USS BEAVER (AS-5) (ARG-19)

SHIP'S HISTORY

Submarine Division 7

USS S-18 (SS-123))

USS S-23 (SS-128)

USS S-25 (SS-130))

USS S-29 (SS-134)

USS S-34 (SS-139)

USS S-35 (SS-140)

Submarine Division 12

USS Argonaut (A-1) (SM-1

USS Dolphin (D-1) (SS-169)

USS Narwhal (N-1) (SS-167

USS Nautilus (N-2) (SS-168)

Submarine Division 13

USS Cuttlefish (C-2) (SS-171)

USS Porpoise (P-1) (SS-172)

USS Pike (P-2) (SS-173)

USS Shark (P-3) (SS-174)

USS Tarpon (P-4) (SS-175)

Experimental Division 2

USS Cachalot (C-1) (SS-170)

USS S-28 (SS-133)

USS S-27 (SS-132)

Early in 1940, USS Beaver transited to the west coast of the United States and spent most of that year at San Diego, California, undergoing repairs and modernization preparatory to joining the Submarine Patrol Force of the United States Atlantic Fleet.

Upon joining the United States Atlantic Fleet, USS Beaver served with Submarine Squadron 7 at the United States Naval Submarine Base New London, Groton, Connecticut.

On 7 December 1941, Japanese carrier aircraft and midget submarines attacked military/civilian targets in the Territory of Hawaii, thus plunging the United States into the Second World War as an active participant.

During the summer of 1942, the prime minister of Great Britain requested that the President of the United States order United States fleet-type submarines into the battle against German submarines operating in the Atlantic Ocean. Admiral King, Chief of Naval Operations, was opposed on the sound ground that every available fleet-type submarine should be sent to the Pacific. President Franklin D. Roosevelt overruled King and -- primarily as a political gesture -- ordered a squadron of six new fleet-type submarines to operate from Scotland. The squadron was designated 50 and assigned to Norman Ives, who had been serving as Chief of Staff to Commander Submarines Atlantic (Freeland Allan Daubin).

While Ives was preparing his squadron for movement to Scotland, the decision was made to launch Operation Torch, the Allied invasion of North Africa. The six boats of Submarine Squadron 50 were assigned to assist in the invasion and then proceed to base in Roseneath, Scotland, for regular patrols in the Bay of Biscay and elsewhere.

Submarine tender USS Beaver (AS-5) was designated to serve as the mother ship for Submarine Squadron 50 at Roseneath, Scotland.

In Groton, Norman Ives was hard pressed to find six boats to make up his squadron, but, eventually, he formed it with USS Barb (SS-220), USS Blackfish (SS-221), USS Shad (SS-235), and USS Herring (SS-233), plus two boats, USS Gurnard (SS-254) and USS Gunnel (SS-253), that were units of Submarine Squadron 12, scheduled for duty in Pearl Harbor.

During October of 1942, USS Beaver proceeded to Roseneath, Scotland, and Submarine Squadron 50...Norman Ives commanding from heavy cruiser USS Augusta (CA-31) ... headed for North Africa. Only five of the six boats made it; USS Gurnard was held up with engine problems and went directly to Roseneath.

The five submarines involved in Operation Torch had a nightmarish time. The confined area of the North African landings was infested with German U-boats. Vichy French submarines and naval units at Dakar threatened to sortie at any time. British submarines and surface forces zipped to and fro, plus United States surface forces conducted their first major amphibious assault in United States history ... with expected, associated "problems." The weather was bad and recognition signals were mixed up. USS Gunnel, was bombed by a United States Army aircraft. USS Shad was heavily depth - charged by a friendly destroyer. None of the boats made a noteworthy contribution to the landings.

Throughout the operation, USS Gunnel, commanded by John Sidney McCain, Junior, son of Rear Admiral John Sidney McCain, then commander of naval aircraft in the South Pacific, had ceaseless problems with her H.O.R. (Hooven, Owens, and Rentschler Company of Hamilton, Ohio) engines. On the way to Roseneath, the entire drive gear trains on all four main engines carried away when McCain was 1,000 miles from the Scottish base. He sent out a call for help and proceeded toward USS Beaver on his auxiliary ("dinky") engine, making 85 miles a day. A British escort met him and took him into Falmouth. After that, McCain returned USS Gunnel to the United States for extensive engine repairs.

Meanwhile, USS Gurnard, commanded by Charles Herbert Andrews, who had a master's degree in engineering, reached Scotland. From there, he was ordered to patrol in the Bay of Biscay. Said Andrews later, "We had lousy rules. We couldn't surface in daytime. If we spotted a ship over 5,000 tons, we had to first report it by radio, obtain permission from the British, and then try to sink it .... We chased over forty Ships .... Most were flying a Spanish or Irish flag .... We never fired a torpedo."

Andrew's executive officer was Robert Elwin McCramer Ward, who had survived the sinking of USS S-26 (SS-131) in January of 1942 in the Gulf of Panama. Andrews was a reticent, modest, almost self-effacing officer, who ran a fine submarine and always insisted that the machinery work properly. Ward, a perfectionist, liked Andrews immensely. "I learned more from Herb Andrews about what to do right than any other officer in the Navy," he said later. Said Andrews, "Ward was amazing. He always seemed to know ahead of time what I wanted to talk about and had prepared himself thoroughly. Then I found out why: he'd peep in and take a look at my calendar, on which I jotted down items for future discussion."

During this patrol, Andrews used his H.O.R. engines sparingly and never at full power, fearing that the vibration would tear them apart. "I only used three," he said later, "saving the fourth for a spare. When two of them broke down in the Bay of Biscay, I cut the patrol short and limped back to Scotland." From there, he followed McCain in USS Gunnel back to the United States for extensive engine repairs.

The remaining four boats of Submarine Squadron 50--USS Barb, USS Shad, USS Blackfish, and USS Herring--had either Fairbanks-Morse or General Motors Winton engines which were relatively trouble-free. All four boats made four war patrols in the Bay of Biscay or in waters off Norway.

In April of 1943, two other H.O.R.-powered boats from Submarine Squadron 12, USS Haddo (SS-255), commanded by Pilly Lent, and USS Hake (SS-256), replaced USS Gunnel and USS Gurnard, making two war patrols each. Some skippers who had been shifted from the Pacific -- Nick Lucker, Roland Pryce, Eliot Olsen--served as relief skippers, making one patrol each.

In all, the Submarine Squadron 50 boats conducted twenty-seven war patrols, including the deployment for Operation Torch. Although one or two of the boats tangled with U-boats and several shot at Axis merchant ships, postwar records credited no positive sinkings.

In mid-1943, the boats were withdrawn and sent to the Pacific and USS Beaver (AS-5) departed Scotland and transited to New York City.

Then the submarine tender transited to the west coast of the United States.

No more fleet-type submarines were sent to Europe during the Second World War.

The submarine tender departed San Diego on 20 September 1943 for Dutch Harbor, Alaska...where she tended Submarine Squadron 45 boats until mid-February of 1944. During this time, USS Beaver assisted in establishing the base at Attu Island. She returned to San Diego on 12 February 1944 to establish a submarine training school. She remained at San Diego until mid-June of 1945...when she began conversion to an Internal Combustion Engine Repair Ship (ARG).

Following conversion, USS Beaver (AS-5) was reclassified "ARG-19" on 25 June 1945.

Departing San Diego on 28 August 1945...five days before representatives of the Empire of Japan signed the instruments of surrender on board battleship USS Missouri (BB-63), thereby formally ending the Second World War ... USS Beaver (ARG-19) steamed via Pearl Harbor and Eniwetok, to the Far East ... where she remained on occupation duty until 3 May 1946.

USS Beaver returned to the west coast of the United States during spring of 1946; then, commenced pre-inactivation overhaul.

USS Beaver (ARG-19) was decommissioned on 17 July 1946.

The ship was transferred to the United States War Shipping Administration on 5 August 1946. Five years later, the vessel was scrapped.

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