ARS-38

     Welcome to the ARS fleet tug section.  ARS officially stands for Auxiliary Rescue Salvage.  Their crew members said it stood for ‘Always Ready Ship’ and their motto was “First to show, last to go”. These fleet tugs are 214’ long and was the largest of the three basic ocean going fleet tugs.  They have two propellers, powered by 4 diesel electric engines.  Most of the ARS fleet tugs were built in Napa, California by the Basalt Rock Corp and were commissioned at Mare Island, California.  The vessel we are acquiring is ARS-38, the USS BOLSTER.  She is a BOLSTER class ship, being the first ARS type that had a 44’ beam, 5’ wider than her previous sisters, DIVER class ships. 
     BOLSTER was commissioned on May 20^th, 1945 and participated in the last few months of World War II.  She was used in the Korean conflict and spent several years in Vietnam.  She was honored with a total of 15 battle stars, 7 for Korea and 8 for Vietnam.  There are no other fleet tugs with more battle star awards.  Her nickname is ‘BATTLESTAR BOLSTER’.