USS Current
USS Current (ARS-22) was a Diver-class rescue and salvage ship of the U.S. Navy. Built by Basalt Rock Company in Napa, California, she was launched in September 1943 and commissioned in June 1944.
During World War II, Current helped damaged ships, towed vessels, and carried out salvage operations in the Pacific. Notable work included emergency salvage on Houston and Canberra in late 1944 and firefighting on the carrier Randolph in March 1945. She also supported salvage work around Okinawa in 1945.
After the war, Current aided occupation forces at Okinawa and then sailed to the United States. She took part in Operation Crossroads, the atomic tests in the Marshall Islands, from 1946 to 1947, and was placed in reserve in 1948.
Recommissioned in 1951, Current served through the Korean War. She performed important salvage tasks, including saving about 2,000 tons of grain from the merchant ship Quartette near Midway (1952–1953), refloating LST-578 after it grounded off Korea, and salvaging the stern half of SS Cornhusker Mariner near Pusan. In the mid-1950s she operated in the Arctic and assisted with the Distant Early Warning line.
From 1957 to 1958, Current served in the Western Pacific, taking part in mine-recovery drills, clearing a channel at Scarborough Shoal, salvaging aircraft and vessels off Japan, and performing a mercy mission for a diver. She continued Far East duties into 1959–1960, then operated around Hawaii and the Pacific.
In 1965 she helped with the Sailor Hat nuclear test site moorings, and in May 1967 she rescued the SS Minot Victory. Current was decommissioned in 1972, struck from the naval list in 1973, and sold for scrapping in 1975.
Awards include two World War II battle stars, three Korean War battle stars, and six Vietnam campaign stars.
This page was last edited on 2 February 2026, at 23:40 (CET).