USS Waterford

USS Waterford

USS Waterford (ARD-5) at New London, Connecticut
History
United States
Name	USS Waterford
Namesake	Waterford, Connecticut
Builder	Pacific Bridge Company
Laid down	22 September 1941
Launched	12 March 1942
Commissioned	3 July 1943
Decommissioned	9 September 1997
Reinstated	1999, Chilean Navy
Motto	"We Lift The Fleet!"[2] "We Preserve" [3]
Status	In service with Chilean Navy[1]
General characteristics
Class and type	ARD-2-class Auxiliary Repair Dock
Displacement	4,800 tons (Light)
Length	482 Feet, 7 Inches
Beam	71 Feet
Draft	5 Feet
Complement	6 Officers, 125 Enlisted
Armament	Two single 20 mm gun mounts
Aircraft carried	None
Aviation facilities	None

USS Waterford (ARD-5) was an Auxiliary floating drydock that served in the United States Navy during World War II, the Korean War, the Vietnam War, and the Persian Gulf War. She later served the Chilean Navy as Talcahuano (133).

Waterford (ARD-5) was originally the unnamed, steel-hulled, auxiliary repair drydock ARD-5. She was completed in June 1942 at Alameda, California, by the Pacific Bridge Company. During the war, she served Pearl Harbor and San Francisco. At the end of World War II she was serving at the navy yard at Mare Island, California. She remained there until shifting to the east coast to serve the repair needs of the Atlantic Fleet. ARD-5 was named Waterford on 17 November 1976. She remained active, "in service" with the Atlantic Fleet into 1979—serving Groton and Naval Submarine Base New London. In 1984, Waterford assisted in repairs of the USS Sculpin.

In February 1997, the nuclear research submarine NR-1 docked, and undocked by late March.^[4] Waterford was decommissioned on 9 September 1997, and struck from the Naval Register on 1 October 1997. On 10 March 1999, she was disposed of via the Security Assistance Program to the Republic of Chile. She was renamed Talcahuano (133) on 30 August 1999.

International radio call sign of USS Waterford
November	Charlie	Echo	Alpha

• [1]- NavSource, ARD-5 WATERFORD
• [2]- The USS Waterford
• [3] Archived 2017-06-01 at the Wayback Machine Page 40-43, All Hands Magazine, March 1984
• [4]- U.S. Naval Register, ARD-5
• [5]- Navy Crew List ARD-5

 This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be found here.