5] "5-共軍非戰爭軍事行動" (PDF). navy.mnd.gov.tw. Retrieved 17 February 2024.

[FOOTNOTESilverstone2009171-6] Silverstone 2009, p. 171.

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