Service history
On 1 June, the ship got underway for Norfolk, Virginia. During the next six weeks, she conducted shakedown training out of Norfolk and in the Chesapeake Bay. On 23 July, she left the east coast and shaped a course for the Pacific. The vessel transited the Panama Canal and joined the Pacific Fleet on 1 August. She then continued on via Bora Bora, the Society Islands, and Tutuila, American Samoa to Nouméa, New Caledonia.
Aristaeus reached Nouméa on 14 September, and operated in its immediate vicinity through the remainder of 1943, and the first six months of 1944. Early in July 1944, she anchored at Sydney, Australia. After upkeep at that port, the repair ship journeyed to New Guinea, in late September, and provided battle damage repairs to vessels in this area into April 1945. On 1 May, she anchored at Kerama Retto in the Ryukyu Islands.
The vessel remained at Kerama Retto during the next two months. As a member of Service Squadron (ServRon) 10, she performed battle damage and voyage repairs to various ships of the fleet. On 2 July, the ship moved her base of operations to Buckner Bay, Okinawa, where she provided routine repair services. On 13 August, she was ordered to assist in repairing the torpedoed battleship Pennsylvania. Many of Pennsylvania's compartments were flooded, and she had settled heavily by the stern. Aristaeus' repair efforts, however, enabled the battleship to get underway for Pearl Harbor on 24 August, nine days after the Japanese capitulation ended hostilities.
Post-war service
Aristaeus remained at Buckner Bay until early December. She left Okinawa on 3 December, and shaped a course for the west coast of the United States. The ship reached San Francisco, California, on 27 December, and entered a period of upkeep and repairs. She remained at San Francisco until 22 May 1946, when she got underway for San Diego. Upon her arrival there, the vessel reported to the San Diego Group, 19th Fleet, for inactivation. Aristaeus was decommissioned on 15 January 1947, and was placed in the Pacific Reserve Fleet. Her name was struck from the Naval Vessel Register on 1 July 1961. The vessel was sold to Brown Industries, Inc. of Oakland, California on 14 March 1962, and was subsequently scrapped.
USS Vestal (AR-4) was a repair ship in service with the United States Navy from 1913 to 1946. Before her conversion to a repair ship, she had served as a collier since 1909. Vestal served in both World Wars. She was damaged during the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor and received two battle stars for her World War II service.
USS Hopping (DE-155) was a Buckley-class destroyer escort in service with the United States Navy from 1943 to 1947. In 1944, she was converted to a Charles Lawrence-class high speed transport and redesignated "APD-51". She was sold for scrap in 1966.
USS Thomas E. Fraser (DD-736/DM-24) was a Robert H. Smith-class destroyer minelayer in the United States Navy.
USS Serene (AM-300) was an Admirable-class minesweeper built for the United States Navy during World War II. She served in the Pacific Ocean and was awarded six battle stars. She was decommissioned and placed in reserve in 1946. In January 1964, the former Serene was transferred to South Vietnam as RVNS Nhật Tảo (HQ-10) in the Republic of Vietnam Navy. She was sunk in January 1974 during combat with Chinese forces in the Battle of the Paracel Islands.
USS Nestor (ARB-6) was planned as a United States Navy LST-491-class tank landing ship, but was redesignated as one of twelve Aristaeus-class battle damage repair ships built for the United States Navy during World War II. Named for Nestor, she was the only US Naval vessel to bear the name.
USS Oceanus (ARB-2) was planned as a United States Navy LST-1-class tank landing ship, but was redesignated as one of twelve Aristaeus-class battle damage repair ships built for the United States Navy during World War II. Named for Oceanus, she was the only US Naval vessel to bear the name.
USS Phaon (ARB-3) was planned as a United States Navy LST-1-class tank landing ship, but was redesignated as one of twelve Aristaeus-class battle damage repair ships built for the United States Navy during World War II. Named for Phaon, she was the only US Naval vessel to bear the name.
USS Zeus (ARB-4) was planned as a United States Navy LST-1-class tank landing ship, but was redesignated as one of twelve Aristaeus-class battle damage repair ships built for the United States Navy during World War II. Named for Zeus, she was the only US Naval vessel to bear the name.
USS Midas (ARB-5) was planned as a United States Navy LST-491-class tank landing ship, but was redesignated as one of twelve Aristaeus-class battle damage repair ships built for the United States Navy during World War II. Named for Midas, she was the only US Naval vessel to bear the name.
USS Sarpedon (ARB-7) was laid down as a United States Navy LST-542-class tank landing ship but was converted as one of twelve Aristaeus-class battle damage repair ships built for the Navy during World War II. Named for Sarpedon, and also she was the only US Naval vessel to bear the name.
USS Telamon (ARB-8) was planned as a United States Navy LST-542-class tank landing ship but was converted as one of twelve Aristaeus-class battle damage repair ships built for the Navy during World War II. Named for Telamon, she was the only US Naval vessel to bear the name.
USS Ulysses (ARB-9) was planned as a United States Navy LST-542-class tank landing ship, but was redesignated as one of twelve Aristaeus-class battle damage repair ships built for the United States Navy during World War II. Named for Ulysses, she was the second US Naval vessel to bear the name.
USS Demeter (ARB-10) was planned as a United States Navy LST-542-class tank landing ship, but was redesignated as one of twelve Aristaeus-class battle damage repair ships built for the United States Navy during World War II. Named for Demeter, she was the only US Naval vessel to bear the name.
USS Amycus (ARL-2) was one of 39 Achelous-class landing craft repair ships built for the United States Navy during World War II. Named for Amycus, she was the only US Naval vessel to bear the name.
USS Egeria (ARL-8) was one of 39 Achelous-class landing craft repair ships built for the United States Navy during World War II. Named for Egeria, she was the only U.S. Naval vessel to bear the name.
USS Vigilance (AM-324) was an Auk-class minesweeper acquired by the United States Navy for the dangerous task of removing mines from minefields laid in the water to prevent ships from passing.
USS Robin was a YMS-1-class minesweeper of the YMS-135 subclass built for the United States Navy during World War II.
USS Seid (DE-256) was an Evarts-class destroyer escort of the United States Navy in service from 1943 to 1945. She was scrapped in 1947.
USS Riddle (DE-185) was a Cannon-class destroyer escort in service with the United States Navy from 1943 to 1946. In 1950, she was transferred to France where she served as Kabyle (F718) until being decommissioned and scrapped in 1959.
USS Natrona (APA-214) was a Haskell-class attack transport of the US Navy in World War II. She was of the VC2-S-AP5 Victory ship design type. Natrona was named for Natrona County, Wyoming.
This page is based on this
Wikipedia article Text is available under the
CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
United States 
