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Bolster Class ship was designed and built for the U.S. Navy during World War II. Rescue and salvage ships such as the ARS-38 Bolster Class save battle damaged combat ships from further damage and tow them to safety. Rescue, salvage and towing ships provide rapid fire fighting, pumping, battle damage repair and rescue towing to warships in combat and tow them to repair ships or bases in safe areas. ==History== The Basalt Rock Company’s Steel Division built all six of the vessels in the Bolster class. The company was located south of Napa, California, on the Napa River. As the name suggests, the company had originally started in 1920 as a rock quarry operation, but by 1938, it had begun constructing its own barges.〔http://www.marad.dot.gov/wp-content/uploads/pdf/Hoist_HAER_Report.pdf〕 The U.S. Congress passed legislation on 24 October 1941 establishing the Naval Salvage Service. After the attack on Pearl Harbor, the legislation allowed the navy to begin salvage operations through a contract with Merritt-Chapman and Scott on 11 December 1941. In addition, it allowed the U.S. Navy to have Merritt-Chapman and Scott train future naval salvage operators. A salvage crew’s main job was to augment damage control beyond the capacity of the ship’s crew. This could include fire fighting, towing ships to repair facilities, and clearing harbors of scuttled ships and vessels targeted in combat. The U.S. Navy quickly learned that it was far faster to repair a damaged vessel than to construct a new one. During the island-hopping campaigns of the Pacific in World War II, for example, salvage crews cleared the beaches of landing craft while also retaining many of the damaged ones for repair. The craft and their cargoes could then be used in future operations, but, more importantly, the beaches were cleared for additional assault waves as the beach heads became staging areas. The U.S. Navy designed and ordered the Bolster class, which was a group of salvage ships. The navy’s own Bureau of Construction, along with naval officers and the salvage industry, developed this new class during World War II. The salvage ships were sturdy, oceangoing tugs equipped with diesel-electric propulsion units and strong, auto-tensioned towing winches. The U.S. Navy modeled the Bolster class on the Diver salvage-ship design. The key difference between the two types of salvage ships was that the Bolster class had 5' longer beam, which made it more stable and allowed it to carry more equipment. Otherwise, the Bolster and Diver classes were identical.〔http://www.marad.dot.gov/wp-content/uploads/pdf/Bolster_HAER_Report.pdf〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Bolster-class rescue and salvage ship」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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