View source for USS Nestor

{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
{|{{Infobox ship begin}}
{{Infobox ship image
|Ship image= USS Nestor (ARB-6) in Chesapeake Bay (USA) on 10 July 1944 (80-G-236726).jpg
|Ship caption= USS ''Nestor'' (ARB-6), at anchor probably in [[Hampton Roads]], Virginia, in July 1944.
}}
{{Infobox ship career
|Hide header=
|Ship country=United States
|Ship flag={{USN flag|1945}}
|Ship name=
* ''LST-518''
* ''Nestor''
|Ship namesake= [[Nestor (mythology)|Nestor]]
|Ship ordered=
|Ship builder=[[Chicago Bridge & Iron Company]], [[Seneca, Illinois]]
|Ship laid down= 13 September 1943
|Ship launched= 20 January 1944
|Ship acquired=
|Ship commissioned= 24 June 1944
|Ship decommissioned= 29 November 1945
|Ship in service=
|Ship out of service=
|Ship struck= 3 January 1946
|Ship renamed=
|Ship reclassified= Battle Damage Repair Ship, 3 November 1943
|Ship identification=*[[Hull classification symbol#Amphibious warfare type|Hull symbol]]: LST-518
*[[Hull classification symbol#Support type|Hull symbol]]: ARB-6
*[[International Code of Signals|Code letters]]: NJLJ
*{{ICS|November}}{{ICS|Juliet}}{{ICS|Lima}}{{ICS|Juliet}}
|Ship homeport=
|Ship motto=
|Ship nickname=
|Ship honors= 1 × [[Battle star#Navy warships|battle star]] (World War II)
|Ship fate= Sold for scrap, May 1947
|Ship notes=
}}
{{Infobox ship characteristics
|Hide header=
|Header caption={{sfn|Navsource|2015}}
|Ship class=* {{sclass|LST-491|tank landing ship}}
* [[USS Aristaeus|''Aristaeus''-class]] battle damage repair ship
|Ship displacement=*{{cvt|1781|LT|lk=on}} (light)
*{{cvt|4100|LT}} (full)
|Ship length={{LST-1 class tank landing ship length}}
|Ship beam={{LST-1 class tank landing ship beam}}
|Ship draft={{cvt|11|ft|2|in}}
|Ship power= {{LST-1 class tank landing ship power}}
|Ship propulsion={{LST-1 class tank landing ship propulsion}}
|Ship speed={{cvt|11.6|kn}}
|Ship complement=20 officers, 234 enlisted men
|Ship armament=
*1 × [[3"/50 caliber gun|{{cvt|3|in|0}}/50 caliber gun]]
*2 × quad [[Bofors 40 mm Automatic Gun L/60|{{cvt|40|mm|2}} Bofors gun]]s
*8 × [[Oerlikon 20 mm cannon|{{cvt|20|mm|2}} Oerlikon cannon]]s
}}
{{Infobox service record
| is_ship = yes
| is_multi =
| label = 
| partof =
| codes =
| commanders =
| operations =
*[[Battle of Okinawa|Assault and occupation of Okinawa Gunto]] (16 April–30 June 1945)
| victories =
| awards =
*[[File:American Campaign Medal ribbon.svg|20px]] [[American Campaign Medal]]
*[[File:Asiatic-Pacific Campaign ribbon.svg|20px]] [[Asiatic–Pacific Campaign Medal]]
*[[File:World War II Victory Medal ribbon.svg|20px]] [[World War II Victory Medal]]
*[[File:Army of Occupation ribbon.svg|20px]] [[Navy Occupation Service Medal#Asia Clasp|Navy Occupation Service Medal w/Asia Clasp]]
}}
|}

'''USS ''Nestor'' (ARB-6)''' was planned as a [[United States Navy]] {{sclass|LST-491|tank landing ship}}, but was redesignated as one of twelve [[USS Aristaeus|''Aristaeus''-class]] battle damage repair ships built for the [[United States Navy]] during World War II. Named for [[Nestor (mythology)|Nestor]] (in [[Greek mythology]], the son of [[Neleus]], the King of [[Pylos]] and [[Chloris]]), she was the only US Naval vessel to bear the name.

==Construction==
Laid down as ''LST-518'' on 13 September 1943, by the [[Chicago Bridge and Iron Company]] of [[Seneca, Illinois]]; launched 20 January 1944; sponsored by Miss Rita Jenkins; converted by the [[Maryland Drydock Company]] of [[Baltimore]], Maryland; and commissioned 24 June 1944.{{sfn|DANFS|2015}}

==Service history==
Designed to make emergency repairs in forward areas to battle-damaged ships, ''Nestor'' left [[Norfolk, Virginia|Norfolk]] 4 August 1944, for [[Guantanamo Bay Naval Base|Guantanamo Bay]], the [[Panama Canal]], and [[Ulithi]], arriving 21 October, to take up her primary mission. During the next five and a half months she acted as tender to small craft and repaired all types of naval vessels from [[battleship]]s to [[Landing Craft Infantry|LCI]]s.{{sfn|DANFS|2015}}

''Nestor'' left Ulithi 19 April 1945, for [[Kerama Retto]], seized in the initial phase of the [[Battle of Okinawa|Okinawa campaign]] at [[Naval Base Okinawa]], to serve as a base for the ships engaged in the main assault. [[Empire of Japan|Japanese]] air attacks, often by [[kamikaze|suicide plane]], inflicted heavy damage on the fleet, and ''Nestor'' worked round-the-clock, often under fire herself, to help keep the fighting ships in action. As [[Okinawa Island|Okinawa]] itself became secure, ''Nestor'' entered [[Buckner Bay]] 10 July, and continued her vital services, which here included the tremendous task of building a [[cofferdam]]. ''Nestor'' was driven aground by wind and heavy seas in the devastating [[Typhoon Louise (1945)|Typhoon "Louise"]] of 9 October, and had to be abandoned. She decommissioned on 29 November, was stricken on 3 January 1946, and her hulk was sold for scrap on 1 May 1947.{{sfn|DANFS|2015}}

{{stack|[[File:USS Ocelot (IX-110), USS Nestor (ARB-6) and APL-14 aground in Buckner Bay, Okinawa, in November 1945 (NH 105655).jpg|thumb|''Nestor'' driven aground at [[Buckner Bay]], Okinawa, by wind and heavy seas during [[Typhoon Louise (1945)|Typhoon "Louise"]], 9 October 1945. The aftermath of the typhoon found this jumble of ships with ''Nestor''{{'}}s bow (center of photo) through the stern of {{USS|Ocelot|IX-110|2}}. Note the YTB alongside.]]}}

In November 1945 the [[Chief of Naval Operations|CNO]] directed that the hulk be sunk or destroyed, but this was not done and she became one of around 15 Okinawa typhoon wrecks that were finally sold for scrap in two batches in May and November 1947 by the [[United States Department of State|State Department's]] Foreign Liquidations Commission. ''Nestor'' along with {{USS|LST-823||2}}, {{USS|LST-826||2}}, three floating docks, and some smaller craft, were included in the May batch and were purchased by the Oklahoma-Philippines Company in what was referred to as the "Berry sale". The date of her scrapping is not known.

==Awards==
''Nestor'' earned one [[Battle star#Navy warships|battle stars]] for World War II service.

== Notes ==
{{notelist}}

===Citations===
{{Reflist}}

== Bibliography ==
{{refbegin}}
'''Online resources'''
* {{cite DANFS
  | url = https://www.history.navy.mil/research/histories/ship-histories/danfs/n/nestor.html
  | title = Nestor
  | publisher = Naval History and Heritage Command
  | date = 12 August 2015
  | access-date = 28 July 2017
  | ref = {{sfnRef|DANFS|2015}}
  }}{{PD-notice}}
* {{cite web
  | url = http://www.navsource.org/archives/09/26/2606.htm
  | title= USS Nestor (ARB-6)
  | publisher= Navsource.org
  | date= 4 December 2015
  | access-date= 28 July 2017
  | ref= {{sfnRef|Navsource|2015}}
  }}
{{Refend}}

==External links==
* {{navsource|09/26/2606|USS Nestor (ARB-6)}}

{{US Battle Damage Repair Ships}}
{{LST-491 class tank landing ship}}
{{MARCOM ships Prairie Shipyard, Seneca Illinois}}
{{October 1945 shipwrecks}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nestor (Arb-6)}}
[[Category:Aristaeus-class repair ships]]
[[Category:Aristaeus-class repair ships converted from LST-491-class ships]]
[[Category:Ships built in Seneca, Illinois]]
[[Category:1943 ships]]
[[Category:World War II auxiliary ships of the United States]]
[[Category:Maritime incidents in October 1945]]
[[Category:Shipwrecks in the Pacific Ocean]]