USS Bellona

History
United States
Name	USS Bellona
Builder	Chicago Bridge and Iron Company
Laid down	27 December 1944
Launched	26 March 1945
Commissioned	28 July 1945
Stricken	5 June 1946
Fate	Grounded, 1 December 1945; Declared unsalvageable & destroyed with explosives, 14 May 1946;
General characteristics
Class and 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

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.

Service history

Bellona departed Baltimore on 6 August 1945 for shakedown training in

Bonins on 31 October. Bellona arrived at Iwo Jima on 14 November and began duty as station repair ship there. Bellona went hard aground on the north side of Kama Rock on 1 December 1945. After the failure of several attempts to refloat her, Bellona proved unsalvageable. Finally, after all salvageable equipment had been removed, she was destroyed with explosives on 14 May 1946. Her name was struck from the Naval Vessel Register

on 5 June 1946.

References

This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be found here.
"LST-1136 / ARL-32 Bellona". Amphibious Photo Archive. Retrieved 6 May 2007.