The USS Amphion (AR-13) was the lead ship of her repair ship class, laid down in 1944 by the Tampa Shipbuilding Company, launched in 1945, and commissioned in 1946. She was designed and built to carry out emergency and routine repairs to ships of the Fleet. The ship was equipped with a variety of shops for complex repairs. Artificers were employed to repair equipment from hardware to precision watches. Her engineering plant could generate enough electricity for ships moored while undergoing repairs. The distilling plant onboard could produce water for the ship and other vessels. For the first decade of her service, she provided repair services in the Atlantic Fleet's service force. In 1957 and 1958, the vessel was deployed to the Mediterranean, servicing ships of the 6th Fleet. The USS Amphion operated along the Atlantic coast through the 1960s until her last departure in 1971. She was decommissioned in the same year and transferred to the Imperial Iranian Navy as IIS Chahbahan. Asbestos was abundantly applied on ships built before the 1980s for its fire-resistant properties. As a consequence, Navy veterans were routinely exposed to inhaling or ingesting the toxic material's microscopic fibers. Therefore they should get tested, as asbestos-related diseases develop only after decades.
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