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USS Aristaeus (ARB-1)
Encyclopedia
USS Aristaeus (ARB-1) was one of 12 battle damage repair ships built for the United States Navy
during World War II
. The lead ship in her class, she was named for Aristaeus
(in Greek mythology
, the son of Apollo
and the huntress Cyrene
), the only U.S. Naval vessel to bear the name.
Originally laid down as LST-329 on 12 November 1942 at the Philadelphia Navy Yard; reclassified USS Aristaeus ARB-1 on 25 January 1943; launched on 1 February 1943; sponsored by Mrs. Arthur Taylor; converted at Fairfield, Maryland by the Maryland Drydock Company
for service as a battle damage repair ship; and commissioned on 18 May 1943, with Lieutenant
Ralph M. G. Swany, Jr., in command.
. During the next six weeks, she conducted shakedown training out of Norfolk and in the Chesapeake Bay
. On 23 July, she left the east coast and shaped a course for the Pacific
. The vessel transited the Panama Canal
and joined the Pacific Fleet
on 1 August. She then continued on via Bora Bora
, the Society Islands
, and Tutuila
, American Samoa
to Noumea
, New Caledonia
.
Aristaeus reached Nouméa on 14 September and operated in its immediate vicinity through the remainder of 1943 and the first six months of 1944. Early in July 1944, she anchored at Sydney, Australia. After upkeep at that port, the repair ship journeyed to New Guinea
in late September and provided battle damage repairs to vessels in this area into April 1945. On 1 May, she anchored at Kerama Retto
in the Ryukyu Islands
. The vessel remained at Kerama Retto during the next two months. As a member of Service Squadron 10 (ServRon
10), she performed battle damage and voyage repairs to various ships of the fleet. On 2 July, the ship moved her base of operations to Buckner Bay, Okinawa where she provided routine repair services. On 13 August, she was ordered to assist in repairing the torpedo
ed battleship
. Many of Pennsylvanias compartments were flooded, and she had settled heavily by the stern. Aristaeus repair efforts, however, enabled the man-of-war to get underway for Pearl Harbor
on 24 August, nine days after the Japanese capitulation ended hostilities.
. The ship reached San Francisco, California
on the 27th and entered a period of upkeep and repairs. She remained at San Francisco until 22 May 1946, when she got underway for San Diego. Upon her arrival there, the vessel reported to the San Diego Group, 19th Fleet, for inactivation. Aristaeus was decommissioned on 15 January 1947 and was placed in the Pacific Reserve Fleet. Her name was struck from the Naval Vessel Register
on 1 July 1961. The vessel was sold to Brown Industries, Inc. of Oakland, California
on 14 March 1962 and was subsequently scrapped.
United States Navy
The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...
during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. The lead ship in her class, she was named for Aristaeus
Aristaeus
A minor god in Greek mythology, which we read largely through Athenian writers, Aristaeus or Aristaios , "ever close follower of the flocks", was the culture hero credited with the discovery of many useful arts, including bee-keeping; he was the son of Apollo and the huntress Cyrene...
(in Greek mythology
Greek mythology
Greek mythology is the body of myths and legends belonging to the ancient Greeks, concerning their gods and heroes, the nature of the world, and the origins and significance of their own cult and ritual practices. They were a part of religion in ancient Greece...
, the son of Apollo
Apollo
Apollo is one of the most important and complex of the Olympian deities in Greek and Roman mythology...
and the huntress Cyrene
Cyrene (mythology)
In Greek mythology, as recorded in Pindar's 9th Pythian ode, Cyrene was the daughter of Hypseus, King of the Lapiths. When a lion attacked her father's sheep, Cyrene wrestled with the lion. Apollo, who was present, immediately fell in love with her and kidnapped her. He took her to North...
), the only U.S. Naval vessel to bear the name.
Originally laid down as LST-329 on 12 November 1942 at the Philadelphia Navy Yard; reclassified USS Aristaeus ARB-1 on 25 January 1943; launched on 1 February 1943; sponsored by Mrs. Arthur Taylor; converted at Fairfield, Maryland by the Maryland Drydock Company
Maryland Drydock Company
The Maryland Drydock Company was a shipbuilding company that operated in Baltimore, Maryland during the 20th century.The company started life in 1920 as the Globe Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company of Maryland. Its President at this time was B. C. Cooke. The company bought land along the Patapsco...
for service as a battle damage repair ship; and commissioned on 18 May 1943, with Lieutenant
Lieutenant
A lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer in many nations' armed forces. Typically, the rank of lieutenant in naval usage, while still a junior officer rank, is senior to the army rank...
Ralph M. G. Swany, Jr., in command.
World War II
On 1 June, the ship got underway for Norfolk, VirginiaNorfolk, Virginia
Norfolk is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. With a population of 242,803 as of the 2010 Census, it is Virginia's second-largest city behind neighboring Virginia Beach....
. During the next six weeks, she conducted shakedown training out of Norfolk and in the Chesapeake Bay
Chesapeake Bay
The Chesapeake Bay is the largest estuary in the United States. It lies off the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by Maryland and Virginia. The Chesapeake Bay's drainage basin covers in the District of Columbia and parts of six states: New York, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, and West...
. On 23 July, she left the east coast and shaped a course for the Pacific
Pacific Ocean
The Pacific Ocean is the largest of the Earth's oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic in the north to the Southern Ocean in the south, bounded by Asia and Australia in the west, and the Americas in the east.At 165.2 million square kilometres in area, this largest division of the World...
. The vessel transited the Panama Canal
Panama Canal
The Panama Canal is a ship canal in Panama that joins the Atlantic Ocean and the Pacific Ocean and is a key conduit for international maritime trade. Built from 1904 to 1914, the canal has seen annual traffic rise from about 1,000 ships early on to 14,702 vessels measuring a total of 309.6...
and joined the Pacific Fleet
United States Pacific Fleet
The United States Pacific Fleet is a Pacific Ocean theater-level component command of the United States Navy that provides naval resources under the operational control of the United States Pacific Command. Its home port is at Pearl Harbor Naval Base, Hawaii. It is commanded by Admiral Patrick M...
on 1 August. She then continued on via Bora Bora
Bora Bora
The commune of Bora-Bora is made up of the island of Bora Bora proper with its surrounding islets emerging from the coral reef, 29.3 km² in total, and of the atoll of Tupai , located north of Bora Bora...
, the Society Islands
Society Islands
The Society Islands are a group of islands in the South Pacific Ocean. They are politically part of French Polynesia. The archipelago is generally believed to have been named by Captain James Cook in honor of the Royal Society, the sponsor of the first British scientific survey of the islands;...
, and Tutuila
Tutuila
Tutuila is the largest and the main island of American Samoa in the archipelago of Samoan Islands. It is the third largest island in the Samoan Islands chain of the Central Pacific located roughly northeast of Brisbane, Australia and over northeast of Fiji. It contains a large, natural harbor,...
, American Samoa
American Samoa
American Samoa is an unincorporated territory of the United States located in the South Pacific Ocean, southeast of the sovereign state of Samoa...
to Noumea
Nouméa
Nouméa is the capital city of the French territory of New Caledonia. It is situated on a peninsula in the south of New Caledonia's main island, Grande Terre, and is home to the majority of the island's European, Polynesian , Indonesian, and Vietnamese populations, as well as many Melanesians,...
, New Caledonia
New Caledonia
New Caledonia is a special collectivity of France located in the southwest Pacific Ocean, east of Australia and about from Metropolitan France. The archipelago, part of the Melanesia subregion, includes the main island of Grande Terre, the Loyalty Islands, the Belep archipelago, the Isle of...
.
Aristaeus reached Nouméa on 14 September and operated in its immediate vicinity through the remainder of 1943 and the first six months of 1944. Early in July 1944, she anchored at Sydney, Australia. After upkeep at that port, the repair ship journeyed to New Guinea
New Guinea
New Guinea is the world's second largest island, after Greenland, covering a land area of 786,000 km2. Located in the southwest Pacific Ocean, it lies geographically to the east of the Malay Archipelago, with which it is sometimes included as part of a greater Indo-Australian Archipelago...
in late September and provided battle damage repairs to vessels in this area into April 1945. On 1 May, she anchored at Kerama Retto
Kerama Retto
The are a group of 22 islands located southwest of Okinawa Island in Japan. Four of the islands are inhabited:,., and. The islands are within Shimajiri District. The Kerama-shotō coral reef is a Ramsar Site....
in the Ryukyu Islands
Ryukyu Islands
The , also known as the , is a chain of islands in the western Pacific, on the eastern limit of the East China Sea and to the southwest of the island of Kyushu in Japan. From about 1829 until the mid 20th century, they were alternately called Luchu, Loochoo, or Lewchew, akin to the Mandarin...
. The vessel remained at Kerama Retto during the next two months. As a member of Service Squadron 10 (ServRon
ServRon
A ServRon is a standard United States Navy abbreviation for "Service Squadron."A Service Squadron was a squadron of U.S. Navy ships that served the fleet. The squadron included ships such as tankers, oilers, refrigerator ships, ammunition ships, supply ships, repair ships, and the like...
10), she performed battle damage and voyage repairs to various ships of the fleet. On 2 July, the ship moved her base of operations to Buckner Bay, Okinawa where she provided routine repair services. On 13 August, she was ordered to assist in repairing the torpedo
Torpedo
The modern torpedo is a self-propelled missile weapon with an explosive warhead, launched above or below the water surface, propelled underwater towards a target, and designed to detonate either on contact with it or in proximity to it.The term torpedo was originally employed for...
ed battleship
Battleship
A battleship is a large armored warship with a main battery consisting of heavy caliber guns. Battleships were larger, better armed and armored than cruisers and destroyers. As the largest armed ships in a fleet, battleships were used to attain command of the sea and represented the apex of a...
. Many of Pennsylvanias compartments were flooded, and she had settled heavily by the stern. Aristaeus repair efforts, however, enabled the man-of-war to get underway for Pearl Harbor
Pearl Harbor
Pearl Harbor, known to Hawaiians as Puuloa, is a lagoon harbor on the island of Oahu, Hawaii, west of Honolulu. Much of the harbor and surrounding lands is a United States Navy deep-water naval base. It is also the headquarters of the U.S. Pacific Fleet...
on 24 August, nine days after the Japanese capitulation ended hostilities.
Post-war service
Aristaeus remained at Buckner Bay until early December. She left Okinawa on the 3rd and shaped a course for the west coast of the United StatesUnited States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. The ship reached San Francisco, California
San Francisco, California
San Francisco , officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the financial, cultural, and transportation center of the San Francisco Bay Area, a region of 7.15 million people which includes San Jose and Oakland...
on the 27th and entered a period of upkeep and repairs. She remained at San Francisco until 22 May 1946, when she got underway for San Diego. Upon her arrival there, the vessel reported to the San Diego Group, 19th Fleet, for inactivation. Aristaeus was decommissioned on 15 January 1947 and was placed in the Pacific Reserve Fleet. Her name was struck from the Naval Vessel Register
Naval Vessel Register
The Naval Vessel Register is the official inventory of ships and service craft in custody of or titled by the United States Navy. It contains information on ships and service craft that make up the official inventory of the Navy from the time a vessel is authorized through its life cycle and...
on 1 July 1961. The vessel was sold to Brown Industries, Inc. of Oakland, California
Oakland, California
Oakland is a major West Coast port city on San Francisco Bay in the U.S. state of California. It is the eighth-largest city in the state with a 2010 population of 390,724...
on 14 March 1962 and was subsequently scrapped.