helicopter repair shop for service off the coast of Vietnam. On 7 August 1964, MARAD transferred the ship – earmarked for conversion to a floating aeronautical maintenance facility for helicopters – back to the Navy. On 27 March 1965, the ship was reinstated on the Navy Vessel Register and received the new name and classification USNS Corpus Christi Bay (T-ARVH-1), named for Corpus Christi Bay in the southern Texas Coastal Bend; the ship was transferred to the Military Sealift Command (MSC) on 11 January 1966. Converted at the Charleston Naval Shipyard to an Aircraft Repair Ship, Helicopter, Corpus Christi Bay emerged from the yard only faintly resembling her former self. Gone was the prominent seaplane ramp, aft, replaced by a built-up superstructure topped by a helicopter landing pad measuring by . Previously, damaged helicopters had to be transported back to the U.S. for refit; with the advent of this "new" ship type, repairs could be accomplished near the forward areas, damaged "helos" barged out to the ship and lifted on board by two capacity cranes. Accepted by MSC in January 1966, Corpus Christi Bay's first commander was Captain Harry Anderson, who had a crew of 129 men, a fraction of the ship's original complement, under him. In Vietnam, The ship was run by civilians under the Military Sea Transport Service but the aircraft maintenance facilities aboard the ship were manned by Army Material Command's 1st Transportation Corps Battalion (Aircraft Maintenance Depot [seaborne]). The unit included 308 aircraft technicians and specialists under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Harry O. Davis, USA. The Floating Aircraft Maintenance Facility allowed the Army to repair and return helicopters to service much more quickly. It provided depot-level maintenance to Army aircraft components including engines, avionics, and armament that previously was only available in the United States. The ship also provided laboratory and calibration support and conducted a limited fabrication program, including some non-aviation items. The ship operated out of Cam Ranh Bay, South Vietnam, during 1966. During the Vietnam War Corpus Christi Bay participated in several campaigns from 1966 to 1969. Last anchored off Vung Tau, the ship left for the US in late 1972, stopping at Guam, Hawaii, and going through the Panama Canal up to its home base of Corpus Christi, Texas, arriving in December, 1972. Ultimately determined by MSC to be "in excess of current and future requirements", Corpus Christi Bay was taken