Function: Rescue and salvage ships render assistance to disabled ships, provide towing, salvage, diving, firefighting and heavy lift capabilities.





History: Fleet tugs are used to tow ships, barges and targets for gunnery exercises. They are also used as platforms for salvage and diving work, as participants in naval exercises, to conduct search and rescue missions, to aid in the clean up of oil spills and ocean accidents, and to provide fire fighting assistance. USNS Apache (T-ATF 172) is the last of the Powhatan class of ocean tugs delivered to the Navy in 1981.







Description: The mission of the rescue and salvage ships is four-fold: to debeach stranded vessels, heavy lift capability from ocean depths, towing of other vessels, and manned diving operations. For rescue missions, these ships are equipped with fire monitors forward and amidships which can deliver either firefighting foam or sea water. The salvage holds of these ships are outfitted with portable equipment to provide assistance to other vessels in dewatering, patching, supply of electrical power and other essential service required to return a disabled ship to an operating condition. The U.S. Navy has responsibility for salvaging U.S. government-owned ships and, when it is in the best interests of the United States, privately-owned vessels as well. The rugged construction of these steel-hulled ships, combined with speed and endurance, make these rescue and salvage ships well-suited for rescue/salvage operations of Navy and commercial shipping throughout the world. The versatility of this class of ship adds immeasurably to the capabilities of the U.S. Navy with regard to rendering assistance to those in peril on the high seas.





General Characteristics, Safeguard Class



Builders:

Peterson Builders





Power Plant:

Four Caterpiller 399 Diesels, two shafts, 4,200 horsepower





Length, Overall:

255 feet (77.72 meters)





Beam:

51 feet (15.54 meters)





Draft:

16 feet 9 inches (5.11 meters)





Displacement:

3,282 long tons (3,334.67 metric tons) full load





Speed:

14 knots (16.11 miles, 25.93 km,

per hour)







Crew:

6 officers, 94 enlisted





Endurance:

8,000 miles (12,872 km) at 8 knots (14.824 km/hr)





Salvage Capability:

7.5-ton capacity boom forward; 40-ton capacity boom aft





Heavy Lift:

Capable of a hauling force of 150 tons





Diving Depth:

190 feet (57.91 meters), using air





Armament:

2 .50 caliber machine guns

2 Mk-38 25mm guns











Ships:

USS Safeguard (ARS 50), Pearl Harbor, HI

USS Grasp (ARS 51), Little Creek, VA

USS Salvor (ARS 52), Pearl Harbor, HI

USS Grapple (ARS 53), Little Creek, VA