USS Atlas (ARL-7)

Atlas departing the San Francisco Bay Area, after a yard availability, February 1953.
History
United States
NameUSS Atlas
BuilderChicago Bridge & Iron Company, Seneca, Illinois
Laid down3 June 1943, as LST-231
Launched19 October 1943
Commissioned15 November 1943
Decommissioned13 September 1946
ReclassifiedARL-7, 3 November 1943
Recommissioned1 June 1951
Decommissioned13 April 1956
Stricken1 June 1972
FateSold for scrapping, 18 September 1973
General characteristics
Class and typeAchelous class repair ship
Displacement1,781 long tons (1,810 t) light, 3,960 long tons (4,024 t) full
Length328 ft (100 m)
Beam50 ft (15 m)
Draft11 ft 2 in (3.40 m)
Propulsion2 × General Motors 12-567 diesel engines, two shafts, twin rudders
Speed12 knots (14 mph; 22 km/h)
Complement255 officers and enlisted men
Armament12 × Bofors 40 mm guns (2x4, 2x2), 12 × Oerlikon 20 mm cannons (6x2)
Service record
Operations: World War II, Invasion of Normandy, Korean War
Awards: 1 Battle star (WWII)

USS Atlas (ARL-7) was one of 39 Achelous-class landing craft repair ships built for the United States Navy during World War II. Named for Atlas (in Greek mythology, the son of the Titan Iapetus and Clymene and the brother of Prometheus), she was the second U.S. Naval vessel to bear the name.

Originally laid down as LST-231 on 3 June 1943 at Seneca, Illinois by the Chicago Bridge & Iron Company; launched on 19 October 1943; sponsored by Mrs. Nettie Singer; named Atlas and redesignated a landing craft repair ship ARL-7 on 3 November 1943; and commissioned on 15 November 1943 for the voyage to the conversion yard. She arrived in Baltimore, Maryland on 14 December 1943; entered the Bethlehem Steel Key Highway Shipyard; and was placed out of commission for her conversion to a landing craft repair ship. Her modifications completed early in February, 1944 Atlas was recommissioned at Baltimore on 8 February 1944.