USS Bellerophon (ARL-31) was one of 39 Achelous-class

Achelous class repair ship

The Achelous class repair ship was a class of ship built by the US Navy during World War II.As the US gained experience in amphibious operations, it was realized that some sort of mobile repair facility would be useful for repairing the damage that frequently occurred to smaller vessels such as...

 landing craft

Landing craft

Landing craft are boats and seagoing vessels used to convey a landing force from the sea to the shore during an amphibious assault. Most renowned are those used to storm the beaches of Normandy, the Mediterranean, and many Pacific islands during WWII...

 repair ships built for the United States Navy

United States Navy

The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...

 during World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

. Named for Bellerophon

Bellerophon

Bellerophon or Bellerophontes is a hero of Greek mythology. He was "the greatest hero and slayer of monsters, alongside of Cadmus and Perseus, before the days of Heracles", and his greatest feat was killing the Chimera, a monster that Homer depicted with a lion's head, a goat's body, and a...

 (a hero

Hero

A hero , in Greek mythology and folklore, was originally a demigod, their cult being one of the most distinctive features of ancient Greek religion...

 of Greek mythology

Greek mythology

Greek mythology is the body of myths and legends belonging to the ancient Greeks, concerning their gods and heroes, the nature of the world, and the origins and significance of their own cult and ritual practices. They were a part of religion in ancient Greece...

, the son of Eurymede by either the Corinthian King, Glaucus

Glaucus

Glaucus is a Greek name. In modern Greek usage, the name is usually transliterated Glafkos. It may refer to:*Glaucus, a sea-god in Greek mythology*Glaucus , a mythical Lycian captain in the Trojan War...

, or the sea god, Poseidon

Poseidon

Poseidon was the god of the sea, and, as "Earth-Shaker," of the earthquakes in Greek mythology. The name of the sea-god Nethuns in Etruscan was adopted in Latin for Neptune in Roman mythology: both were sea gods analogous to Poseidon...

), she was the only U.S. Naval vessel to bear the name.

Originally planned as an LST, she was redesignated as landing craft repair ship ARL-31 prior to construction. The ship was laid down on 12 December 1944 at Seneca, Illinois

Seneca, Illinois

Seneca is a village in LaSalle and Grundy counties in the U.S. state of Illinois. The population was 2,371 at the 2010 census.The LaSalle County portion of Seneca is part of the Ottawa–Streator Micropolitan Statistical Area, while the small portion that lies in Grundy County is part of the...

 by the Chicago Bridge & Iron Company; launched on 7 March 1945; sponsored by Mrs. Hazel Nitherspoon; and commissioned on 19 March 1945 with Lieutenant Perry P. Wynn in command.

Service history

On 21 March 1945 the ship sailed for Mobile, Alabama

Mobile, Alabama

Mobile is the third most populous city in the Southern US state of Alabama and is the county seat of Mobile County. It is located on the Mobile River and the central Gulf Coast of the United States. The population within the city limits was 195,111 during the 2010 census. It is the largest...

 where she was placed out of commission on 31 March to be fitted out as a landing craft repair ship by the Alabama Drydock & Shipbuilding Company. The conversion was completed that summer, and USS Bellerophon (ARL-31) was recommissioned on 21 July 1945 at Mobile with Lieutenant Samuel H. Alexander, USNR, in command. On 31 July the ship began a fortnight's shakedown cruise that took her to Galveston, Texas

Galveston, Texas

Galveston is a coastal city located on Galveston Island in the U.S. state of Texas. , the city had a total population of 47,743 within an area of...

. She returned to Mobile on 14 August and began preparations for an overseas deployment. On 1 September Bellerophon departed Mobile and headed for the Pacific Ocean

Pacific Ocean

The Pacific Ocean is the largest of the Earth's oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic in the north to the Southern Ocean in the south, bounded by Asia and Australia in the west, and the Americas in the east.At 165.2 million square kilometres in area, this largest division of the World...

. After transiting the Panama Canal

Panama Canal

The Panama Canal is a ship canal in Panama that joins the Atlantic Ocean and the Pacific Ocean and is a key conduit for international maritime trade. Built from 1904 to 1914, the canal has seen annual traffic rise from about 1,000 ships early on to 14,702 vessels measuring a total of 309.6...

, she headed up the west coast toward San Francisco. She made a stop at San Diego before arriving at Treasure Island

Treasure Island, California

Treasure Island is an artificial island in the San Francisco Bay between San Francisco and Oakland, and an emerging neighborhood of San Francisco....

 on 3 October. There, the ship began duty as the repair ship for a newly-formed boat pool. When a strike by civilian workers paralyzed civilian yards during the latter part of October, Bellerophon began making voyage repairs to Operation Magic Carpet ships while also carrying out some conversion work to enable attack cargo ships to serve as passenger carriers.

That work lasted until the spring of 1946. On 26 March 1946 she departed San Francisco bound for Hawaii

Hawaii

Hawaii is the newest of the 50 U.S. states , and is the only U.S. state made up entirely of islands. It is the northernmost island group in Polynesia, occupying most of an archipelago in the central Pacific Ocean, southwest of the continental United States, southeast of Japan, and northeast of...

. Upon her arrival in Pearl Harbor

Pearl Harbor

Pearl Harbor, known to Hawaiians as Puuloa, is a lagoon harbor on the island of Oahu, Hawaii, west of Honolulu. Much of the harbor and surrounding lands is a United States Navy deep-water naval base. It is also the headquarters of the U.S. Pacific Fleet...

, she was assigned to the Commander, Amphibious Forces, Pacific Fleet, for duty repairing amphibious warfare ships. She concluded that assignment on 16 July and got underway to return to the west coast. The ship arrived in San Diego at the end of July and resumed repair work on amphibious ships. Bellerophon remained so engaged until placed out of commission at San Diego in September 1947. She remained in reserve, first at San Diego and later at Bremerton, Washington

Bremerton, Washington

Bremerton is a city in Kitsap County, Washington, United States. The population was 38,790 at the 2011 State Estimate, making it the largest city on the Olympic Peninsula. Bremerton is home to Puget Sound Naval Shipyard and the Bremerton Annex of Naval Base Kitsap...

 for the next three decades. Her name was struck from the Naval Vessel Register

Naval Vessel Register

The Naval Vessel Register 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 the time a vessel is authorized through its life cycle and...

 in October, 1977 and she was sold on 20 June 1980 to the Levin Metals Corporation of Richmond, California

Richmond, California

Richmond is a city in western Contra Costa County, California, United States. The city was incorporated on August 7, 1905. It is located in the East Bay, part of the San Francisco Bay Area. It is a residential inner suburb of San Francisco, as well as the site of heavy industry, which has been...

for scrapping.