Webster I ARV-2

Webster I

(ARV-2: dp. 14,350, 1. 441'6", b. 56'11", dr. 22'0"; s. 12.5 k.; cpl. 578; a. 1 6", 8 40mm., 6 20mm.; cl.Chourre; T. EC2-S-C1)

On 30 March 1944, prior to the beginning of work on her construction, Masbate (ARG-1) was renamed Webster and reclassified ARV-2. The ship's keel was laid down under a Maritime Commission contract ( MCE hull 2666) on 1 July 1944 at Baltimore, Md., by the Bethlehem Fairfield Shipyard, Inc. Sponsored by Mrs. Walter W. Webster, the widow of the ship's namesake the ship was launched on 5 August 1944 and commissioned at Baltimore on 17 March 1945, Capt. Jesse G. Johnson in command.

After fitting out, Webster departed Baltimore on 22 March 1945 and arrived at Norfolk later that day. There, the aircraft repair ship loaded supplies and provisions into the second week of April, when she got underway for shakedown and training in Chesapeake Bay. After subsequent minor repairs and alterations at the Norfolk Navy Yard from 21 April to 8 May, Webster joined Convoy No. 507 on 12 May, transited the Panama Canal eight days later, and arrived at the Naval Air Station (NAS), Alameda, Calif., on 6 June.

After further repairs and alterations, the ship departed Alameda on 16 June, bound for the Hawaiian Islands. She arrived at Pearl Harbor on the 24th and docked at NAS Ford Island, where she stayed for four days before she shifted to the navy yard for armament alterations. Shifting subsequently to a berth alongside Ozark (LSV-2) on the 28th, Webster remained in Hawaiian waters through most of July.

The ship got underway for the Marshalls on the 31st arrived at Eniwetok Atoll tn 10 August, and remained there through mid-September. During her stay at Eniwetok, Japan surrendered, bringing World War II to a close. Meanwhile, the ship, herself, serviced the fleet carriers Wasp (CV-18), Antietam (CV-36), Intrepid (CV-11); the light fleet carrier Cabot (CVL-28), and a half-dozen CVE's, overhauling aviation equipment and returning it to stock for reissue. The material that could not be stored on board—bulky items such as drop tanks and the like—was stored ashore in a depot on Parry Island.

The end of the war had removed the necessity for the replenishment of fast carrier task forces in the fleet anchorage in the Marshalls and Gilberts advanced base sites, but there still remained the occupation of the former enemy's homeland. Webster accordingly departed Eniwetok on 13- September, bound via Guam for Tokyo Bay, where she arrived on the 26th. There, Webster serviced all naval aviation activities in the Tokyo Bay area, including the carriers Yorktown (CV-10)Shangri-La ( CV-38), Bon Homme Richard ( CV-31), Boxer (CV-21), Munda (CVE-104), and Hoggatt Bag (CVE-75), the aviation units of battleships New Jersey (BB-62), Tennessee (BB-43), California (BB-46); those of the heavy cruisers St. Paul (CA-73) and Quincy (CA-71); and finally the planes of 10 light cruisers In addition, the aircraft repair ship serviced the planes from Marine Air Group 21 and assisted the board headed by Rear Admiral Frederick W. Pennoyer in its investigations into the development of Japanese aircraft and aircraft engine design in World War II.

Webster remained in Tokyo Bay from 6 October to 3 November. During that time, Rear Admiral Clifton A. F. Sprague visited the ship on 20 October and conferred the Presidential Unit Citation to, among others Capt. Johnson, the ship's commanding officer, for his service in the escort carrier Guadalcanal (CVE-60) in the Atlantic. The aircraft repair ship ultimately departed Tokyo Bay at 1400 on 3 November.

Webster, transporting men homeward-bound for discharge, made Guam at 0825 on 9 November, and tarried only until 1748 on the 10th, when she got underway for the Marshalls. Six days later, she reached Roi Island Kwajalein Atoll and, on the 18th, got underway at 1843 for the Hawaiian Islands.

Webster disembarked her passengers upon her arrival at Pearl Harbor on 27 November and stood out of Hawaiian waters on the 30th, bound for Panama. She reached the Pacific entrance of the Panama Canal at 0746 on 20 December, transited the canal later that day and moored at Coco Solo at 1708.

The aircraft repair ship then pushed on for Norfolk VA., at 0915 on 22 December, arrived at Norfolk seven days later, and remained in the Tidewater area through mid-January of the following year. On 25 January 1946 Webster departed Norfolk and arrived at Philadelphia at 1241 the following days mooring alongside the heavy cruiser Portland ( CA-33) .

Berthed alongside a succession of ships—Fomalhaut ( AK-22), Tranquility ( AH-14), Sanctuary ( AH-17), Dithmarschen ( IX-301 ), Okanagan ( APA-220 ), and Augusta (CA-31)—Webster awaited her decommissioning. At 1047 on 28 June 1946, her commissioning pennant came down for the last time. Struck from the Navy list on 1 September 1962, she was simultaneously transferred to the Maritime Administration for lay up. She was subsequently scrapped.