In news out of Chile, the country’s very professional (if somewhat outdated) navy has been keeping tabs on a foreign fishing fleet of 8 large trawlers crossing through the Juan Fernández Archipelago National Park and then into the Strait of Magellan to make sure they don’t illegally drop nets or lines in Chile’s EEZ.
While aerial observation occurred– conducted by AS365 Dauphin 2s, at least one submarine kept an eye on the Chinese fishing fleet as well, a great example of how modern sea power is meshing with roaming international IUU concerns.
The submarine looks to be a French-made Scorpène-class SSK, two of which — Carrera (SS-22) and O’Higgins (SS-23)— were delivered in 2005-06. The country’s fleet also runs an older pair of German HDW-made Type 209-1400s– Thomson (SS-20) and Simpson (SS-21)— which were delivered in the early 1980s during tensions with Argentina and today serve more of a training role.
Submarine “Carrera” returned to Chile after participating in the DESI 2023 exercise (PHOTO: Chilean Navy)
Chile has been in the submarine biz since 1917.
For reference, before their current boats, the Chileans ran a pair of British-built Oberon-class submarines (O’Brien and Hyatt) for three decades.
Going even further back, Santiago picked up two non-GUPPY Snorkel conversion Balao-class boats– USS Spot (SS-413)/Simpson and USS Springer (SS-414)/Thomson in 1962.
If you have or know a youth who would love this, plan ahead as these are really great programs that leave a lasting lesson and memory.
Via CMP:
The Junior Rifle Camps are designed to train rifle fundamentals and techniques through group discussions and personal guidance from experienced mentors on the firing line. The schedule also includes instructional smallbore camps for even more opportunities to learn on the range. The camps are excellent tools in developing each athlete’s strengths within the physical and mental aspects of the sport while refining trouble areas that may need more attention.
Types of Camps:
3-Position Air Rifle: The 3-Position (3P) air rifle camps are by far the most popular camp CMP offers. Over five days, athletes will learn the fundamentals of 3P air rifle, including but not limited to how to build a stable position, how to develop and use a shot process and how to compete like a champion. Athletes will get to know other competitors of similar skill levels from around the country and learn from some of the best collegiate rifle athletes in the sport. Cost of the 3P Air Rifle Camp is $300/athlete and $75/adult chaperone.
Advanced Standing Air Rifle: The advanced standing camps are tailored for athletes who want to take their game to the next level. Whether to improve the most difficult position or to continue working toward reaching a Division 1 NCAA school, this camp is for you. The three-day camp consists of in-depth instruction that builds off the fundamentals learned at the 3P air camp. Since there is only one position to work on, athletes spend the majority of their time fine-tuning their shot process and testing out advanced positional techniques. The advanced nature of the camp also allows for group discussions and special insights on the collegiate athlete experience. Cost of the Advanced Standing Camp is $225/athlete and $75/adult chaperone.
3-Position Smallbore Camp: Similar to the 3P air camps, this four-day camp will teach athletes the fundamentals of 3-Position smallbore, with special attention given to the advanced techniques when shooting outdoors. Athletes will learn how to develop positioning, optimize equipment and to perform shot processes to the fullest in challenging but iconic Camp Perry wind conditions. With smallbore making up half of the collegiate scores, this camp also provides details and discussions related to the collegiate shooting experience. Cost of the 3P Smallbore Camp is $300/athlete and $75/adult chaperone.
Camp Dates for 2024 include:
3P Camp #1 – Anniston, AL – May 27-31
3P Camp #2 – Anniston, AL – June 3-7
3P Camp #3 – Anniston, AL – June 10-14
3P Camp #4 – Denver, CO – June 10-14
Standing Camp #1 – Anniston, AL – June 17-19
Smallbore Camp #1 – Tacoma, WA – June 25-28
Standing Camp #2 – Anniston, AL – June 26-28
Standing Camp #3 – Camp Perry, Ohio – July 1-3
Smallbore Camp #2 – Camp Perry, Ohio – July 1-4
3P Camp #5 – Anniston, AL – July 15-19
3P Camp #6 – Anniston, AL – July 22-26
3P Camp #7 – Camp Perry, OH – July 29 – Aug 2
The 2024 Junior Rifle Camp schedule is also available online! View all camp information on the CMP website at https://thecmp.org/camps/.
80 Years Ago Today: Cleveland-class light cruiser USS Columbia (CL-56)6″/47 Mark 16 expended powder casings from Turrets 3 & 4 lying on the main deck aft of the ship during bombardment of Buka Island in the Solomons by CruDiv 12. December 24, 1943.
Official U.S. Navy Photograph, now in the collections of the National Archives. 80-G-299039
Columbia fired 863 6-inch shells that night-– over a third of the Cleveland-class magazine capacity of 200 rounds for each of their 12 main guns. She also fired 1141 5″/38 shells.
It was a role she played often, in addition to taking on Japanese surface assets and swatting away kamikazes.
After 6/47 gun turrets of USS Columbia (CL-56) firing, during the night bombardment of Japanese facilities in the Shortlands that covered landings on Bougainville, 1 November 1943. Official U.S. Navy photo 80-G-44058
Columbia, dubbed “the Gem of the Ocean” by her crew, earned 10 battlestars and two Naval Unit Commendations during her short career. Decommissioned in 1947 after just over four years of service, with a good portion of that in reserve, she was sold for scrap in 1959.
80 years ago today. First Marine Division Marines are seen boarding USS LCI-340 at Oro Bay, New Guinea on the day before Christmas, 1943.
Photographed by Brenner, USMC Photo 72064, via the NHHC
Note the newly-issued M-1 Garand rifles carried by most men, as well as a telescope-equipped M1903 Springfield rifle at left. The fourth Marine on the ramp has a rifle grenade attachment on his Garand while the sixth and seventh Devils tote the 20-pound (unloaded) M1918 BAR.
Inset of the above.
The Marines shown above would spend the holiday afloat and, the day after Christmas, they landed at Cape Gloucester on Japanese-occupied New Britain Island.
The Marines Land. Marines hit three feet of rough water as they leave their LST to take the beach at Cape Gloucester, December 26, 1943
Marines wade ashore from a Coast Guard-manned LST beached at Cape Gloucester, New Britain, circa 26 December 1943. Note the nickname “The Ace in the Hole” on the shield of a 105mm gun being towed ashore by a bulldozer. These men are armed with M-1 Garand Rifles, M-1 Carbines, and Thompson submachine guns. National Archives Catalog #: 80-G-44428
Marines and Coast Guardsmen landing on Cape Gloucester, New Britain, circa 26 December 1943. An LVT (1) leads the way as some men carry stretchers and others push a jeep toward the beach. National Archives Catalog #: 26-G-3046
Standing NATO Mine Countermeasures Group 1, moving about Scandinavia in April 2023, with Norwegian coast guard cutter HNoMS Nordkapp (A531) trailing, preceded by FGS Rottweil (M1061), FS Céphée (M652), HNoMS Otra (M351), BNS Bellis (M916) and EML Sakala (M314). Foto Mediacentrum Defensie
Lots of interesting news coming from the world of sea mines.
First, from the Baltic, comes news that Standing NATO Mine Countermeasures Group One has been very busy over the late summer and fall. In just one recent nine-day operation in Estonian territorial waters, seven minesweepers/hunters covered an area of more than 22 square nautical miles and classified 228 items as “mine-like” objects.
Of those, 16 were positively identified as historical mines left over from WWI and WWII and neutralized.
“The Baltic Sea was heavily mined during the World Wars, however, some areas more densely than others,” Commander, SNMCMG1 Polish Navy Commander Piotr Bartosewicz said. “Estonian waters are one of the most mined areas in the world and provide a valuable opportunity to train and to increase SNMCMG1’s combat readiness.”
Bartosewicz took charge of SNMCMG1 on behalf of the Polish Navy in July 2023. He leads the group from its flagship Polish Navy ORP Czernicki (511) along with an international staff on board. In addition, the group comprises minehunters: Belgian Navy BNS Crocus (M917), German Navy FGS Bad Bevensen (M1063), Royal Netherlands Navy HNLMS Vlaardingen (M863), and two Polish Navy minesweepers ORP Drużno (641) and ORP Hańcza (642). The group was further strengthened by Allied minehunters from Estonia and Lithuania – ENS Ugandi (M315) and LNS Skalvis (M53), respectfully, during the HODOPS.
They were operating from two of Canada’s venerable Kingston class “coastal defense vessels” — HMCS Summerside and HMCS Shawinigan— which are basically offshore patrol assets that can be pressed into service as mine hunters.
MCDV HMCS Shawinigan (MM704) set up for MCM with SNMCMG1 Baltic October 2023. These 181-foot diesel-electric steel-hulled OPVs have done it all since they entered service in the early 1990s. Note the .50 cal M2 in front of her wheelhouse, a weapon not normally mounted. RCN photo
SNMCMG1 rafting in the Baltic in September. The largest ship is the 2,300-ton/242-foot mine defense command ship ORP Kontradmiral Xawery Czernicki (511) in center alongside 540-ton/168-foot Dutch minehunter Zr.Ms. Vlaardingen (M 863), with the Polish 216-ton/126-foot Gardno/207P-class harbor minesweepers ORP Hańcza (642) and ORP Drużno (641) at the top. At the bottom is the 650-ton/178-foot German Frankenthal-Class mine hunter Bad Bevensen (M 1063). The Canadian Kingston class sisters HMCS Summerside and HMCS Shawinigan are sandwiched between Bad Bevensen and Czernicki.
Lacking direct sweep gear, the combination of divers and REMUS ROVs proved a decent substitute on the 30-year-old Kingstons.
Most of the devices encountered so far have been Soviet M1943 MyaM-type shallow water (inshore/river) contact mines of the type licensed to both Iran (SADAF-01 type) and Iraq (Al Mara type) back in the 1980s, typically seen with very fresh Ukrainian naval markings and contact horns covered.
Finally, it should be remembered that the Yemen Houthi have their own domestically made KS-2 Mersad (trans: Ambush), a High-Explosive (HE), moored, contact-initiated, blast seamine, of which lots of images are making their rounds these days.
Austal USA, Mobile, Alabama, is awarded an $867,666,667 fixed-priced incentive (firm-target), undefinitized contract modification to a previously awarded contract (N00024-19-C-2227) for the detail, design, and construction of three expeditionary medical ships, an Expeditionary Fast Transport variant. Work will be performed in Mobile, Alabama (87%); Chesapeake, Virginia (2%); Newark, Delaware (2%); Mandeville, Louisiana (2%); Spring, Texas (1%); various locations within the U.S., each accounting for less than one percent (5%); and various locations outside the U.S., each accounting for less than one percent (1%). Work is expected to complete by May 2030. Fiscal 2023 shipbuilding and conversion (Navy) funds in the amount of $149,833,000; and fiscal 2022 shipbuilding and conversion (Navy) funds in the amount of $63,667,000 will be obligated at time of award and will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington, D.C., is the contracting activity.
The EPFs are speedy (43-knot) little (1500 ton, 337ft o.a.) trimarans made by Austal and manned by the civilian mariners of the MSC to carry a reinforced company-sized unit of ground-pounders or cargo intra-theatre.
The Navy has been brainstorming using an EPF equipped with an expeditionary medical unit (EMU) inside the mission bay that, while falling short of a full-size hospital ship, would allow an EPF/EMU to serve as a quick transit platform for rapid medical response. This could be helpful in special operations and in sending a smaller package overseas for humanitarian support than an LHD or USNS Mercy/Comfort.
The first of these, USNS Apalachicola (EPF 13), was accepted earlier this year and the future USNS Cody (EPF 14) is pending delivery.
USNS Apalachicola (EPF-13) on Acceptance Trials in early 2023 via Austal. You’d figure they’d paint these white and put a giant red cross on them, but hey…
The future USNS Point Loma (EPF-15) and the as-yet-unnamed EPF-16 are also under construction by Austal. Each of these ships is being constructed to “Flight II” specifications that incorporate Role 2E medical capability and capabilities to support V-22 Osprey flight operations.
I’d imagine that the latest contract is for EPF 17, 18, and 19.
Update
Looks like they are going to be white-hulled mercy ships, with the first carrying the name USNS Bethesda (EMS 1).
The Expeditionary Medical Ship (EMS) is a high-speed aluminum catamaran based on the proven Expeditionary Fast Transport design that offers enhanced medical support to the United States Navy. (Image: Austal USA)
Via Austal:
Austal Limited (Austal) (ASX: ASB) is pleased to announce Austal USA has received a US$867.6 million (A$1.28 billion) undefinitised contract award (UCA) for the final design and construction of three Expeditionary Medical Ships (EMS) from the United States Navy.
The EMS is based on Austal’s proven Expeditionary Fast Transport ship (EPF) platform and will be manufactured in Austal USA’s aluminium manufacturing line following completion of the last Expeditionary Fast Transport (EPF 16).
Austal Limited Chief Executive Officer Paddy Gregg said the contract enables the final detailed design for the Expeditionary Medical Ship to be completed and construction of three vessels to commence.
“The new Expeditionary Medical Ship further extends the capabilities of the proven Expeditionary Fast Transport (EPF) platform, designed and constructed by Austal, to enable more complex medical procedures and operations to be performed onboard, at sea and underway,” Mr Gregg said.
“These three new EMS will enhance the US Navy’s capability to provide effective medical and surgical support anywhere in the world, quickly, safely and efficiently.”
The Expeditionary Medical Ship (EMS), an Expeditionary Fast Transport (EPF) variant, is a cost-effective design providing a dedicated medical ship optimized to provide patient holding, stabilization, evacuation and transport in support of Distributed Maritime Operations (DMO). The EMS design features a shallow draft which enables greater reach and allows for direct access to austere ports. The flight deck will accommodate military aircraft, including the V-22 Osprey and CH-53K heavy lift cargo helicopter.
Austal USA has delivered 13 EPF’s, a predecessor to the EMS design, to the United States Navy. The company is preparing to deliver the first EPF Flight II, the future USNS Cody (EPF 14), which features enhanced Role 2E medical capability, and has two more Flight II vessels under construction.
Dig these great 1960 Cold War (see what I did there?) Kodachromes from the LIFE Archive of the SAC Alert strip for the 436th BS (Heavy), 4238th Strategic Wing, at Barksdale AFB in Louisiana. We see blue N3A parka-clad Air Force Air Police ready with their trusty M1 Carbines to keep persons unwanted away from the KC-135 tanker bird behind them.
It looks very Ice Station Zebra.
Of course, the cigar-chomping Curtis LeMay would switch out the M1 for the new-fangled AR-15 in 1962, the Air Police were redesignated the Security Police in 1966, and the more sedate OD/gray-colored N-3B cold weather parka replaced the bright blue N-3As, so the above aesthetic was long lost by the time intergalactic smuggler turned Rebel scum Han Solo rode a Tauntaun out into the Hoth night against all advice.
Between 20 and 28 December 1943, the idyllic Adriatic resort town of Ortona, Italy was the scene of some of the most intense combat in the Mediterranean Theater. Soldiers of the First Canadian Infantry Division fought crack German Fallschirmjäger for control of the city, the eastern anchor of the Gustav Line.
Canadian Armour Passing Through Ortona, by Dr. Charles Comfort. Canadian War Museum (CN 12245).
The Army University Films Team is proud to present, The Battle of Ortona, a detailed 50-minute doc on the battle as told by Major Jayson Geroux of the Canadian Armed Forces.
80 years ago today. Official caption: “Christmas With The Trawlers. 21 December 1943, Harwich. members of the Escort Trawler HMS Turquoise (T45) prepare to make the most of Christmas afloat.”
“The cook emerges from the galley bearing the ship’s Christmas pudding, as members of the crew crowd round the hatch to welcome him.” Photo by LT J.E. Russell, Admiralty Collection, Imperial War Museum Catalog No. A 21071
“All set for a Merry Christmas, with pudding, a cigar, and a bottle.” Same as the above, Imperial War Museum Catalog No. A 21072
Same as the above IWM A 21073
“A leading seaman climbing the shrouds to fix a Christmas tree to the mast-head in accordance with custom,” IWM A 21070
The crew had much to celebrate.
Built at Southbank-on-Tees by Smith’s Dock (Yard No. 986) for the Warwickshire Fishing Co of Grimsby, the 460-ton trawler was instead purchased on the ways in November 1935 by the Royal Navy for conversion to a “Gem” class Anti Submarine Escort.
When war came, His Majesty’s Trawler Turquoise was based in Harwich, as seen above, for North Sea convoy escort duties, armed with depth charges and a single 4-inch deck gun forward and Lewis gun aft.
During her full service, for the duration from 1939 through VE Day, she sailed 72,000 miles underway and was an escort in part for something like 215 convoys comprising 6,400 ships totaling over 15 million tons.
Adopted by Gwmbren UD Wales during the war, she fought in at least two clashes with German E-boats, carried BEF troops home from Dunkirk, and helped salvage 11 naval and merchant ships, pulling 150 survivors from the water.
‘Each of our convoy trips had its moments of excitement with the usual attacks by aircraft, but this one was really special. Our charge numbered 72 ships, including tankers, the largest convoy to date. It had been a balmy sunny day and the second dogwatch came round with one of those glorious sunsets travel agents speak of, on a calm, oily sea. It all seemed rather unreal, until shortly after my arrival on duty at the twin point‑five aft the alarm went, and over on the far side of the convoy the firework display of tracers etched their wonderful pattern in the evening dusk. The tine was 6 p.m. It wasn’t long before we were engaging enemy aircraft, Heinkel 113s, and the sky now seemed full of these roaring, bar‑like messengers of death. Our entire ship was shrouded in gunsmoke and the pungent smell of burnt cordite hung in the still air. One lost all sense of time and between the frantic bursts of firing, of near misses, it seemed that an unearthly, ghost‑like silence descended over the area of the sea with Turquoise appearing motionless. The moon was now shining and suddenly the four‑inch crew shouted “E‑boat ‑Green 10, sir!”
‘At this time the angle was too acute for us to see the German, but our forward guns were letting fly. In the starboard wing, manning the Lewis gun was the steward, a Cockney veteran of World War 1. He was a four‑foot‑nothing man and had a beer crate to stand on, and we could see him up on his crate blazing away. Now the E‑boat was in sight at 80 yards, the whine of bullets was loud in the air and the thud of them finding a home in the padding round the bridge sounded clear above the turmoil. Our little steward raked the German gunners at their guns and, doll‑like; they fell over and firing ceased from her. She was now running broadside on to us and our guns methodically raked her, then as she sheered away from us one had the impression that she was finished. But before we had time to collect scattered thoughts a cool voice ordered “Shift target ‑aircraft bearing Green 90, angle of sight 20 degrees”.
‘The rest of the night wore on ‑ “Load, open fire, shift target” ‑ until the sun came up over the horizon, bathing the sea with its shimmering yellow light. “Stand down ‑ tea up!” Blessed relief. Now was the time to feel scared. Later the Richmond came over and congratulated us on defeating the E‑boat, which had sunk some hours after the action. Some of the Germans had been rescued.
‘On our return to Harwich we were given twenty‑four hours excused duty and a bottle of beer each. Later our CO (Lieutenant C. M. Newns, RNVR) received the DSC, and there were four Mentions in Despatches. One of these was for the steward, who had been more instrumental than anyone in saving casualties among our ship’s company. My wife sent me a telegram: “Heard news on wireless ‑‑ write ‑ worried.” The news item she had heard stated that a large‑scale air and sea attack on a big East Coast convoy had been repulsed with the loss of only seven ships … HMT Turquoise pursued and sank an E‑boat. “Pursued” be damned with a 7‑knot trawler!”
Post-war, she was sold into mercantile service first with St Andrews Steam Fisheries of Hull as F/V St.Oswald, then in 1948 to Grimsby Merchants’ Amalgamated as Woolton, and finally to Wyre Trawlers, eventually renamed Wyre Woolton.
She was broken up in 1957 at Preston.
Just three weeks after the above photos were snapped, Turquoise was back on escort duty.
“The trawler HMS Turquoise is an ‘E-boat Alley’ veteran. 14 January 1944, Harwich. The anti-submarine escort trawler HMS Turquoise has just completed 4 years of service on the East Coast.” Photo by LT J.E. Russell, Admiralty Collection, Imperial War Museum Catalog No. A 21378
Some 2,385 officers and men of the Royal Naval Patrol Service aged from sixteen to the late sixties, fathers, sons, brothers, and cousins, who died in the service of their country and found ‘no grave but the sea’.
Courtesy of William H. Davis, 1976. Naval History and Heritage Command Catalog #: NH 84879
Above we see the 542-class tank landing ship USS Meeker County (LST-980) arriving at San Diego, California, on 6 September 1970, capping a four-year stint in Vietnam where she, just a few months before, had survived an attempted mining by a VC dive team. Note that her guns– including WWII-era Bofors– are covered and she is carrying much topside cargo to include vehicles and cranes.
The Normandy veteran was laid down 80 years ago this month, saw lots of service in a few different wars, and was among the very last of her class in U.S. Naval service.
The 542s
A revolutionary concept that, by and large, went a long way to win WWII (and later turn the tables in Korea) was the LST. Designed to beach their bows at the surf line and pull themselves back off via a combination of rear anchor winching and reverse prop work, they were big and slow, earning them the invariable nicknames of “Large Slow Target” or “Last Ship (to) Tokyo.”
While a few early designs were built by the British (the Maracaibo and Boxer classes) it wasn’t until the Royal Navy placed a wish list with the U.S. for 200 LST (2) type vessels that the Americans got into the landing tank ship design in a big way.
This general 1,800-ton, 327-foot vessel, powered (eventually) by two easily maintained GM EMD locomotive diesels, was ultimately built in a whopping 1,052 examples between 1942 and 1945. They could carry around 120 troops, which could be landed by as many as a half-dozen davit-carried Higgins boats, but their main claim to fame was in being able to tote almost 1,500 tons of cargo and vehicles on their tank deck for landing ashore.
Built across three different subclasses (390 LST-1 type, 51 LST-491 type, and 611 LST-542) in nine different yards spread across the country– including five “cornfield shipyards” in the Midwest, then shipped via river to the coast– our humble “gator” was of the latter type.
The 542s, while using the same general hull and engineering plant, were equipped with an enclosed navigation bridge, a large 4,000 gal per day saltwater distilling plant, and a heavier armament (1 3″/50 DP open mount, 2 twin 40mm Bofors w/Mk.51 directors, 4 single Bofors, and 12 20mm Oerlikon) than previous members of the class. This, however, dropped their maximum cargo load from 2,100 tons as carried by previous sisters, down to “only” 1,900.
LST-542 type, cutaway model. Note the extensive 40mm and 20mm gun tubs, six LCVPs in davits, and tank deck. The 542s and some late 491s used a simple ramp rather than an elevator to move vehicles from the topside to the tank deck and vice versa. NMUSN-4950
The first to enter service, LST-542, was commissioned on 29 February 1944, while the last completed was LST-1152, commissioned on 30 June 1945. Now that is production, baby!
Meet LST-980
Laid down on 9 December 1943, at Boston Navy Yard, LST-980 was constructed in just 79 days to be commissioned on 26 February 1944. T
hen came two months of shakedown and post-delivery refits before she left, packed with equipment, bound for England where “the big show” was soon to start.
Touring Beachside France
After leaving Southend on the afternoon of 5 June, on D-Day, LST-980, along with sisters LST-543, 981, 982, and 983, made up Flotilla 17, Group 52, Division 103, under CDR William J. Whiteside as commodore.
The group brought their loads, elements of the British Army, successfully to Juno Beach in the afternoon of the 6th.
Part of L Force, they carried the British 7 Armoured Division and 51 Division along with parts of both I Corps and XXX Corps.
Mitchell Jamieson, “Morning of D-Day from LST” NHHC 88-193-hi
LST in Channel Convoy June 1944 Drawing, Ink and Wash on Paper; by Mitchell Jamieson; 1944; Framed Dimensions 30H X 25W Accession #88-193-HK
After reloading, on 7 June, while carrying elements of the 1st British Army Corps to the No. 102 Beach area on Sword Beach, LST-980 was the subject of several low-level German air attacks, one of which hit the gator with two small (125 pound) (SC50?) bombs, neither of which seemed to have had enough time/distance to arm. The second passed through the main deck and continued into the water. The first, however, likewise passed through the main deck but came to rest in a truck parked on the tank deck.
This problem was carefully addressed by four engineers (LT JHB Monday, SGT H. Charnley, CPL J. McAninly, LCPL F. Crick) of 1 Electrical & Mechanical Section, 282 General Transport Company, who gingerly picked it up, placed it on a field stretcher, carried it to the opened bow doors, and deep-sixed it. While DANFS reports one killed in this incident, other sources note there were no personnel casualties and only minor damage.
Several of her sisters would not be as lucky.
LST-376 was sunk by German E-boats off Normandy on 9 June 1944, LST-499, LST-496, and LST-523 were lost to German mines between 8 June and 19 June; and LST-921 was torpedoed by U-764 on 14 August.
Speaking of August, look at this report from LST-980 filed in September, covering her continued operations on the England to France cross-channel run. Among the more interesting spots are narrowly avoiding German coastal batteries on occupied Gurnsey Island while loaded with artillery shells, shipping 167 U.S. Army vehicles (including 25 tanks and two batteries of field artillery) and 521 soldiers to the Continent while returning to England with 1,106 captured German personnel (guarded at a ratio of 200 EPOWs to 9 MPs) including 30 female nurses.
By February 1945, with the prospect of further amphibious landings in the European Theatre unlikely, LST-980 was sent back to the East Coast to serve as a training ship at Little Creek for troops headed to the Pacific for the ongoing push on Tokyo and the Navy/Coast Guardsmen that would carry them. Our gator was there on VE-Day and VJ-Day.
Naval Gun Factory, Navy Day, October 27 October 1945. Visitors are shown to the U.S. Navy ships at the waterfront. Shown right to left: USS Meeker County (LST 980); USS Dyson (DD 572); USS Claxton (DD 571); USS Converse (DD 509); and USS Charles Ausburne (DD 570). Naval History and Heritage Command Photograph, Navy Subject Files, WNY Box 7, Folder 1.
In April 1949, just three weeks after NATO was formed, LST-980 sailed for a six-month stint with the 6th Fleet in the Med at a time when Europe was still very much in a post-war recovery, with the Cold War dawning.
Records indicate her crew was eligible for a battle star for the Invasion of Normandy from 6 June to 25 June 1944 and later a Navy Occupation Medal for service in Europe from 19 May to 19 September 1949.
When it came to her sisters, no less than 41 were lost during the conflict including six in the so-called West Loch Disaster, two at Slapton Sands to German E-boats during Exercise Tiger, seven to Japanese aircraft and kamikaze, six to Japanese and German submarines, and one (LST-282) to a German glider bomb
Post-war service
In the period immediately following VJ-Day, the Navy rapidly shed their huge LST fleet, giving ships away to allies, selling others on the commercial market (they proved a hit for ferry conversions, as coasters in remote areas, and use in the logging industry), and laying up most of the remainder. More than 100 vessels that were still under contract but not completed were canceled.
By August 1946, only 480 of the 1,011 survivors were still in some sort of active U.S. Navy service with many of those slated for conversion, mothballs, or disposal.
Many had been reclassified to auxiliary roles as diverse as PT-boat tenders (AGP), repair ships (ARL), battle damage repair ships (ARB), self-propelled barracks ships (APB), cargo ships (AKS), electronic parts supply ships (AG), and salvage craft tenders (ARST). Others, like LST-822, were transferred to the civilian mariner-run Military Sea Transportation Service and traded their USS for USNS. Heck, some had even served during the war as mini-aircraft carriers, toting Army Grasshoppers.
Jane’s 1946 listing, covering a thumbnail of the U.S. Navy’s LST classes.
However, LST-980 remained on active service through the Korean conflict, where she was semi-exiled to support the Army and Air Force’s polar basing efforts in Greenland, carrying supplies through the barely thawed Baffin Bay in the summers of 1951, 1952, and 1953, earning a trifecta of Blue Noses for her crew.
USS LST-980 working her way through the Baffin Bay icepack en route to U.S. Air Force Base Thule, Greenland in the summer of 1953. USS LST-980 sailed in August from NAB Little Creek, VA. to Thule Air Force Base, Greenland. LST-980’s load was construction equipment. The ship moved through the icepack behind the Icebreaker USS Northwind (AGB-5). Despite careful sounding of the landing route to the beach at Thule, LST-980 settled on a huge underwater boulder puncturing two of the ship’s fuel tanks and disabling two of the three ship’s generators. After unloading, divers from the seagoing tug in our company patched the punctures and LST-980 proceeded back to Portsmouth, VA. at reduced speed, in the company of the tug. At Portsmouth, the ship was hauled out onto a marine railway for repairs. LST-980 was not able to pump out the damaged fuel tanks, consequently, thousands of gallons of diesel fuel drained into the James River. Repairs were made and LST-980 was back in the fleet in a couple of months. Photo from Alvin Taub, Engineering Officer USS LST-980, via Navsource.
As something of a reward, LST-980 would spend the winters during the same period schlepping Marines around the sunny Caribbean on exercises, typically out of Gtmo and Vieques/Rosy Roads.
LST-980 photographed circa 1950s. Courtesy of William H. Davis, 1976 NH 84878
In July 1955, the 158 LSTs remaining on the Naval List (including the two post-WWII era LST-1153 class and the 54 Korean War-era LST 1156 class vessels) were given county names to go with the hull numbers. Thus, our LST-980 became USS Meeker County, the only ship named in honor of the rural south-central Minnesota county with Litchfield as its seat.
By this time, with over a decade of good service on her hull and most of her class either under a different flag or rusting away in mothballs, the ax came for our girl.
On 16 December 1955, the newly named Meeker County was decommissioned and placed in reserve status, first in Green Cove Springs, Florida, and then in Philly.
Reactivation, and headed to China Beach
With the problems in Southeast Asia suddenly coming to a head in 1965, and the Marines of Battalion Landing Team 3/9 wading ashore at Red Beach Two, north of Da Nang, on 8 March, the Navy suddenly found itself needing more gators.
“Coming Ashore: Marines of the 3rd Battalion, 9th Marines [BLT 3/9] wade ashore from landing craft at Red Beach 2, just north of Da Nang on March 8, 1965.” From the Jonathan F. Abel Collection (COLL/3611) at the Archives Branch, Marine Corps History Division
Several mothballed LSTs were inspected and those found to be in better condition were modernized and reactivated for West Pac service.
The retrofit saw modern (ish) radars and commo gear installed on a new mast to the rear of the wheelhouse, the four forward Higgins boat davits removed while two aft were retained for 36-foot LCVPs, the armament reduced, and a helicopter deck installed on the top deck between Frames 16 and 26.
Observed the changes as shown on sister USS Hamilton County (LST-802) click to big up:
Meeker County was towed to Baltimore, modernized, and recommissioned on 23 September 1966.
A much cleaner Meeker County. Note the helicopter pad and large rear mast but retained 40mm and 20mm guns
Four months later she shipped out for Guam, her official “home port” although she would be bound for semi-permanent service with Landing Ship Squadron Three in Danang. LSRON3 was composed of a dozen modernized WWII LSTs (LST-344, 509, 525, 603, 819, 839, 901, 980, 1077, 1082, 1123, and 1150).
Meeker County, nicknamed at this point “Old Lovely” by her crew, would spend most of the next four years deployed to the South Vietnam littoral, with the gaps between the below periods generally seeing the LST in Subic Bay, Guam, Hong Kong, or Pearl Harbor undergoing maintenance, rotating crewmembers, or getting some much-needed R&R.
In country:
April-June; September-December 1967
February-May; June-October, and December 1968 (including the Tet Offensive)
January; March-April 1969
January-March, June-July 1970
Beautiful color footage exists from this period.
Check out this great two-pager, “Shuttle Run,” covering Meeker County‘s role in moving the Army’s 5th Cavalry Division from Danang to Cua Viet in the I Corps area of Vietnam, just a hair south of the DMZ, by JOC Dick Benjamin in the July 1968 issue of All Hands.
Two snippets:
These are not milk runs. Meeker County and her sister LSTs are often shelled by enemy mortar and artillery fire.
And, as the LST was almost done unloading:
Just a few trailers were left to unload when mortar rounds started coming in, hitting 200 yards from the ship. Before the enemy could correct their range, the unloading was completed and LT [Frank Elwood] Clark backed the ship away. As Meeker County started toward the narrow inlet, heavier artillery rounds began hitting the ramp. More rounds followed the ship as she made her way to the open sea; each succeeding round hit where the ship had been only a few seconds before.
Besides shells and mortar bombs, American ships were subject to repeated attacks by swimmers carrying improvised limpet mines.
At a camp in the jungle, Viet Cong (VC) swimmer sappers raise their right arms in salute at the completion of a briefing for a demolition attack on a bridge in the province. The original photograph was captured from the VC. AWM P01003.010
To counter such attacks, ships inshore would mount extensive topside sentries with grenades and rifles and occasionally spin up their props to scare away sneaky swimmers.
Note this passage from Meeker’s deck log:
Meeker, in a repeat of her Normandy bombing, was once again lucky when the sappers came paddling through.
At 0220 on 28 June 1970, while berthed at the De Long Pier in Vung Tau with 14 feet of muddy water under her keel, a sentry on Meeker Countyspotted a nylon line secured to the pier, and soon after a swimmer was spotted in the area.
Coming to her assistance were EOD divers of the Royal Australian Navy’s Clearance Diving Team 3. LT Ross Blue, Petty Officer John Kershler, and Able Seaman Gerald Kingston.
As described by the Australian War Memorial:
Kershler dove into the water to discover explosives wrapped in black plastic, and four fishing floats secured to the nylon line.
The bundle was drawn clear of the ship and Blue towed it away using a small craft, so it didn’t touch the bottom of the harbour. It was secured to an empty barge a kilometer from the Meeker County and away from the main shipping channel. The plan was to move it to a nearby mud bank at high tide to inspect it more closely.
A few hours before that could occur, the package exploded, shooting water ten metres into the air. Fortunately, no one was near the package at the time, and there were no injuries or damage from the blast.
Meeker County’s deck log for the day:
CDT 3 7th Team 1970: Rear: ABCD Jock Kingston, LSCD John Aldenhoven, (Inset ABCD Bob Wojcik, Killed 21 June 1970). Front: CPOCD Dollar, LT Ross Blue, and POCD John Kershler. Photo via the Military Operations Analysis Team (MOAT) at the University of New South Wales (Canberra)/AWM P01620.003
All told, Meeker County would earn 10 battle stars, the Meritorious Unit Commendation, and the Navy Unit Commendation for Vietnam service, adding to her WWII battle star from Normandy and her Occupation Medal.
Meeker County was decommissioned, in December 1970, at Bremerton and laid up there. She joined 15 remaining WWII LSTs in U.S. service in mothballs while the last of the type on active duty, USS Pitkin County (LST-1082), was decommissioned the following September.
The 1973 Jane’s listing for what was left of the class, all of which were laid up.
By 1975, with Saigon fallen, the Navy moved to dispose of the last of its WWII LSTs, and they were stricken from the Naval Register. The hulls would be transferred overseas, some scrapped, and others sold on the commercial market. The last to go was USS Duval County (LST-758), sold by MARAD in 1981.
Our Meeker County struck on April Fool’s Day 1975, was sold that December to Max Rouse & Sons, Beverly Hills, and soon was resold to fly a Singapore flag as MV LST 3. By 1978, she was operated by a Panama-owned Greek-flagged firm as MV Petrola 143 (IMO 7629893). Out of service by 1996, she was sold to a breaker in Turkey.
Epilogue
When it comes to enduring relics of our humble LST, little remains.
One curious relic, the simple handmade snorkel that was left behind by Viet Cong saboteurs who tried to blow up Meeker County in 1970 was recovered by the Australian divers of CDT3 and is cataloged as part of the AWM’s collection.
“Improvised snorkel with plastic tube connected to a rubber mouthpiece, made from a tyre. Tied around the tube is a piece of khaki green lanyard, to be worn around the neck. A piece of roughly woven string is also attached to the snorkel. It divides at the other end into two piece of string, to which are attached two small balls for insertion in the nose while in use.” AWM RELAWM40821
As for the Ozzies of CDT 3, in the four years (February 1967 – May 1971) they were in Vietnam, they performed over 7,000 ship inspections and safely removed no less than 78 devices from allied hulls.
When it comes to Meeker County’s vast collection of over 1,000 sisters and near-sisters, 11 remain in some sort of service including Mexico, Taiwan, Vietnam, and the Philippines– where one, BRP Sierra Madre (LT-57), ex USS Harnett County (LST-821/AGP-281)/RVNS My Tho (HQ-800,) is famously grounded as an outpost on Second Thomas Shoal in the Spratly Islands.
Meanwhile, two WWII LSTs, none 542 types, are preserved as museum ships in the States. They are USS LST-325 in Evansville, Indiana, and LST-393 in Muskegon, Michigan. Please visit them if you have a chance.
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