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U.S.S. HECTOR

(AR-7)

THROUGH WORK THE VICTORY

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The USS HECTOR (AR-7), a Vulcan class repair ship, was commissioned on 7 FEB 1944. USS HECTOR was dispatched to the support the Pacific effort in World War II. She moved westward as the "front" moved closer to Japan. As the war ended she was stationed in Saipan and repaired vessels for their voyage home after the war. HECTOR continued in service alternating Western Pacific deployments with "state side" duty, serving the Fleet. During the Korean and Vietnam wars, she deployments were longer and of higher tempo. Post Vietnam, HECTOR returned to routine deployments to the "West Pac". Her 27th, and last, deployment called her to the Indian Ocean. USS HECTOR served her country for 43 years, 1 month and 24 days, until decommissioned on 31 MAR 1987. In 1989 HEECTOR was leased to Pakistan, then returned to the US custody in 1994, and then sold and scrapped the same year in an Indian ship breakers yard.

The USS HECTOR (AR-7) deployment history and significant events of her service career follow:

AR-7 Deployments - Major Events

Add a AR-7 Shellback Initiation Add a AR-7 Deployment - Major Event
Month Year to Month Year Deployment / Event
NOV1942-Launch Date: 11 NOV 1942
MAY1943- Shellback Initiation - 8 MAY 1943 - Pacific Ocean
MAY1943- Shellback Initiation - 8 MAY 1943 - Pacific Ocean
FEB1944-Commissioned: 7 FEB 1944
MAR1944-Shellback Initiation - 4 MAR 1944 - Pacific Ocean
JUN1950-OCT1953Korean War
JUL1959-JAN1960West Pac
JAN1961-AUG1961West Pac
JAN1963-JAN1964West Pac-Viet Nam
MAY1963-FEB1964West Pac
MAY1963-FEB1964West Pac
JUN1963-JAN1964West Pac
AUG1966-DEC1966West Pac
JAN1967-JUN1967West Pac
JAN1967-OCT1967West PAC
JAN1968-JAN1968West Pac
FEB1968-SEP1968West PAC
JUN1968-AUG1968West Pac
FEB1969-OCT1969West Pac-Viet Nam
FEB1969-OCT1969West Pac
JAN1970-DEC1970West Pac-Viet Nam
JUN1970-JUN1973West Pac
FEB1971-JAN1974West Pac-Viet Nam
JAN1972-JUL1972West Pac-Viet Nam
JUN1972-OCT1972West Pac-Viet Nam
JUL1973-FEB1974West Pac
JAN1975-JUL1975West Pac
JAN1976-DEC1977West Pac
SEP1978-MAR1979West Pac
OCT1978-Shellback Initiation - 3 OCT 1978 - Pacific Ocean
OCT1978- Shellback Initiation - 3 OCT 1978 - Pacific Ocean
SEP1981-JAN1982West Pac
OCT1981-Homeport changed to Oakland CA
NOV1981-JUL1982West Pac
FEB1982- Shellback Initiation - 2 FEB 1982 - Indian Ocean
FEB1982- Shellback Initiation - 2 FEB 1982 - Indian Ocean
FEB1982- Shellback Initiation - 26 FEB 1982 - Indian Ocean
FEB1982-Shellback Initiation - 9 FEB 1982 - Indian Ocean
FEB1984-AUG1984West Pac-Indian Ocean
FEB1984-AUG1984West Pac-Indian Ocean
MAR1984-Shellback Initiation - 4 MAR 1984 - Indian Ocean
MAR1984- Shellback Initiation - 4 MAR 1984 - Indian Ocean
JUN1984- Shellback Initiation - 6 JUN 1984 - Indian Ocean
NOV1985-JUN1986West Pac
MAY1986- Shellback Initiation - 10 MAY 1986 - Indian Ocean
MAR1987-Decommissioned: 31 MAR 1987

AR-7 General Specifications

Class: Vulcan-class repair ship

Named for: Hector

Complement: 1108 Officers and Enlisted

Displacement: 9140 tons

Length: 529 feet 6 inches

Beam: 73 feet 6 inches

Flank Speed: 19 knots

Final Disposition: 20 April 1989 Leased to Pakistan and renamed MOWAIN.



USS HECTOR (AR-7)



Hector (AR-7) a modified Liberty ship was launched 11 November 1942 by the Los Angeles Shipbuilding & Drydock Co.; sponsored by Mrs. Schuyler F. Heim; and commissioned 7 February 1944 Comdr. J. W. Long in command.

After shakedown along the West Coast the new repair ship sailed for the Pacific reaching Pearl Harbor 9 April 1944. She remained at Pearl Harbor effecting repairs on various ships primarily landing craft until she departed for Eniwetok 5 June. Arriving there 13 June Hector spent the summer at Eniwetok and then sailed for Ulithi 30 September. Her biggest repair job of the war came to her 27 October at Ulithi as the cruiser Houston torpedoed twice by Japanese submarines [Vol. IV errata: aircraft] was towed alongside. Although hampered by a severe typhoon season which twice sent her out to sea for safety Hector managed to repair Houston by the end of the year besides aiding many other smaller craft.

Hector departed Ulithi 16 February 1945 and 5 days later steamed into Tarragona Leyte Gulf to repair ships as the battle for the Philippines raged. This task completed she returned to Ulithi 30 March and continued on to Saipan 22 May. After the long war ended 1 September Hector remained in the Pacific to prepare various ships for return to the States.

Departing Saipan 21 January 1946 Hector reached Long Beach 3 February. After serving as a repair ship there she sailed for her first WestPac cruise 7 May 1947 thereby settling into a peacetime schedule interrupted 3 years later by the outbreak of war in Korea. Hector sailed into Yokosuka 18 September 1950. From there she continued to Inchon Korea arriving at the scene of a brilliant amphibious operation 25 September. For the remainder of the Korean War Hector alternated repair service along the Korean coast and in Japan with normal duty out of Long Beach.

Thereafter as before the Korean conflict Hector alternated 4 to 6 months of service and exercises along the California coast with 6- and 8-month WestPac cruises. During these cruises the repair ship operating in support and service of the nation's far-flung Pacific and Asian defenses visited such ports as Yokosuka Hong Kong Shanghai Guam and Eniwetok. Serving intermittently as flagship for both Service Squadrons 1 and 3 Hector also was a major participant in the Navy's "People-to-People" program in Asia. Her deployments to the Western Pacific continued into the 1960's.

Hector operated in the Far East from Japan to the Philippines between June 1963 and January 1964. After providing repair services for ships at Long Beach during the remainder of 1964 and the first 6 months of 1965 she underwent a modernization overhaul at Long Beach between July 1965 and February 1966 to increase her repair capabilities. Thence she resumed fleet services out of Long Beach until departing for the Far East 5 August. She arrived Subic Bay later that month and during the next 6 months repaired and serviced ships in the Philippines Taiwan and Japan. She returned to the West Coast in March 1967; and into mid-1967 Hector continued to maintain a high state of readiness and provide repair services at Long Beach.

[Note: The above USS HECTOR (AR-7) history may or may not contain text provided by crew members of the USS HECTOR (AR-7) or by other non-crew members and text from the Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships]