View source for USS Achelous

{{Short description|1942 LST-1-class tank landing ship}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2021}}
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{{Infobox ship image
|Ship image=USS Achelous (ARL-1).jpg
|Ship caption=USS ''Achelous'' (ARL-1), date and location unknown.
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{{Infobox ship career
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|Ship country=United States
|Ship flag={{USN flag|1947}}
|Ship name=''Achelous''
|Ship namesake=
|Ship ordered=
|Ship builder=
|Ship laid down=15 August 1942
|Ship launched=25 November 1942
|Ship acquired=
|Ship commissioned=2 April 1943
|Ship decommissioned=January 1947
|Ship in service=
|Ship out of service=
|Ship struck=1 June 1973
|Ship reinstated=
|Ship honors=
|Ship fate=Sold for scrapping 21 January 1974
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{{Infobox ship characteristics
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|Ship class={{sclass|Achelous|repair ship}}
|Ship displacement=4,100 tons
|Ship length={{convert|328|ft|m|0|abbr=on}}
|Ship beam={{convert|50|ft|0|abbr=on}}
|Ship draft={{convert|11|ft|2|in|m|0|abbr=on}}
|Ship propulsion=
|Ship speed={{convert|11.6|kn|km/h|1|lk=in|abbr=on}}
|Ship range=
|Ship complement=255 officers and enlisted men
|Ship sensors=
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|Ship armament=1 × [[3"/50 caliber gun|{{convert|3|in|mm|abbr=on}}]]/50 cal gun, 8 × [[Bofors 40 mm Automatic Gun L/60|Bofors 40 mm]] guns, 8 × [[Oerlikon 20 mm cannon]]s
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'''USS ''Achelous'' (ARL-1)''' was one of 39 [[tank landing ship]]s converted into landing craft repair ships for service in the [[United States Navy]] during [[World War II]]. The lead ship in her class, she was named for the [[Greek mythology|Greek god]] [[Achelous]], the only U.S. Naval vessel to bear the name.

She was laid down as the unnamed '''''LST-10''''' on 15 August 1942, at [[Pittsburgh]], Pennsylvania by the [[Dravo Corporation]]; [[Ship naming and launching|launched]] on 25 November 1942; sponsored by Mrs. George F. Wolfe, the wife of the chief engineer of Dravo; named '''''Achelous''''' and redesignated '''ARL-1''' on 13 January 1943; and [[ship commissioning|commissioned]] on 2 April 1943, at [[Baltimore, Maryland]].

==Service history==
''Achelous'' held shakedown in [[Chesapeake Bay]], stopped at [[Norfolk, Virginia]], on 22 April, to take on supplies on 28 April, and sailed the same day with a convoy bound for North Africa. She paused in [[Bermuda]] from 2–9 May, and arrived in Oran, [[Algeria]] on 26 May.

''Achelous'' moved to [[Bizerte]], Tunisia, on 1 June, and remained there until 14 July, providing varied services to landing craft. Following the [[Allies of World War II|Allied]] invasion of [[Sicily]], ''Achelous'' moored at [[Licata]], Sicily from 15 July – 4 August, to perform repair work. She returned to Bizerte, on 15 August, and for the next three days endured 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. She got underway with [[convoy UGS 19]] on 16 October, reached [[Port Said]], Egypt, on 23 October, and transited the [[Suez Canal]] on 25 October. The repair ship then headed for [[Massawa]], Italian [[Eritrea]], where she arrived on 31 October. The next day, she entered a British-owned [[floating drydock]] at Massawa. The ship left the drydock 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 drydock to service landing craft used in the invasion. These duties occupied her through most of 1944. Late in the year, the repair ship was reassigned to the Pacific Ocean 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 Prefecture|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''' name was struck 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.

==Awards==
''Achelous'' earned two [[battle star]]s for World War II service.

==References==
* {{DANFS|https://www.history.navy.mil/research/histories/ship-histories/danfs/a/achelous.html}}
* {{Naval Vessel Register}}

{{Achelous class repair ship}}
{{LST-1 class tank landing ship|state=collapsed}}
{{MARCOM ships Dravo Corporation, Pittsburgh Shipyard}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Achelous (Arl-1)}}
[[Category:Achelous-class repair ships]]
[[Category:Ships built in Pittsburgh]]
[[Category:1942 ships]]
[[Category:World War II auxiliary ships of the United States]]
[[Category:Achelous-class repair ships converted from LST-1-class ships]]
[[Category:Ships built by Dravo Corporation]]