USS Numitor

USS Numitor (ARL-17) was to be laid down as an LST-542-class tank landing ship but was instead laid down as one of 39 Achelous-class repair ships landing craft repair ships built for the United States Navy during World War II. Named for Numitor (in Roman mythology, King Numitor of Alba Longa, son of Procas, and the father of Rhea Silvia), she was the only US Naval vessel to bear the name.

USS Numitor (ARL-17) underway, date and location unknown.
History
United States
Name	LST-954 Numitor
Namesake	Numitor
Builder	Bethlehem-Hingham Shipyard, Hingham, Massachusetts
Yard number	3424[1]
Laid down	19 September 1944
Launched	18 October 1944
Commissioned	3 April 1945
Decommissioned	1 July 1947
Renamed	14 August 1944
Stricken	1 April 1960
Identification	Hull symbol: LST-954 Hull symbol: ARL-17 Code letters: NKFF
Fate	Sold, and converted to a drydock
General characteristics [2]
Class & type	LST-542-class tank landing ship Achelous-class repair ship
Displacement	3,900 long tons (4,000 t) light 4,100 long tons (4,200 t) full load
Length	328 ft (100 m) oa
Beam	50 ft (15 m)
Draft	11 ft 2 in (3.40 m)
Installed power	2 × 900 hp (670 kW) Electro-Motive Diesel 12-567A diesel engines 1,800 shp (1,300 kW)
Propulsion	1 × Falk main reduction gears 2 × Propellers
Speed	11.6 kn (21.5 km/h; 13.3 mph)
Complement	22 officers, 233 enlisted men
Armament	1 × 3 in (76 mm)/50 caliber dual purpose gun 2 × quad 40 mm (1.57 in) Bofors guns (with Mark 51 director) 6 × twin 20 mm (0.79 in) Oerlikon cannons

Construction

LST-954 was redesignated ARL-17 and named Numitor on 14 August 1944.^[3] Numitor was laid down on 19 September 1944, at Hingham, Massachusetts, by the Bethlehem-Hingham Shipyard; launched on 18 October 1944. After conversion by Bethlehem Key Highway Shipyard, Baltimore, Maryland, she was commissioned on 3 April 1945.^[4]

Service history

After shakedown in Chesapeake Bay, the landing-craft repair ship departed Norfolk, Virginia 12 May 1945; transited the Panama Canal; received additional gear on the West Coast, sailed via Pearl Harbor, the Marshall Islands, and Caroline Islands, and reached Okinawa, 10 August 1945. With the end of World War II her base of operations transferred to Sasebo, Japan, where the ship continued in occupation service from 22 September until 22 February 1946.^[4]

Returning to the United States, Numitor again transited the Panama Canal and arrived Orange, Texas, 17 June 1946. Initially assisting in the deactivation of other vessels, she was placed out of commission in reserve 1 July 1947. Struck from the Naval Vessel Register on 1 April 1960, Numitor was sold to the Southern Scrap Material Co., of New Orleans, Louisiana. The hull was later sold to the Dravo Corporation for conversion to a drydock.^[4]

Numitor with miscellaneous naval ships and craft alongside including LCT-960, date and place unknown.