USS Stentor (ARL-26)

USS "Stentor" (ARL-26) was one of 39 "Achelous"-class landing craft repair ships built for the United States Navy during World War II. Named for Stentor (a Greek herald in the Trojan War noted for his loud, "stentorian" voice), she was the only U.S. Naval vessel to bear the name.

Originally projected as a tank landing ship, "LST-858", "Stentor" was redesignated a landing craft repair ship on 14 August 1944; laid down at Seneca, Illinois on 21 September 1944 by the Chicago Bridge & Iron Company; launched on 11 November 1944; and commissioned on 22 December 1944 with Lieutenant Charles J. Miller in command.

"Stentor" moved down the Mississippi River after commissioning and arrived at New Orleans on Christmas Eve. She departed the South Pass on 2 January 1945 and arrived in Mobile, Alabama on the following day. "Stentor" decommissioned at Mobile on 9 January and began conversion to a landing craft repair ship. She recommissioned on 28 April and completed fitting out and shakedown training in May. On 4 June she reported for duty with the Pacific Fleet at Coco Solo, the western terminus of the Panama Canal. Three days later, "Stentor" headed for the California coast. She loaded pontoons at Port Hueneme, near Los Angeles, between 20 and 25 June, then sailed for San Francisco. She stopped there on the 27th and headed for Hawaii. The landing craft repair ship reached Pearl Harbor on 16 July and there she remained through the waning days of World War II and into the fall of 1945. On 20 October 1945 she departed the harbor and shaped a course for the Far East. "Stentor" stopped at Guam in the Marianas on 3 November and arrived in Shanghai, China three days before Christmas. She served in China until 6 October 1946, when she departed Tsingtao for the United States. One month later, she entered port at San Pedro, California. For a little more than a year, she operated on the west coast, but spent most of her time in port at San Diego, where she was decommissioned and placed in the Pacific Reserve Fleet in December, 1947. "Stentor" remained out of commission, in reserve, until 1 July 1960 when her name was struck from the Naval Vessel Register. On 23 January 1961 her hulk was sold to the Diesel Parts Corporation of New York City for scrapping.

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