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Achelous (ARL-1)

1943-1973


Image related to Achelous
Caption: Achelous (ARL-1), 19 February 1945, steams beneath the Cooper River Bridge, Charleston, S.C., in Measure 31 camouflage (dull black, ocean green and Navy green). Note the large A-frame on the starboard side, for hoisting damaged landing craft on board for repairs, and the booms stepped port and starboard for handling cargo. (19-N-78643)

A Greek river god whose name has been given to the largest river in Greece. Achelous, the eldest son of Oceanus and that titan's sister, Tethys, is usually depicted as a bull with a human head.

(ARL-1: displacement 4,100; length 328'0”; beam 50'0”; draft 11'2"; speed 11.6 knots; complement 255; armament 1 3-inch, 8 40 millimeter, 8 20 millimeter; class Achelous)

The tank landing ship LST-10 was laid down on 15 August 1942 at Pittsburg, Pa., by the Dravo Corp.; launched on 25 November 1942; sponsored by Mrs. George F. Wolfe, the wife of the chief engineer of the Dravo Corp.; named Achelous and redesignated as a landing craft repair ship, ARL-1, on 13 January 1943; and commissioned alongside Pier 9, Port Covington, Baltimore, Md., on 2 April 1943, Lt. Walter Ringies, D-M, USNR, in command.

Achelous conducted her shakedown in Chesapeake Bay; stopped at Norfolk, Va., on 22 April to take on supplies on 28 April; and sailed on the 28th with a convoy bound for North Africa. During part of the passage, she towed the disabled submarine chaser SC-497 (29 April-1 May). She paused at Bermuda from 2 to 9 May and arrived at Oran, Algeria, on 26 May.

Achelous moved to Bizerte, Tunisia, on 1 June 1943 and remained there until 14 July providing varied services to landing craft. Following the Allied invasion of Sicily, Achelous moored at Licata, Sicily, from 15 July through 14 August performing repair work. She returned to Bizerte on 15 August and, in the next three days, underwent two enemy air raids. During the second raid, Achelous’ guns assisted in downing two German planes.

Achelous spent one week in mid-September at Palermo, Sicily, then got underway with Convoy UGS-19 on 16 October 1943; reached Port Said, Egypt, on 23 October; and transited the Suez Canal on 25 October. The landing craft repair ship then headed for Massawa, Italian Eritrea, where she arrived on 31 October. The next day, she entered a British-owned floating dry dock at Massawa. The ship left the dry dock on 4 November and got underway for India. She arrived at Calcutta in early December and spent approximately one month providing services in the China-Burma-India Theater.

In early 1944, Achelous left India and sailed to the Mediterranean to support operations along the Italian coast. She remained at these duties for seven months. In July, the landing craft repair ship began preparations for the assault on the southern coast of France. In mid-August, she dropped anchor off the French coast and set up a pontoon dry dock to service landing craft used in the invasion. These duties occupied her through most of 1944.

Later in the year, the landing craft repair ship was reassigned to the Pacific and began her voyage via the Strait of Gibraltar and the Panama Canal to her new area of operations. She transited the Panama Canal on 7 March 1945 and proceeded to Eniwetok, where she arrived on 24 April. Achelous then was assigned to support the invasion and occupation of Okinawa, her last combat operation of World War II.

Following the war, Achelous returned to the west coast. She was placed out of commission in reserve in January 1947 and berthed in the Columbia River Group of the Pacific Reserve Fleet. Achelous was stricken from the Naval Vessel Register on 1 June 1973 and the ship was sold on 21 January 1974 to Overseas Shipyard, Ltd, of Hong Kong for scrapping.

Achelous earned two battle stars for her World War II service: the first for taking part in the invasion of Southern France (21 August-25 September 1944); the second for her participation in the assault and occupation of Okinawa Guntō (8 May-30 June 1945).

Luann Parsons

Updated, Robert J. Cressman

19 December 2023

Published: Tue Dec 19 16:01:51 EST 2023