Indra (ARL 37) - Naval Cruise Book

Page 6 text:

- i - USS INDRA (ARL-37), a Landing Craft Repair Ship, bears the name of the great national god of the Indo-Aryans. In the Vedic Hindu mythology, INDRA represents the greatest and best of the dieties, and is thus the god of sky and storms and of all forces lying in atmospheric phenomena. INDRA was originally authorized for construction as USS LST-1 147, but while undergoing construction by Chicago Bridge and Iron Company in Seneca, Illinois, she was reclassified as ARL-37. She was launched in August, 1945, under the sponsorship of Mrs. Regina K. Hlubek. Following the launching, INDRA was ' placed in reduced commission and brought to Beth- lehem-Key Highway Shipyard in Baltimore, Maryland, for further conversion, and on October 2, 1945, was commissioned under the command of Lieutenant Commander R. J. Siegelman. After her commissioning, INDRA sailed from Baltimore to Hampton Roads area of the Chesapeake Bay where her acceptance trials and shakedown cruise were conducted. After assignment to COMSERVLANT, INDRA sailed to Green Cove Springs, Florida, where she assumed the capacity of repair ship for the Sixth Fleet Commander. On May 6, 1946, she departed Green Cove Springs and steamed through the Panama Canal and into San Diego, arriving on June 4, 1946. At San Diego INDRA was assigned duty as a tender and repair ship under COMPHIBPAC. On the seventh of January, 1947, she left San Diego for similar duty in Tsingtao, China. While supporting the U.S. Marines during this tour in the Far East, INDRA was instrumental in stabilizing the volatile Chinese situation and thus in protecting American lives and property. On August 30, 1947, INDRA departed China and returned to San Diego, arriving on 25 September. Deactivation procedures followed her arrival in San Diego, and on October 6, 1947, only two years after she was commissioned, INDRA was decommissioned and placed in the San Diego Group of the Pacific Reserve Fleet. There she remained in mothballs until April 25, 1967, when under tow by the USS CAHOKIA (ATA-186), she departed Pier 13 of the San Diego Naval Station and headed for San Francisco Bay Naval Shipyard, arriving at Mare Island one week later. On June 1, 1967, INDRA entered drydock for extensive overhaul. Recommissioning ceremonies were held on December 16, 1967, and the USS INDRA, under the command of Lieutenant Commander Delbert D. Boerner, once again became an active member of the U.S. Pacific Fleet.

Page 5 text:

On December 4th 1968, we closed the books on the initial chapters of the history of a resurrected INDRA. What hectic, trying, traumatic, and proud chapters they are. They were written by boots who became true sailors, and by salts who have long rolled with the sea. These chapters are portrayed here by you who wrote them. You are the men who weathered the storm- -who faced the ultimate challenge in Vietnam -and who earned the plaudits of admiral and seaman alike. As your Commanding Officer, I am proud to have shared these months with you, for never have I served with such dedicated men. By your industry, imagination, and spirit you have earned for your ship a fine reputation. WELL DONE to you all. D. D BOERNER

Page 7 text:

' J 7 • After conducting successful dock, bay, sea, and INSURV trials in the San Francisco Bay area, INDRA departed Mare Island on February 7, 1968, enroute to her designated home port of San Diego, arriving trfere on February 10. On March 15, after completion of three weeks of shakedown training exercises, INDRA was determined to be combat ready Although it was originally intended that INDRA remain in the San Diego area as an Amphibious Force repair facility afloat, a requirement arose in March, 1968, for the services of an additional Landing Craft Repair Ship in Southeast Asia. On April 1, 1968, INDRA deployed to the Republic of Vietnam to fulfill this requirement, arriving May 8 at the Port of Vung Tau. The following day INDRA made a ten mile transit up the narrow Song Dinh River and took up a four-point moor offshore of the Naval Support Activity Detachment at Cat Lo, where she immediately began the execution of her unique assigned mission, the activation of river assault craft for the expanding Mobile Riverine Force. INDRA remained at Cat Lo until June 1 1, when she transited the Long Tau River to Naval Support Detachment at Nha Be to meet an urgent Mobile Riverine Force requirement for a ship to support riverine combat operations in the area of the Rung Sat Special Zone. Relieved of this task on June 17 by the USS WINDHAM COUNTY, INDRA returned once more to her four-point moor at Cat Lo and reassumed her primary mission. On October 15, 1968, after having activated and sent into combat over seventy Armored Troop Carriers, Monitors, Assault Support Patrol Boats, and Communication Command Boats, and after having provided Mobile Riverine Force ships and craft with numerous battle damage repairs and other miscellaneous repair services, INDRA completed her mission in RVN and departed Cat Lo for her return trip to CONUS. After making port calls at Hong Kong, Yokosuka, and Pearl Harbor, INDRA arrived in San Diego on December 4, marking the end of an eight-month deploy USS INDRA is presently under the operational control of Comma ' U.S. Pacific Fleet, and the administrative control of Co ' jadron ONE. The fourth ship of her type to be placed .-,ion, INDf- Craft Repair Ship in the Amphibious Force, and while m CONUS she provid- support services for landing craft and small boats of PHIBPAC