View source for USS Florikan

{|{{Infobox ship begin}}
{{Infobox ship image
|Ship image=USS Florikan (ASR-9) underway on the Columbia River, Oregon (USA), on 1 May 1982 (6349469).jpeg
|Ship caption=USS Florikan (ASR-9) underway on 1 May 1982
}}
{{Infobox ship career
|Hide header=
|Ship country=United States
|Ship flag={{USN flag|1977}}
|Ship name=USS ''Florikan''
|Ship ordered=30 December 1940
|Ship builder=[[Moore Dry Dock Company]]
|Ship laid down=30 September 1941
|Ship launched= 14 June 1942
|Ship acquired=
|Ship commissioned= 5 April 1943
|Ship decommissioned= 2 August 1991
|Ship in service=
|Ship out of service=
|Ship struck= 3 September 1991
|Ship reinstated=
|Ship fate=Sold for Scrapping 2 July 2010 to Marine Metals, Brownsville, Tx
|Ship honours=
|Ship notes=
}}
{{Infobox ship characteristics
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|Header caption=
|Ship class= {{sclass|Chanticleer|submarine rescue ship}}
|Ship displacement={{convert|1780|LT|t|0|abbr=on}}
|Ship length={{convert|251|ft|4|in|m|abbr=on}}
|Ship beam={{convert|42|ft|m|abbr=on}}
|Ship draft={{convert|14|ft|3|in|m|abbr=on}}
|Ship propulsion=
|Ship speed= {{convert|16|kn|mph km/h|lk=in}}
|Ship range=
|Ship complement=102 officers and enlisted
|Ship sensors=
|Ship EW=
|Ship armament=2 × [[3"/50 caliber gun]]s
|Ship armor=
|Ship notes=
}}
|}
'''USS ''Florikan'' (ASR-9)''' was a [[Chanticleer-class rescue ship|''Chanticleer''-class]] submarine rescue ship in the [[United States Navy]].

==Construction and commissioning==
''Florikan'' was launched 14 June 1942 by [[Moore Dry Dock Company]], [[Oakland, California]]; sponsored by Mrs. L. Sahm; and commissioned 5 April 1943.

==Service history==
From 3 to 20 July 1943, ''Florikan'' aided in the training of [[submarine]]s at [[Pearl Harbor]], acting as target, screening, escort, and [[torpedo]] recovery vessel. She served on similar duty at [[Midway Atoll|Midway]] between 24 July and 2 September, then sailed for [[Kiska, Alaska]], arriving 7 September. For a month, she carried out diving operations on Japanese submarine ''I-7'', which had been grounded by her crew south of Kiska Harbor. Their attempts to scuttle the submarine had been incomplete, the after half remaining intact in a hundred feet of water. Seven divers entered the hulk, recovering important documents and personal papers of value in intelligence work.

''Florikan'' returned to duty at Midway from 9 October 1943 to 12 November, then served at Pearl Harbor from 16 November to 11 June 1944. With [[Majuro]] activated as a forward base for submarines, ''Florikan'' trained submarines there from 18 June to 31 January 1945, then returned to duty at Pearl Harbor through the close of the war.

Assigned to home port at [[San Diego]], ''Florikan'' first arrived there 12 September 1946, and through the next 15 years, trained submarine rescue personnel there, took part in fleet exercises and training operations, and brought her specialized services to the Far East in a tour of duty with the [[United States Seventh Fleet|7th Fleet]] each year save 1952, 1954, 1956, and 1958. On her 1960 deployment, she escorted a [[Vietnam]]ese ship across the Pacific when outward bound.

She was decommissioned on 2 August 1991 and struck from the [[Naval Vessel Register]] on 3 September 1991 and remained at Inactive Ships, Pearl Harbor until 6 October 2000, when she entered the Suisun Bay Reserve Fleet. Her title was transferred from the Navy to [[United States Maritime Administration|MARAD]] on 28 July 2001.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://pmars.marad.dot.gov/detail.asp?Ship=1585 |title=PMARS is currently down for maintainence &#91;sic&#93;|access-date=2010-08-16 |archive-date=2012-03-04 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120304022714/https://pmars.marad.dot.gov/detail.asp?Ship=1585 |url-status=dead }}</ref> On 28 November 2006, she was cleaned for possible use as a SINKEX target, but instead MARAD issued a contract to dismantle ''Florikan'' on 2 July 2010 to Marine Metals of Brownsville, Tx for $895,708.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://voa.marad.dot.gov/Solicitation_Awards/docs/mar-610/DTMA1P10035_Fully%20Executed%20Copy.pdf |title=Archived copy |access-date=2010-08-16 |archive-date=2011-07-21 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110721035909/https://voa.marad.dot.gov/Solicitation_Awards/docs/mar-610/DTMA1P10035_Fully%20Executed%20Copy.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref> ''Florikan'' completed her hull cleaning on 2 August 2010 at Bay Ship & Yacht, Alameda, Ca<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://alamedasun.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=7378&Itemid=28|title=Alameda Sun}}</ref> and she was completely dismantled on 29 December 2010, when she was withdrawn from the reserve fleet inventory.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://pmars.marad.dot.gov/detail.asp?Ship=1585 |title=PMARS is currently down for maintainence &#91;sic&#93;|access-date=2010-08-16 |archive-date=2012-03-04 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120304022714/https://pmars.marad.dot.gov/detail.asp?Ship=1585 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

==Awards==
*[[Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal]]
*[[World War II Victory Medal]]
*[[National Defense Service Medal]] with 2 stars

==References==
{{reflist}}
{{DANFS}}

{{Chanticleer class rescue ships}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Florikan (ASR-9)}}
[[Category:Chanticleer-class submarine rescue ships]]
[[Category:Ships built in Oakland, California]]
[[Category:1942 ships]]
[[Category:World War II auxiliary ships of the United States]]