USS Bellona (ARL-32)
| Career | |
|---|---|
| Name: | USS Bellona |
| Builder: | Chicago Bridge and Iron Company |
| Laid down: | 27 December 1944 |
| Launched: | 26 March 1945 |
| Commissioned: | 28 July 1945 |
| Struck: | 5 June 1946 |
| Fate: | Grounded, 1 December 1945 Declared unsalvageable & destroyed with explosives, 14 May 1946 |
| General characteristics | |
| Class & type: | Achelous class repair ship |
| Displacement: | 2,220 long tons (2,256 t) light 3,960 long tons (4,024 t) full |
| Length: | 328 ft (100 m) |
| Beam: | 50 ft (15 m) |
| Draft: | 11 ft 2 in (3.40 m) |
| Propulsion: | 2 × General Motors 12-567 diesel engines, two shafts, twin rudders |
| Speed: | 12 knots (14 mph; 22 km/h) |
| Complement: | 253 officers and enlisted men |
| Armament: | • 2 × quad 40 mm guns (Mark 51 director) • 2 × twin 40 mm guns (Mark 51 director) • 6 × twin 20 mm guns |
USS Bellona (ARL-32) was one of 39 Achelous-class landing craft repair ships built for the United States Navy during World War II. Named for Bellona (a Roman goddess of war variously identified as the sister, daughter, and wife of Mars), she was the only U.S. Naval vessel to bear the name.
Originally laid down as LST 1136 on 27 December 1944 at Seneca, Illinois by the Chicago Bridge & Iron Works; launched on 26 March 1945; sponsored by Miss Huberta Jean Malsie; placed in reduced commission on 6 April 1945 for the voyage to Baltimore for conversion to a landing craft repair ship (ARL); decommissioned at Baltimore on 27 April 1945; converted by the Bethlehem Steel Key Highway Shipyard; and placed in full commission on 28 July 1945 with Lieutenant W. P. Sullivan, USNR, in command.
Read more about USS Bellona (ARL-32): Service History