USS Achelous ( ARL - 1 ) USS " Achelous " ( ARL - 1 ) was one of 39 tank landing ship s converted into landing craft repair ships for service in the United States Navy during World War II . The lead ship in her class , she was named for the Greek god Achelous , the only U . S . Naval vessel to bear the name . She was laid down as the unnamed LST - 10 on 15 August 1942 at Pittsburgh , Pennsylvania by the Dravo Corporation ; launched on 25 November 1942 ; sponsored by Mrs . George F . Wolfe , the wife of the chief engineer of Dravo ; named Achelous and redesignated ARL - 1 on 13 January 1943 ; and commissioned on 2 April 1943 at Baltimore , Maryland , Captain B . N . Ward in temporary command . Later that day , command of the landing craft repair ship passed to Lieutenant Walter Ringies . Service history . " Achelous " held shakedown in Chesapeake Bay , stopped at Norfolk , Virginia on 22 April to take on supplies on 28 April , and sailed on the 28th with a convoy bound for North Africa . She paused in Bermuda from 2 – 9 May , and arrived in Oran , Algeria on 26 May . " Achelous " moved to Bizerte , Tunisia on 1 June and remained there until 14 July providing varied services to landing craft . Following the Allied invasion of Sicily , " Achelous " moored at Licata , Sicily from 15 July – 4 August to perform repair work . She returned to Bizerte on 15 August , and for the next three days underwent two enemy air raids . During the second raid , " Achelous " ' guns assisted in downing two German planes . " Achelous " spent one week in mid - September at Palermo , Sicily . She got underway with Convoy UGS - 19 on 16 October , reached Port Said , Egypt , on 23 October , and transited the Suez Canal on 25 October . The repair ship then headed for Massawa , Italian Eritrea , where she arrived on 31 October . The next day , she entered a British - owned floating drydock at Massawa . The ship left the drydock on 4 November and got underway for India . She arrived at Calcutta in early December and spent approximately one month providing services in the China Burma India theater . In early 1944 , " Achelous " left India and sailed to the Mediterranean to support operations along the Italian coast . She remained at these duties for seven months . In July , the landing craft repair ship began preparations for the assault on the southern coast of France . In mid - August , she dropped anchor off the French coast and set up a pontoon drydock to service landing craft used in the invasion . These duties occupied her through most of 1944 . Late in the year , the repair ship was reassigned to the Pacific Ocean and began her voyage via the Strait of Gibraltar and the Panama Canal to her new area of operations . She transited the Panama Canal on 7 March 1945 and proceeded to Eniwetok , where she arrived on 24 April . " Achelous " then was assigned to support the invasion and occupation of Okinawa , her last combat operation of World War II . Following the War , " Achelous " returned to the west coast . She was placed out of commission in reserve in January 1947 and berthed in the Columbia River Group of the Pacific Reserve Fleet . " Achelous " ' name was struck from the Naval Vessel Register on 1 June 1973 and the ship was sold on 21 January 1974 to Overseas Shipyard , Ltd . of Hong Kong for scrapping . Awards . " Achelous " earned two battle star s for World War II service .