USS ''Bellona'' (ARL-32) was one of 39 ''Achelous''-class

landing craft Landing craft are small and medium seagoing watercraft, such as boats and barges, used to convey a landing force (infantry and vehicles) from the sea to the shore during an amphibious assault. The term excludes landing ships, which are larger. Pr ...

repair ships built for the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. Named for

Bellona Bellona may refer to: Places *Bellona, Campania, a ''comune'' in the Province of Caserta, Italy *Bellona Reef, a reef in New Caledonia *Bellona Island, an island in Rennell and Bellona Province, Solomon Islands Ships * HMS ''Bellona'' (1760), a 74 ...

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a letter ...

goddess of war variously identified as the sister, daughter, and wife of

Mars Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun and the second-smallest planet in the Solar System, only being larger than Mercury (planet), Mercury. In the English language, Mars is named for the Mars (mythology), Roman god of war. Mars is a terr ...

), 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 Seneca is a village in LaSalle County, Illinois, LaSalle and Grundy County, Illinois, Grundy counties in the U.S. state of Illinois. The population was 2,353 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, down from 2,371 at the 2010 United States c ...

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 Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...

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

Chesapeake Bay The Chesapeake Bay ( ) is the largest estuary in the United States. The Bay is located in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region and is primarily separated from the Atlantic Ocean by the Delmarva Peninsula (including the parts: the ...

. After post shakedown repairs at the

Norfolk Navy Yard The Norfolk Naval Shipyard, often called the Norfolk Navy Yard and abbreviated as NNSY, is a U.S. Navy facility in Portsmouth, Virginia, for building, remodeling and repairing the Navy's ships. It is the oldest and largest industrial facility tha ...

, she got underway for the

Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the continen ...

on 5 September. The ship arrived in the

Canal Zone The Panama Canal Zone ( es, Zona del Canal de Panamá), also simply known as the Canal Zone, was an unincorporated territory of the United States, located in the Isthmus of Panama, that existed from 1903 to 1979. It was located within the terri ...

on 12 September, transited the canal, and headed for

San Diego San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the List of United States cities by population, eigh ...

on the 14th. She stood out of San Diego on 11 October, stopped briefly at

Pearl Harbor Pearl Harbor is an American lagoon harbor on the island of Oahu, Hawaii, west of Honolulu. It was often visited by the Naval fleet of the United States, before it was acquired from the Hawaiian Kingdom by the U.S. with the signing of the Re ...

, and then headed on to the Bonins on 31 October. ''Bellona'' arrived at

Iwo Jima Iwo Jima (, also ), known in Japan as , is one of the Japanese Volcano Islands and lies south of the Bonin Islands. Together with other islands, they form the Ogasawara Archipelago. The highest point of Iwo Jima is Mount Suribachi at high. ...

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 The ''Naval Vessel Register'' (NVR) 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 t ...

on 5 June 1946.

References

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Bellona (Arl-32) Achelous-class repair ships Achelous-class repair ships converted from LST-542-class ships World War II auxiliary ships of the United States Ships built in Seneca, Illinois 1945 ships Shipwrecks in the Pacific Ocean Maritime incidents in December 1945 Maritime incidents in 1946