The ships were fitted with machine tools, cranes, and all the equipment necessary for a machine shop, including welding, radiator, tank, wood, patterns, blue print, electrical, fabric and dope, paint, air-conditioned instrument and camera shops, radio, battery, propeller, tires and fuel cells, armament and turrets, plating, radar, carburetor, and turbo-super-charger. They were supplied with a large inventory of steel, sheet metal, lumber, aluminum, and other materials to manufacture needed parts. Each ship was also provided with two motor launches and two DUKWs or "ducks," amphibious trucks for carrying parts too heavy for the helicopters. Two personnel were trained as divers. Each was equipped with a steel deck to support helicopter operations. Each ship was assigned a complement of 344 soldiers who were trained for marine operations. Nicknamed sailjers, They wore sailor dungarees on the ship, and Army uniforms on land. The ships were designated as Aircraft Repair Units, Floating (ARUs) and operated by the Army Transport Service, all of whose officers and men were merchant mariners. The ships provided mobile depot support for B-29 Superfortress and P-51 Mustangs based on Guam, Iwo Jima, and Okinawa beginning in December 1944. They were also fitted with landing platforms to accommodate four R-4 helicopters, creating the first seagoing helicopter-equipped ships, and provided medical evacuation of combat casualties in both the Philippines and Okinawa. 1st ARU(F) Major General Robert Olds (ex-SS Daniel E. Garrett) 2d ARU(F) Major General Herbert A. Dargue (ex-SS Rebecca Lukens) 3rd ARU(F) Major General Walter R. Weaver (ex-SS Thomas LeValley) 4th ARU(F) Brigadier General Asa N. Duncan (ex-SS Richard O'Brien) 5th ARU(F) Brigadier General Clinton W. Russell (ex-SS Robert W. Bingham 6th ARU(F) Brigadier General Alfred J. Lyon (ex-SS SS Nathaniel Scudder) Auxiliary Aircraft Repair Ship Design 427: Vessel, Supply, Aircraft Repair, Diesel, Steel, 180-foot 573 ton steel vessels built by Higgins; FS-204 Col. Clifford P. Bradley FS-205 Col. Richard E. Cobb FS-206 Col. John D. Corkille (#1) and (#2) FS-207 Col. Demas T. Craw FS-208 Col. Everett S. Davis FS-209 Col. Sam L. Ellis FS-210 Col. Oliver S. Ferson FS-211 Col. Percival E. Gabel FS-212 Col. Donald M. Keiser FS-213 Col. Douglas M. Kilpatrick FS-214 Col. Raymond T. Lester FS-215 Col. Donald R. Lyon FS-216 Col. William J. McKiernan FS-217 Col. Armand Peterson (went to the Navy as ) FS-218 Col. Charles T. Phillips FS-219 Col. Edgar R. Todd FS-220 Col. Harold B. Wright FS-221 Col. Francis T. Ziegler