USS Bellatrix (AKA-3)

For other ships of the same name, see USS Bellatrix.

USS Bellatrix
Career (USA)
Name:	USS Bellatrix
Builder:	Tampa Shipbuilding and Drydock Co.
Laid down:	Unknown
Launched:	August 15, 1941
Commissioned:	February 17, 1942
Recommissioned:	May 16, 1952
Decommissioned:	June 3, 1955
Reclassified:	February 1, 1943
Honours and awards:	Six battle stars
Fate:	Transferred to Peruvian Navy on July 20, 1963.
Career (Peru)	60px
Name:	BAP Independencia
Commissioned:	1963
Decommissioned:	1991
Fate:	Scrapped in October, 1991
General characteristics
Displacement:	8045 tons (8175 metric tons)
Length:	459.08 ft (139.93 m)
Beam:	63 ft (19 m)
Draught:	26.5 ft (8.1 m)
Propulsion:	Diesel engine, 6900 hp (5.15 MW), single propeller
Speed:	16 knots (30 km/h)
Capacity:	5830 tons (16,500 m³)
Complement:	369
Armament:	1 5"/38 DP, 4 3"/50 DP, 14 × 2 20 mm guns

USS Bellatrix (AK-20/AKA-3) was an Arcturus-class attack cargo ship in the United States Navy during World War II and the Korean War. The ship was named after the star Bellatrix in the constellation Orion. The name means "warrioress," and the star is usually named as the 22nd brightest star in the northern hemisphere.

Bellatrix was constructed in Florida as an AK-20 merchant marine cargo ship for the Maritime Commission under the name Raven. In April 1941, the War Shipping Administration transferred control of the unfinished Raven to the U.S. Navy. She was reclassified as an AKA-3 attack cargo ship, and launched in August under the command of CDR William Francis Dietrich, USNA 1917.

Bellatrix served in the Pacific during 1942, and participated in the Battle of Guadalcanal by delivering troops and supplies to the initial attack on 7 August. She made two subsequent shipments to the island, bringing both cargo and reinforcements. In 1943 she became part of the Mediterranean Theater of Operations, participating in the Allied invasion of Sicily. A subsequent shipment to the Gilbert Islands was terminated due to engine failure; Bellatrix returned to San Francisco for repairs.

In 1944, the repaired Bellatrix joined General Holland "Howling Mad" Smith's amphibious fleet moving to take the island of Saipan. On 16 July, she delivered her cargo, soldiers from the U.S. Army's 27th Infantry Division, just two days before the defeat of the Japanese General, Yoshitsugu Saito.

The Battle of Saipan was Bellatrix's last WWII deployment. She was decommissioned on 01 April 1946, and returned to the Maritime Commission three months later.

Bellatrix was reacquired by the Navy for the Korean War. She was recommissioned 16 May 1952, and performed cargo deliveries and training missions until 1955. Decommissioned a second time, on 03 June 1955 Bellatrix subsequently spent eight years in the Pacific Reserve Fleet before being transferred to Peru on 20 July 1963,and named BAP Independencia (A-130) In 1991 she was sold for scrap, having been in service for almost fifty years.

References

• This article includes text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be found here.

External links

• Naval Historical Center Photo entry
• Photo gallery of Bellatrix at NavSource Naval History
• 51 Years of AKAs