USS Aristaeus

	USS Aristaeus (ARB-1), overhead view while underway, date and location unknown.
History
United States
Name	LST-329; Aristaeus;
Namesake	Aristaeus
Builder	Philadelphia Navy Yard, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Laid down	12 November 1942
Launched	1 February 1943
Sponsored by	Mrs. Arthur Taylor
Commissioned	18 May 1943
Decommissioned	15 January 1947
Reclassified	Battle Damage Repair Ship, 26 January 1943
Stricken	1 July 1961
Identification	Hull symbol: LST-329; Hull symbol: ARB-1; Code letters: NJWX; ;
Honors and; awards	1 × battle stars (World War II)
Fate	Sold for scrapping, 14 March 1962
General characteristics
Class and type	tank landing ship; Aristaeus-class battle damage repair ship;
Displacement	1,781 long tons (1,810 t) (light); 4,100 long tons (4,200 t) (full);
Length	328 ft (100 m) oa
Beam	50 ft (15 m)
Draft	11 ft 2 in (3.40 m)
Installed power	2 × 900 12-567A diesel engines; 1,700 kW);
Propulsion	1 × Falk main reduction gears; 2 × Propellers;
Speed	11.6 kn (21.5 km/h; 13.3 mph)
Complement	20 officers, 234 enlisted men
Armament	1 × 3 in (76 mm)/50 caliber gun; 2 × quad 40 mm (1.57 in) Bofors guns ; 8 × 20 mm (0.79 in) Oerlikon cannons;

USS Aristaeus (ARB-1) was planned as a

tank landing ship, but was redesignated as one of twelve Aristaeus-class 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 US Naval vessel to bear the name.

Construction

The ship was laid down as LST-329 on 12 November 1942, at the

Philadelphia Navy Yard; reclassified 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.^[2]

Service history

On 1 June, the ship got underway for Norfolk, Virginia. 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 Nouméa, New Caledonia.^[2]

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

Kerama Retto in the Ryukyu Islands.^[2]

The vessel remained at Kerama Retto during the next two months. As a member of

Japanese capitulation ended hostilities.^[2]

Post-war service

Aristaeus remained at Buckner Bay until early December. She left Okinawa on 3 December, and shaped a course for the west coast of the United States. The ship reached

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.^[2]

Awards

Aristaeus earned one

battle star for her World War II service.^[2]

Notes

Bibliography

Online resources

"Aristaeus (ARB-1)". Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. Naval History and Heritage Command. 7 April 2016. Retrieved 27 July 2017. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
"USS Aristaeus (ARB-1)". Navsource.org. 1 July 2016. Retrieved 27 July 2017.

External links

Photo gallery of USS Aristaeus (ARB-1) at NavSource Naval History

[FOOTNOTENavsource2016-1] Navsource 2016.

[FOOTNOTEDANFS2016-2] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f DANFS 2016.

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