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U.S.S. VANCOUVER
(LPD-2)VAN-CAN-DO
Click to view crew list
The USS VANCOUVER (LPD-2), a Raleigh class amphibious transport dock, was commissioned on 11 MAY 1963. USS VANCOUVER served her country for 28 years, 10 months and 20 days, until decommissioned on 31 MAR 1992. USS VANCOUVER was built at the New York Naval Shipyard in Brooklyn,NY. After commissioning she sailed for her homeport of San Diego via the Panama Canal in August 1963. Following the Tonkin Gulf Incident in August 1964, VANCOUVER deployed in November 1964 for the Western Pacific. This was the first of many "WestPacs", in war and peace, where VANCOUVER carried Marines to project American force of arms. USS VANCOUVER was decommissioned in March 1992. Initially VANCOUVER was stored at Naval Inactive Ship Maintenance Facility Pearl Harbor, she was moved to the Reserve Fleet at Suisun Bay, CA.
The USS VANCOUVER (LPD-2) deployment history and significant events of her service career follow:
LPD-2 Deployments - Major Events
Add a LPD-2 Shellback Initiation | Add a LPD-2 Deployment - Major Event | ||||
Month | Year | to | Month | Year | Deployment / Event |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
NOV | 1960 | - | Keel Date: 19 NOV 1960 at New York Naval Shipyard | ||
SEP | 1962 | - | Launch Date: 15 SEP 1962 | ||
JAN | 1963 | - | JUN | 1964 | Commisioning |
MAY | 1963 | - | Commissioned: 11 MAY 1963 | ||
AUG | 1963 | - | AUG | 1963 | Panama Canal |
FEB | 1964 | - | MAY | 1964 | Regular Overhaul |
JUN | 1964 | - | JUL | 1964 | Vancouver Canada - Annual Maritime Festival |
NOV | 1964 | - | JUN | 1965 | West Pac |
JAN | 1965 | - | JAN | 1967 | Dependents Cruise |
APR | 1965 | - | Shellback Initiation - 24 APR 1965 - Pacific Ocean | ||
AUG | 1965 | - | OCT | 1965 | USMC troop lift to Viet Nam |
JUL | 1966 | - | APR | 1967 | West Pac-Viet Nam |
FEB | 1967 | - | NOV | 1967 | West Pac-Viet Nam |
JAN | 1968 | - | JAN | 1968 | West Pac-Viet Nam |
FEB | 1968 | - | NOV | 1968 | West Pac-Viet Nam |
MAR | 1968 | - | JUN | 1970 | West Pac-Viet Nam |
AUG | 1969 | - | MAR | 1970 | West Pac-Viet Nam |
JAN | 1970 | - | JAN | 1972 | West Pac-Viet Nam |
MAR | 1970 | - | NOV | 1971 | West Pac-Viet Nam |
JUN | 1970 | - | JUL | 1970 | Midshipman Summer Cruise WestPac Danang Viet Nam |
MAR | 1971 | - | NOV | 1971 | West Pac-Viet Nam |
MAR | 1971 | - | NOV | 1971 | Westpac |
MAY | 1971 | - | Shellback Initiation - 4 MAY 1971 - Pacific Ocean | ||
MAY | 1971 | - | Shellback Initiation - 4 MAY 1971 - Pacific Ocean | ||
MAY | 1971 | - | Shellback Initiation - 4 MAY 1971 - Pacific Ocean | ||
AUG | 1971 | - | SEP | 1971 | Operated in rivers of Vietnam |
JAN | 1972 | - | JAN | 1976 | West Pac-Viet Nam |
JAN | 1972 | - | JUL | 1974 | West Pac-Viet Nam |
JAN | 1972 | - | JAN | 1976 | Middle Pacific |
JUN | 1972 | - | SEP | 1972 | westpac midshipmen trainer |
JUN | 1972 | - | SEP | 1972 | West Pac-Viet Nam |
OCT | 1972 | - | MAY | 1973 | West Pac |
MAR | 1973 | - | OCT | 1973 | West Pac-Viet Nam |
MAR | 1973 | - | OCT | 1973 | uss vancouver LPD-2 |
JUN | 1974 | - | Shellback Initiation - 6 JUN 1974 - Pacific Ocean | ||
JUN | 1974 | - | Shellback Initiation - 6 JUN 1974 - Pacific Ocean | ||
OCT | 1974 | - | JUN | 1975 | West Pac-Viet Nam |
OCT | 1976 | - | Shellback Initiation - 3 OCT 1976 - Pacific Ocean | ||
OCT | 1976 | - | Shellback Initiation - 13 OCT 1976 - Pacific Ocean | ||
OCT | 1976 | - | Shellback Initiation - 3 OCT 1976 - Pacific Ocean | ||
OCT | 1976 | - | Shellback Initiation - 13 OCT 1976 - Pacific Ocean | ||
OCT | 1976 | - | Shellback Initiation - 13 OCT 1976 - Pacific Ocean | ||
JAN | 1977 | - | JAN | 1978 | Regular Overhaul |
FEB | 1977 | - | Shellback Initiation - 7 FEB 1977 - Pacific Ocean | ||
AUG | 1978 | - | MAR | 1979 | West Pac |
JAN | 1979 | - | JUL | 1979 | Mediterranean-Indian Ocean-Persian Gulf |
APR | 1979 | - | OCT | 1979 | West Pac-Indian Ocean-Persian Gulf |
MAY | 1980 | - | OCT | 1980 | West Pac-Indian Ocean |
SEP | 1980 | - | Shellback Initiation - 2 SEP 1980 - Indian Ocean | ||
SEP | 1980 | - | Shellback Initiation - 2 SEP 1980 - Indian Ocean | ||
MAR | 1982 | - | Shellback Initiation - 1 MAR 1982 - Pacific Ocean | ||
MAY | 1982 | - | NOV | 1982 | West Pac |
NOV | 1982 | - | Shellback Initiation - 10 NOV 1982 - Pacific Ocean | ||
JAN | 1983 | - | JUL | 1983 | West Pac |
JUL | 1983 | - | AUG | 1983 | Team Spirit |
JAN | 1986 | - | JUL | 1986 | West Pac |
APR | 1986 | - | Shellback Initiation - 25 APR 1986 - Pacific Ocean | ||
JUL | 1989 | - | DEC | 1989 | West Pac |
NOV | 1990 | - | JUN | 1991 | Desert Storm |
DEC | 1990 | - | JUN | 1991 | Desert Storm |
MAR | 1992 | - | Decommissioned: 31 MAR 1992 |
LPD-2 General Specifications
Class: Raleigh class amphibious transport dock
Named for: Vancouver
Complement: 436 Officers and Enlisted
Displacement: 8650 tons
Length: 522 feet
Beam: 100 feet
Flank Speed: 21 knots
Final Disposition: Mothballed in the National Defense Reserve Fleet Suisun Bay Benicia California
USS VANCOUVER (LPD-2)
Vancouver (LPD-2) was laid down on 19 November 1960 at Brooklyn
N.Y.
by the New York Naval Shipyard; launched on 15 September 1962; sponsored
by Mrs. Stuart Symington; and commissioned on 11 May 1963
Capt. Thomas
C. Harbert
Jr.
in command.
After completing builders trials at New York and shakedown training out
of Norfolk
Va.
the amphibious transport dock ship departed the latter
port on 14 August and laid a course for the west coast. She transited the
Panama Canal on 20 August andafter making a side trip to Acapulco
Mex.
in the process of assisting a disabled fishing vesselarrived in San Diego
her permanent home port
on the 31st.
Late in September and early in October
Vancouver made the traditional
visit to her namesake city --Vancouver
Wash -- and then returned to San
Diego for seven weeks of training. Underway training occupied the first
four weeks while amphibious training took up the last three. In mid-December
she welcomed on board the newly appointed Secretary of the Navy
Paul H.
Nitze
and the Commander in Chief
Pacific Fleet Admiral U.S. Grant Sharp
as well as several other high ranking Navy and Marine Corps officers
and
treated them to a display of her multifaceted amphibious capabilities.
In mid-February 1964
the ship moved from San Diego to Long Beach where
she entered the naval shipyard for post-shakedown availability. She finished
repairs on 21 May
completed final acceptance trials early in June
and
then returned to San Diego. Late in June
the amphibious transport dock
ship made another voyage north to Canada for a visit to another namesake
city
British Columbia
in time to participate in that city's annual maritime
festival. On the way back home
she stopped in San Francisco for the Independence
Day weekend and then reentered San Diego on 7 July. At that point
she began
her operational schedule. She participated in three amphibious warfare exercises
between July and October and then began preparations for her first deployment
to the Far East.
Her first tour of duty with the 7th Fleet coincided with the beginning of
the rapid acceleration of American involvement in South Vietnam heralded
by the Gulf of Tonkin incident in August 1964. She departed San Diego on
16 November
loaded marines at Port Hueneme
and set out across the Pacific
on the 17th. Vancouver arrived in Buckner Bay
Okinawa
on 6 December
and
unloaded her passengers. Embarking another Marine battalion at Okinawa on
21 December she moved to Subic Bay in the Philippines
where she traded
her second load of marines for a third which she transported to Okinawa
in January 1965.
Sometime in February
the ship embarked elements of the 9th Marine Expeditionary
Brigade and
on 8 March in company with Henrico (APA-45) and Union
(AKA-106)
landed the marines at Danang
South Vietnam
to protect the perimeter
of the airbase there and free South Vietnamese troops for other combat duties.
During the remaining three months of her first deployment to the Orient
Vancouver twice revisited Vietnamon both occasions on resupply missions.
In June
she concluded her deployment and headed home. However
less than
two months after her return
she embarked marines for a special troop lift
to the widening conflict in Vietnam. She departed the west coast on 5 August
and did not return until 5 October. At that point
she began the normal
schedule of upkeep and training exercises at San Diego and other points
along the California coast.
During the first week in July
Vancouver embarked LVT's and Battalion
Landing Team (BLT) 1/26 (1st Battalion
26th Marines) in preparation for
her second 7th Fleet assignment. On the 9th
she put to sea and after a
two-day stop at Pearl Harbor from 14 to 16 July
arrived at Subic Bay on
28 July. There
she became a unit of the newly constituted 7th Fleet Amphibious
Ready Group (ARG)
Task Group (TG) 76.5 -- a self-contained mobile amphibious
assault team made up of a Special Landing Force (SLF)
marines and support
units
and the ships which served as their transportation and mobile bases.
In a series of training exercises held in the Philippines
the Navy-Marine
Corps teammates honed their skills for an almost instant response to any
need for amphibious support or reinforcement in the 7th Fleet's zone of
operations.
Quite naturally
Vietnam constituted the area most in need of such a capability
at that time. Accordingly
the ARG concluded its amphibious training on
12 August
reembarked the landing force
and sailed for the waters off Vietnam.
Between 16 and 29 August
Vancouver participated in her first combat
action during Operation "Deckhouse III" which consisted of two
landings at a point some 60 miles east of Saigon. The first phase
from
16 to 20 August
saw BLT 1/26 move ashore in both modeswaterborne and airborne
against minor opposition and later destroy a fortified Viet-Cong-held village.
During the second set of landings
22 to 29 August
the marines sent ashore
changed operational control from the ARG to the authorities ashore to assist
in Operation "Toledo
" a search-anddestroy mission to deprive
the enemy of valuable caches of arms and supplies. At the conclusion of
"Deckhouse III
" Vancouver returned to Subic Bay for 10
days of upkeep.
Departing the Philippines on 12 September
the ship began her second amphibious
assault
Operation `'Deckhouse IV
" on 15 September in the vicinity
of the Cua Viet River in Quang Tri Province just south of the demilitarized
zone (DMZ). The landings constituted a seaward arm of the larger Operation
"Prairie" being conducted by American and South Vietnamese forces
ashore to destroy North Vietnamese Army fortifications
bunkers
and supply
caches in the area and to stem intensified infiltration across the DMZ.
During their 10 days ashore
the marines of the SLF encountered heavy resistance
and accounted for 254 of the enemy killed before they reembarked on 25 September.
At the conclusion of the operation
Vancouver disembarked her portion
of BLT 1/26 troops at Danang and headed for Okinawa.
After she embarked BLT 3/3 there
she returned to Vietnamese waters on 6
October and steamed with the contingency force in the area off the DMZ for
the next 22 days. On 28 October
she disembarked BLT 3/3 and
two days later
embarked BLT 3/26 for transportation to the Philippines. She departed Danang
on 1 November and arrived in Subic Bay on the 12th. During December
she
participated in an amphibious exercise
"Mudpuppy II
" at Mindoro
and conducted upkeep at Subic Bay. On the 30th
the amphibious transport
dock ship got underway for Vietnamese waters and arrived near Vung Tau the
following day.
There
near the entrance to the Saigon River
she began another amphibious
operation in the "Deckhouse" series"Deckhouse V
" on
4 January 1967. It lasted until the 15th and was a joint United States-South
Vietnamese effort utilizing marines of both nations. Vancouver embarked
more than 500 South Vietnamese marines at Vung Tau on the 4th and
after
a two-day delay caused by bad weather
sent her binational force ashore
on the 6th by both assault craft and helicopter. In spite of continued bad
weather and her first experience with riverine operations
the ship and
her boats remained in the area for 10 days
providing the necessary logistics
support for the SLF operating ashore. After reembarking the SLF and South
Vietnamese marines on 15 January and then disembarking the latter again
at Vung Tau the following day
she departed Vietnam to return to the Philippines.
The ship arrived at Subic Bay on the 19th but remained only two days before
continuing on to Okinawa where she exchanged BLT 1/9 for BLT 1/4 late in
January. Following a visit to Keelung
Taiwan
she returned to the Philippines
early in February and conducted an amohibious exercise
"Mudpuppy III
"
with the marines of BLT 1/4. Another brief rest and relaxation period at
Subic Bay at the end of the first week in February preceded her departure
from the Philippines on the 12th. Vancouver resumed duty with the ARG on
14 February and
two days later
began her part in Operation "Deckhouse
VI
" another two phase amphibious assault in support of operations
of wider scope being conducted ashore.
At the conclusion of Operation "Deckhouse VI
" the amphibious
transport dock ship visited Subic Bay; Hong Kong; Okinawa
and Yokosuka
Japan
before departing the latter port on 24 March to return home to San
Diego. After a three day stop at Pearl Harbor at the end of the month
she
arrived in San Diego on 8 April.
Following an unusually long period in port at San Diego
Vancouver
resumed operations along the west coast in July. In addition to single-ship
underway training
she revisited Vancouver
British Columbia
in July to
participate in a Fleet Assembly as part of the Canadian Centennial Celebration.
Late that month
the ship resumed local operations which included underway
training and amphibious refresher training. That employment occupied her
for the remainder of the year and the first month of 1968.
On 1 February 1968
the ship departed San Diego bound for Okinawa to begin
another tour of duty with the 7th Fleet. She stopped at Pearl Harbor from
8 to 10 February and
after being diverted from Okinawa on the 12th
arrived
in Danang on the 23d to disembark her marines
urgently needed to stem the
1968 Tet offensive. The following day
Vancouver got underway for
Subic Bay where she arrived on the 26th. On the 27th
she changed operational
control to TG 76.5 and became part of the 7th Fleet ARG once more. On 29
February
the ship steamed out of Subic Bay for the Cua Viet River area
of Vietnam where she began supporting the SLF
operating ashore since late
January. While continuing that mission
she put into Danang on 10 March
and spent the next two weeks repairing boats as well. In April
she steamed
around off the DMZ providing support for BLT 3/1 until 10 April when she
headed back to the Philippines.
Vancouver arrived in Subic Bay on the 15th and remained there until
the 26th at which time she got underway to return to Vietnamese waters.
The amphibious transport dock ship arrived on station near the mouth of
the Cua Viet River and began providing logistics support to elements of
BLT 3/1 committed to defensive positions in the vicinity of Dong Ha. That
duty lasted until 3 June when she reembarked the SLF.
On 6 June
Vancouver began a combat operation
code named "Swift
Sabre." The SLF moved ashore in two groups. One group assaulted beaches
in landing craft while the other group flew well inland in helicopters.
Both groups then began moving toward one another in a sweep of Elephant
Valley in Thua Thien province to eliminate a frequent source of hostile
mortar fire on the Danang air base. After supporting the marines for a week
Vancouver received a replacement SLF
BLT 2/7
when BLT 3/1 changed
operational control to military authorities ashore. The new battalion landing
team came on board on 14 and 15 June
and Vancouver set a course
for the Philippines on the 15th. She entered Subic Bay on the 18th and began
a 10-day upkeep period. Between 30 June and 3 July
the ship participated
in the amphibious exercise "Hilltop XX" and then departed Subic
Bay on 6 July for her last tour of duty in Vietnamese waters during the
1968 deployment.
Immediately upon her arrival off Vietnam
she began preparations for the
amphibious operation
"Eager Yankee." In the predawn of 9 July
destroyers Benner (DD-807) and O'Brien (DD-725) shattered
the silence and sporadically lighted the darkness with gunfire. At the conclusion
of the prelanding bombardment
Vancouver
as primary control ship
for the boat phase of the assault
began shuttling marines ashore some 10
miles east of Phu Bail The first elements of BLT 2/7 went ashore in LVT's
and began establishing defensive positions and clearing landing zones for
the airborne phase of the operation. The ship remained in the area providing
logistics support for the marines as they drove northwest toward a known
Viet Cong haven. After a week without contacting the enemy
Vancouver's
landing force joined shore-based units in Operation "Houston IV"
while the ship continued in her support role. The second operation ended
on 22 July
and the marines reembarked that same day.
However
they did not remain on board for long because
on the following
day
Operation "Swift Play" began. In that operation
an all-helicopter
affair
the marines landed well inland about 10 miles southwest of Hoi An
in east central Quang Nam province. They failed to contact the enemy during
the helicopter assault and
the following day
changed operational control
to authorities ashore while Vancouver played her usual support role.
She remained in the vicinity until 19 August at which time she headed back
to Subic Bay without her Marine Corps contingent.
The warship arrived in Subic Bay on 21 August and spent the next six days
engaged in turnover operations with her relief
Ogden (LPD-6). On
27 August
she put to sea bound for Hong Kong where she arrived on the 29th.
After a five day rest and relaxation period
she departed Hong Kong for
Okinawa. Diverted to Subic Bay by a typhoon
she continued her voyage via
the San Bernardino Strait and finally arrived at Okinawa on 9 September.
The following day
she set sail for Yokosuka
Japan
where she arrived on
the 12th for five days of upkeep.
On the 17th
Vancouver began her voyage home. She reentered San Diego
on 28 September and
after a month of post-deployment standdown
resumed
local operations along the California coast.
That employment lasted until early in February 1969 when she began the first
portion of her regular overhaul at San Francisco. That phase of the task
was completed in mid-April and
after a brief return to San Diego
the ship
entered the Long Beach Naval Shipyard for drydocking. The refurbishing was
finished near the end of May
and Vancouver returned to San Diego
on the 28th. Following two months of inspections and refresher training
the ship loaded vehicles and cargo at San Diego and got underway for the
western Pacific on 1 August. She made a three-day stop at Pearl Harbor from
the 8th to the 11th; then resumed her voyage and arrived at Okinawa on 21
August. After unloading cargo at Buckner Bay
she got underway for Vietnam
on the 24th. Upon arriving at Tau My
South Vietnam on 27 August
Vancouver
unloaded cargo there and at Danang before departing Vietnam that same day.
On the 29th
she arrived in Subic Bay and began turnover operations to relieve
Paul Revere (LPA-248) of duty with ARG "Bravo" (TG 76.5). A week
later
on 6 September
she put to sea with TG 76.5 for her first line tour
with the amphibious ready group. She arrived off Danang two days later and
entered the harbor on the 10th to unload more cargo. On 12 September
she
and her group participated in Operation "Defiant Stand" by staging
an amphibious feint about 10 miles south of the actual landing beaches to
draw off defenders while ARG "Alfa" stormed ashore. The task group
completed its deception early that morning and headed back out to sea to
steam around until needed again. That routine
punctuated by brief visits
to Danang and a series of amphibious and other exercises
occupied her until
late October.
On 20 October
Vancouver began a new phase in her participation in
the Vietnam War. Operation "Defiant Stand" had been the last amphibious
operation of the war. On the heels of President Richard M. Nixon's announcement
of the staged withdrawal of large numbers of American troops from the conflict
the amphibious ready group began carrying out the withdrawal. On 20 October
Vancouver moved from Danang to Cua Viet and began loading elements
of BLT 1/4. She completed Operation "Keystone Cardinal" on 22
October and set course for Okinawa the following day. She disembarked the
marines at Okinawa on 25 and 26 October but remained at the island for liberty
until 2 November. After embarking BLT 1/9
she headed for Subic Bay where
she disembarked the marines on the 4th.
Following a week of repairs at Subic Bay
she reembarked BLT 1/9 on the
12th
conducted an amphibious assault exercise on the 13th
and got underway
for Vietnam on the 14th. The new line period
unlike those before
consisted
entirely of steaming well off the coast outside the territorial waters of
Vietnam in order that the amphibious ready group's presence not be construed
as a violation of President Nixon's troop reduction in Vietnam. She continued
steaming in the new operating area until 23 November at which time she retired
toward the Philippines. She entered Subic Bay on the 27th. Another practice
landing in the Philippines followed on 1 December and Vancouver repaired
storm damage sustained during the transit from Vietnam to the Philippines.
On 6 December
the ship once more got underway for the coast of Vietnam.
She arrived off Danang on the 9th; but
four days later
she left the combat
zone for visits to Hong Kong
Taiwan
and Okinawa. Vancouver returned
to the Vietnamese coast on the last day of 1969. New Year's Day 1970
however
brought her departure from the area on her way back to the Philippines.
She entered Subic Bay on the 11th and remained in the Philippines until
the 20th when she started a round-trip voyage to Okinawa. The ship returned
to Subic Bay on the 27th and remained in the area until 4 February when
she headed for Taiwan. After a patrol of the Taiwan Strait
she entered
port at Kaohsinng
Taiwan
for a four day visit. She returned to Subic Bay
on 21 February and began turnover operations with her relief ship Denver
(LPD-9). On 4 March
she departed Subic Bay for Okinawa where she delivered
cargo on 6 March. Continuing her voyage on the 7th
she stopped at Danang
on 11 March
unloaded cargo
and headed back to Okinawa where she refueled
Ull the 14th before continuing on toward the United States.
Vancouver arrived in Del Mar
Calif.
on 27 March and
the following
day
moved to the San Diego Naval Station for drydocking and repairs. Repairs
were completed early in June
and the ship departed San Diego on 10 June
with Naval Academy midshipmen embarked for their summer cruise. She arrived
in Yokosuka on 24 June and departed again on the 29th. The ship visited
Hong Kong between 4 and 8 July and stopped at Danang on 9 and 10 July to
load cargo bound for the United States. On the way back home
she stopped
at Pearl Harbor from 24 to 27 July and then reentered San Diego on 1 August.
Local operations out of San Diego
including LVT training and amphibious
refresher training
occupied the ship's time through the end of the year
and for the first three months of 1971.
On 30 March
Vancouver put to sea to return to the western Pacific.
She made a two-day stop at Pearl Harbor at the end of the first week in
April and arrived in Subic Bay on the 19th. The ensuing six weeks brought
amphibious training and port visits to Singapore and Kaohsiung. In June
the ship carried cargo from Vung Tau and Danang in the Vietnam to Subic
Bay and Okinawa. Early in July
Vancouver participated in an amphibious
exercise at Zambales and then departed the Philippines on the 19th for a
week at Hong Kong. On 28 July
the ship returned to the Philippines at Mindoro
for more amphibious exercises. August brought voyages to Sasebo
Japan
and Kaohsinng
Taiwan and
early in September
she returned to the Philippines
for another round of practice landings at Zambales.
On 9 September
Vancouver left Subic Bay to pick up cargo in Vietnam.
She stopped at Danang
Qui Nhon and Camranh Bay before returning to Subic
Bay on the 17th. On 25 September
she embarked upon a roundtrip voyage to
Okinawa and returned to Subic Bay on 9 October. On 14 October
Vancouver
set out on her voyage back to the United States
stopping en route at Okinawa
and Pearl Harbor before arriving back in San Diego
Calif.
on 5 November.
The amphibious transport dock ship remained in San Diego through the end
of 1971 for post-deployment standdown and for the usual holiday leave and
upkeep period. On 11 January 1972
Vancouver began local operations
along the California eoast. That duty lasted until 10 June
when she embarked
midshipmen for the annual training cruise and got underway for the Far East.
During the nnidshipman cruise
the ship made a visit to Yokosuka
Japan
and two each to Hong Kong and Subic Bay in the Philippines. Late in July
she headed back to the west coast
arriving at San Diego on 4 August. There
on the 21st
Vancouver began her regularly scheduled overhaul.
The ship completed post-overhaul sea trials early in February 1973 and conducted
type and refresher training until mid-March. On 17 March
Vancouver again
deployed to the western Pactfie. She arrived in Sasebo Japan
on 4 April
then continued her voyage on the 5th. She briefly stopped at Okinawa on
6 April and arrived in Subic Bay on the 8th.
On the 9th
she relieved Cleveland (LPD-7) as one of the support
ships for Operation "End Sweep
" the clearing of American mines
in the harbors of North Vietnam as a result of the withdrawal of American
forces from the Vietnamese civil war. During April
May
and June
the amphibious
transport dock ship alternated tours of duty in Vietnamese waters in support
of the minesweeping forces with liberty and upkeep periods in Philippine
ports. She also made periodic liberty ealls at Hong Kong and at various
Japanese ports.
The ship completed her last tour of duty in Vietnamese waters on 18 July
and headed back to the Philippines
arriving in Subie Bay on the 20th. For
her remaining two months in the Far East
Vancouver visited Hong
Kong
the Japanese ports Numazu
Kagoshima
and Iwakuni. She returned to
the Phiiippines early in September
whence she put to sea on the 19th to
return home. After stopping overnight at Pearl Harbor on 2 and 3 October
the ship continued on to San Diego where she arrived on the 9th and began
a year of operations along the California coast. Her tasks included: helicopter
qualifications
landing craft training
and full scale amphibious warfare
exercises.
On 18 October 1974
she concluded her west coast schedule and got underway
for the western Pactfie. She stopped at Pearl Harbor on 25 and 26 October
and continuing her voyage on the 26th
arrived in Buckner Bay
Okinawa
on 9 November. Though assigned to ARG "Alfa" as relief for Ogden
(LPD-5)
Vancouver began her first real peacetime deployment to the
Far East in more than a decade. For the next six months
she spent most
of her time alternating between Okinawa and the Philippines conducting a
series of amphibious exercises and transporting marines and cargo.
She did
however
return to the Indochina peninsula that spring to participate
in Operation "Eagle Pull
" the evacuation of Vietnamese and Cambodian
refugees in the wake of the collapse of the non-communist governments in
those nations. At the end of the deployment
she departed Okinawa on 20
May and arrived back in San Diego on 6 June.
She resumed west coast operations almost immediately with type training
and a weapons inspection. Similar duty occupied her through the end of the
year and during the first nine months of 1976. On 25 September 1976
she
headed back to the western Pacific once more. She made a three-day stop
at Pearl Harbor at the beginning of October and put in at Kwajelein Atoll
on the 10th for ARG commanding officers to conduct turnover briefings. From
Kwajalein
she continued her voyage to Broad Sound
Australia
where she
arrived on 21 October. There
she conducted a rehearsal landing in preparation
for the Operation "Kangaroo II" landing exercises conducted between
24 and 29 October in conjunction with Australian military and naval forces.
At the conclusion of Operation "Kangaroo II
" Vancouver
made a five-day visit to Sydney
Australia
and then got underway for Okinawa.
She reached her destination on 20 November
disembarked one group of marines
and took on another. The following day
she headed for Subic Bay
arriving
there on the 24th to begin a three week availability. Late in December
Vancouver embarked upon a voyage to Taiwan and Hong Kong observing
New Year's Eve at the latter port.
After a return to Okinawa and Subic Bay early in January 1977
the ship
visited Singapore during the latter half of the month. She returned to the
Philippines on 11 February and conducted exercises in the vicinity of Subic
Bay until mid March. On 16 March
the amphibious transport dock ship put
to sea
bound for Inchon
Korea. During the latter part of March and early
part of April
she participated in amphibious training with units of the
South Korean military. On 12 April
she stopped at Okinawa and the next
day headed back to the Philippines. Vancouver arrived in Subic Bay
on 16 April but departed again on the 28th for a round-about voyage home.
She made stops at Okinawa
Eniwetok
and Pearl Harbor before arriving back
in San Diego on 21 May. After a month of post deployment standdown
the
ship entered the Bethlehem Steel Co. shipyard at San Pedro
Calif.
for
her regualr overhaul. She remained there into 1978.
Vancouver completed her overhaul satisfactorily on 18 April 1978.
A rigorous period of refresher training out of San Diego followed in preparation
for the ship's forthcoming deployment to the western Pacific. Vancouver
departed from San Diego on 31 August and spent the remainder of the year
in operations with the 7th Fleet. Her schedule took her to Eniwetok Atoll
Marshall Islands; Subic Bay
Philippines; Pusan
Korea
and Hong Kong
B.C.C.
Vancouver (LPD-2) earned 11 battle stars for service in the Vietnam
conflict.
Vancouver was decommissioned 27 March
1992 and as of late 1997 was in a reserve status at Pearl Harbor.
[Note: The above USS VANCOUVER (LPD-2) history may or may not contain text provided by crew members of the USS VANCOUVER (LPD-2) or by other non-crew members and text from the Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships]