USS Tantalus (ARL-27) USS Tantalus (ARL-27) USS "Tantalus" (ARL-27) was one of 39 "Achelous"-class landing craft repair ships built for the United States Navy during World War II. Named for Tantalus (a legendary king of Lydia condemned to stand in a pool of water up to his chin and beneath fruit-laden boughs only to have the water or fruit recede at each attempt to drink or eat), she was the only U.S. Naval vessel to bear the name. Originally laid down as "LST-1117" on 10 October 1944 at Seneca, Illinois by the Chicago Bridge and Iron Company; launched on 2 January 1945; sponsored
Digital Item MPEG-21 proposes to facilitate a wide range of actions involving Digital Items so there is a need for a very precise description for defining exactly what constitutes such an item. A "Digital Item Declaration" (DID) is a document that specifies the makeup, structure and organisation of a Digital Item. The purpose of the Digital Item Declaration is to describe a set of abstract terms and concepts, to form a useful model for defining what a Digital Item is. Following this model, a Digital Item is the digital representation of an object, which is managed, described or exchanged within the model.