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T-ARC 2 Neptune
Cable Repair Ship

Cable repair ships (T-ARC) transport, deploy, retrieve and repair submarine cables, tow acoustic projectors, cable plow, and conduct acoustic hydrographic and bathymetric surveys. The Cable Repair Ship performs maintenance on the Sound Surveillance System (SOSUS) which is a network of strategically placed sonar sensors that provide early warning of submarines. The T-ARC class is capable of laying and retrieving deep water acoustic cables, and is also capable of supporting oceanographic research.

The two ships of the Neptune class (Neptune, Myer) were built as Army cable ships; they were completed in 1946, laid up until the early 1950s, and then transferred to the Navy. They were transferred to the Military Sealift Command in 1973 and extensively modernized 1979-1982. They were the last ships in the Navy with reciprocating engines.

Neptune and Albert J. Myer were built in 1945/46 as S3-S2-BP1 type cable ships for the Maritime Administration by Pusey and Jones in Wilmington, Delaware. They were intended for service with the Army Signal Corps. The basic design for these cable ships was for 370-foot overall length and 47-foot beam with two boilers and reciprocating Skinner engines driving two shafts.

Neptune was launched in 1946 as the Army cable ship SS William H. G. Bullard. She was acquired by Navy in 1953 for Project CAESAR and converted with an upgrade of cable equipment at the Bethlehem Steel Co. Shipyard, Key Highway Plant, Baltimore, MD. New installations included electric cable machinery in place of steam, precision navigational instrumentation and a helicopter platform over the fantail. Recommissioned 01 June 1953, her homeport was shifted to San Francisco 01 January 1967. Neptune arrived there 20 March 1967, and conducted acoustic survey operations in the Pacific. In 1973 Neptune became civilian crewed under the Military Sealift Command and thus the USNS Neptune (T-ARC-2).

Albert J. Myer [namd after the founder, organizer, and first Chief of the United States Army Signal Corps] was Iaid down on 14 April 1945 at Wilmington Del., by Pusey & Jones Corp. under a Maritime Commission contract (MC hull 2558). The ship was launched on 07 November 1945, and delivered to the Maritime Commission on 17 May 1946. Since World War II ended some eight months before her completion, Albert J. Myer was consigned to the Maritime Commission's reserve fleet until the early 1950's when she was taken over by the Army for service with its Transportation Service. That duty lasted until 1966 when she was transferred to the Navy and designated a cable repair ship ARC-6. Manned by a civil service crew, USNS Albert J. Myer began active service with the Military Sea Transportation Service (MSTS). Though administratively assigned to MSTS Atlantic she served all over the seven seas. As of late 1986, USNS Albert J. Myer was still active with the Military Sealift Command (MSC), the successor organization to MSTS.