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Menelaus (ARL-13)

1945-1960

A son of Atreus, king of Sparta, husband of Helen and younger brother to Agamemnon.

(ARL‑13: displacement 2,125; length 328'0"; beam 50'0"; draft 14'0"; speed 12 knots; complement 262; armament 8 40-millimeter, 8 20-millimeter; class Achelous)

LST‑971 was laid down on 17 November 1944 at Hingham, Mass., by the Bethlehem‑Hingham Shipyard; launched on 20 December 1944; sponsored by Mrs. William Cosgrove; and placed in reduced commission on 15 January 1945, Lt. Peter F. Tripp (D) USNR in command.

Proceeding to Baltimore, Md., LST-971 was decommissioned on 29 January 1945, then underwent conversion to a landing craft repair ship (ARL) at Bethlehem Key Highway’s Plant. The vessel was placed in full commission as Menelaus (ARL‑13) on 29 May 1945, Lt. Tripp remaining in command.

Having completed her shakedown and fitting out under the direction of Commander Operational Training Command, Atlantic Fleet, by 2 July 1945, Menelaus headed north to Davisville, R.I., to take on board side-carry pontoons for transport to forward areas. On 7 July, she departed the east coast for the Panama Canal, transited the isthmian waterway on the 15th, and reached San Diego, Calif., on 29 July.

Clearing San Diego for Oahu, Territory of Hawaii, on 6 August 1945, Menelaus received the welcome news of the Japanese surrender two days out of Pearl Harbor. Standing in to Pearl on 16 August, she got underway again on the 20th for the Marianas Islands, reaching her destination, Saipan, on 4 September. By the end of the month, the ship had been assigned temporarily to local repair duties in the Saipan area.

Departing Saipan on 18 February 1946, Menelaus proceeded, via Hawaii, the Panama Canal, and New Orleans, to Galveston, Tex., arriving there on 17 June to begin inactivation. Completing the process at Orange, Texas, she was decommissioned there on 5 June 1947 and lay berthed there as a unit of the Reserve Fleet.

Recommissioned on 14 December 1950, Lt. Cmdr. Clarence J. Bannonowsky, Jr., in command, she sailed for Charleston for outfitting and on 24 March 1951 arrived at Norfolk, Va., to report for duty to Commander Air Force Atlantic Fleet. On 5 September, having been converted to an aviation supply ship (AVS), she departed Norfolk for an extended tour with the Sixth Fleet in the Mediterranean.


Her tank landing ship ancestry plainly visible, Menelaus lies off Norfolk, 31 July 1951, her aviation affiliation indicated by the small national insignia (identical to that displayed on aircraft) painted just aft of her identification number. Cl...

Her tank landing ship ancestry plainly visible, Menelaus lies off Norfolk, 31 July 1951, her aviation affiliation indicated by the small national insignia (identical to that displayed on aircraft) painted just aft of her identification number. Close investigation of the image shows that she is flying her international radio call sign NKJY (top to bottom), and that a sailor on the port wing of the bridge has his binoculars trained on the photographer. (Naval History and Heritage Command photograph L45-180.04.02)

For the next four and one-half years, with only one interruption for availability at Norfolk (9 March—15 August 1953), Menelaus operated throughout the Mediterranean. On 19 March 1955 she returned to Norfolk to begin Phase Able for her second pre-inactivation overhaul.

Subsequently, Menelaus steamed to Green Cove Springs, Fla., arriving there on 26 June 1955 to begin Phase Baker of her inactivation. Ultimately, she was decommissioned on 5 September 1955, and remained berthed in Florida as a unit of the Atlantic Reserve Fleet until stricken from the Navy Register on 1 June 1960.

On 28 October 1960, the former landing craft repair and aviation supply ship was sold to the Norfolk, Baltimore & Carolina Line, which placed her in merchant service as Maryland Clipper.   

Commanding Officers                                          Date Assumed Command

Lt. Peter F. Tripp, (D) USNR                                    15 January 1945

Lt. Cmdr. Clarence J. Bannonowsky, Jr.                14 December 1950

Cmdr. Aldo A. Cipolat                                               2 June 1952

Cmdr. Harold R. Thompson                                    7 August 1953

Cmdr. Edwin S. Memel                                             22 January 1955

Lt. Cmdr. Charles O. Donnaud, III                           13 April 1955

Updated, Robert J. Cressman

12 January 2021

Published: Thu Jan 14 10:51:36 EST 2021