USS Krishna
1945 Achelous-class repair ship
USS Krishna (ARL-38) was one of 39 Achelous-class landing craft repair ships built for the United States Navy during World War II. Named for Krishna (a deity worshiped across many traditions of Hinduism), she was the only U.S. Naval vessel to bear the name, and only one of three ships (along with USS Indra and the Civil War era gunboat USS Varuna) to be named after a Hindu deity.
Originally classified LST-1149, Krishna was reclassified ARL-38 on 14 August 1944; laid down 23 February 1945 by Chicago Bridge & Iron Company of Seneca, Illinois; launched 25 May 1945; sponsored by Mrs. Eva Best Smith; placed in reduced commission during transfer to Mobile, Alabama for conversion; and commissioned 3 December 1945 at Mobile.
Service history
Departing Mobile 8 January 1946 Krishna arrived Norfolk 14 January for duty with Amphibious Group 2 at Little Creek, Virginia. For more than 19 years the landing craft repair ship operated out of Little Creek, during which time support-and-repair operations carried her from Baffin Bay to the Caribbean. From 25 May to 31 August 1951 while under the command of CDR Harold C. "Brownie" Brown she participated in "Operation Blue Jay" during the initial phase of establishing the large air base at Thule, Greenland. While at Little Creek she made annual deployments to Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, and other Caribbean islands supporting amphibious landing exercises.
Krishna departed Little Creek 5 October 1964 and sailed to waters off southern Spain, arriving at Huelva 26 October. While there she participated in "Operation Steel Pike" (the largest amphibious landing operation since World War II, which sent more than 28,000 2nd Division Marines storming the shores on a mock invasion). One of 84 naval ships, Krishna provided support and replenishment services during this impressive exercise that clearly illustrated the strength and diversity of American naval sea power and emphasized the Navy's ability and readiness to move a vast amphibious force to any shore if needed in keeping the peace.
The public source identifies “USS Krishna” as 1945 Achelous-class repair ship. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Krishna, Achelous-class and repair.
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This entry incorporates text from “USS Krishna” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.