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Aventinus (ARVE-3)

1945-1992 

A character in classical mythology.

(ARVE-3: displacement 4,100; 1ength 328'; beam 50'; draft 11'2"; speed 11.6 knots; complement 245; armament 8 40-millimeter, 12 20-millimeter; class Aventinus)

Originally projected as LST-1092 but redesignated ARVE-3 and named Aventinus on 8 December 1944; this aircraft engine repair ship was laid down on 8 January 1945 at Ambridge, Pa., by the American Bridge Co.; launched on 24 March 1945; sponsored by Mrs. Frederick W. Pennoyer, Jr., wife of Rear Adm. Pennoyer; and placed in commission at New Orleans, La., on 30 May 1945, Lt. William W. Harris, Jr., in command.

After shakedown training in the Gulf of Mexico, Aventinus transited the Panama Canal on 8 July 1945; joined the Pacific Fleet; and continued on to San Diego, Calif. She soon proceeded thence, via Pearl Harbor, Territory of Hawaii (T.H.), and Saipan, Mariana Islands, to Okinawa, where she arrived on 15 September. The ship served there carrying out aviation engine repair duties through 10 December. On that day, she sailed for Guam and, upon her arrival there, resumed her repair work.

On 31 January 1946, Aventinus shaped a course for the west coast via Pearl Harbor, reached San Diego on 12 February, and remained in port for a month. Following one more round-trip voyage to Pearl Harbor, Aventinus commenced a preinactivation overhaul at San Diego in May and was reassigned to the 19th Fleet. The ship was placed out of commission, in reserve, at San Diego on 30 August 1946.

In response to communist aggression in Korea, Aventinus was recommissioned on 25 July 1950. Following sea trials off the southern California coast, she was assigned to Air Repair Division 1 on 28 August. Upon completion of an availability alongside the repair ship Ajax (AR-6), Aventinus got underway for Pearl Harbor on 9 September. She arrived in Hawaiian waters on the 18th and then entered the Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard for repairs to her distilling plant.

Aventinus got underway for Okinawa on 10 October 1950. She paused at Midway in mid-October while repairs were being made to another ship with which she was traveling. Aventinus finally reached Naha on 8 November and provided repair services for a patrol squadron based there. On 24 December, Aventinus set sail for Japan; arrived at Sasebo on the 26th; and reported to Commander, Carrier Division 1, for duty. In Japan, the ship received aircraft damaged beyond the repair capability of carriers for possible salvage of the whole aircraft or of its parts.

The ship left Sasebo on 11 February 1951, bound for Yokosuka, Japan. She arrived there on the 14th and resumed serving carriers which entered that port. Aventinus returned to Sasebo on 17 June and continued her aviation repairs. The ship made one brief trip to Pohang, Korea, in early July and then sailed back to Yokosuka.

Aventinus left the Far East on 16 October and, following a brief stop at Pearl Harbor, continued on to the west coast. She arrived at Long Beach, Calif., on 12 November and moved to San Diego on 1 February 1952. Aventinus was decommissioned there on 4 April 1952.

In August 1963, the ship was transferred to the government of Chile and served in the Chilean Navy as Aquila (ARVE-135) until scuttled in August 1980 after suffering severe damage while running aground.

Aventinus was stricken from the Naval Vessel Register on 25 June 1992.

 

Published: Tue Nov 06 12:32:13 EST 2018