USS ''Demeter'' (ARB-10) was planned as a

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 ...

, but was redesignated as one of twelve ''Aristaeus''-class battle damage repair ships built for the

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

Demeter In ancient Greek religion and mythology, Demeter (; Attic: ''Dēmḗtēr'' ; Doric: ''Dāmā́tēr'') is the Olympian goddess of the harvest and agriculture, presiding over crops, grains, food, and the fertility of the earth. Although s ...

(the Greek goddess of agriculture), she was the only US Naval vessel to bear the name.

Construction

Laid down as ''LST-1121'' on 25 October 1944, by the Chicago Bridge & Iron Company of

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 ...

; launched 19 January 1945; sponsored by Mrs. W. B. Wynn; placed in partial commission on 31 January 1945, under the command of

Lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations. The meaning of lieutenant differs in different militaries (see comparative military ranks), but it is often sub ...

P. P. Wynn, USNR; sailed down the

Mississippi River The Mississippi River is the second-longest river and chief river of the second-largest drainage system in North America, second only to the Hudson Bay drainage system. From its traditional source of Lake Itasca in northern Minnesota, it f ...

on her way 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 ...

, where she was decommissioned on 2 March 1945, for conversion to a battle damage repair ship; and commissioned as ''Demeter'' (ARB-10) on 3 July 1945.

Service history

''Demeter'' called at

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 ...

, from 1 to 6 September 1945, and arrived 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 ...

ten days later. She embarked passengers for the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

and sailed 11 October, for the east coast, arriving at

Charleston, South Carolina Charleston is the largest city in the U.S. state of South Carolina, the county seat of Charleston County, and the principal city in the Charleston–North Charleston metropolitan area. The city lies just south of the geographical midpoint o ...

, on 11 November. She arrived at Green Cove Springs, Florida, on 27 November, and was placed in service in reserve on 27 May 1947, to provide services there to the

reserve fleet A reserve fleet is a collection of naval vessels of all types that are fully equipped for service but are not currently needed; they are partially or fully decommissioned. A reserve fleet is informally said to be "in mothballs" or "mothballed"; a ...

group. ''Demeter'' was sold on 3 September 1959. Resold in 1961, for merchant service and renamed ''Motonave'', the ship was later renamed ''Demeter'' (date unknown). She sank on 12 January 1964.

Notes

Citations

Bibliography

Online resources * *

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Demeter (Arb-10) Aristaeus-class repair ships Aristaeus-class repair ships converted from LST-542-class ships Ships built in Seneca, Illinois 1945 ships World War II auxiliary ships of the United States Maritime incidents in 1964 Atlantic Reserve Fleet, Green Cove Springs Group