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U.S.S. FORT MANDAN
(LSD-21)VICTORIAM PORTAMUS
Click to view crew list
USS FORT MANDAN (LSD-21) - a Casa Grande-class dock landing ship
In Commission 1945 to 1971LSD-21 Deployments - Major Events
Add a LSD-21 Shellback Initiation | Add a LSD-21 Deployment - Major Event | ||||
Month | Year | to | Month | Year | Deployment / Event |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
JAN | 1945 | - | Keel Date: 2 JAN 1945 | ||
JUN | 1945 | - | Launch Date: 2 JUN 1945 | ||
OCT | 1945 | - | Commissioned: 31 OCT 1945 | ||
APR | 1952 | - | SEP | 1952 | Blue Nose - Arctic Circle |
MAY | 1953 | - | JUN | 1953 | Trans. Nuclear Cannon aft. Atomic Test Nevada back to Aberdeen |
JUL | 1954 | - | JUL | 1955 | Blue Nose - Arctic Circle |
JUL | 1955 | - | JUL | 1955 | North Pole |
NOV | 1955 | - | Shellback Initiation - 14 NOV 1955 - Atlantic Ocean | ||
MAR | 1957 | - | MAY | 1957 | Caribbean |
FEB | 1958 | - | MAY | 1958 | Caribbean |
MAR | 1958 | - | JUN | 1958 | Blue Nose - Arctic Circle |
JAN | 1959 | - | AUG | 1959 | Mediterranean |
JAN | 1959 | - | AUG | 1959 | Mediterranean |
JUN | 1959 | - | JUL | 1959 | Mediterranean |
JAN | 1960 | - | JAN | 1966 | Mediterranean |
APR | 1961 | - | SEP | 1961 | Filming of The Longest Day on Corsica (June 28/29 1961) |
SEP | 1962 | - | MAY | 1963 | Mediterranean |
SEP | 1962 | - | MAY | 1963 | Mediterranean |
JUN | 1963 | - | JAN | 1965 | Gitmo |
OCT | 1963 | - | DEC | 1963 | Guantanamo Bay |
JUN | 1965 | - | AUG | 1965 | Mediterranean |
AUG | 1967 | - | DEC | 1967 | Caribbean |
JUN | 1968 | - | NOV | 1968 | Mediterranean |
JUN | 1970 | - | DEC | 1970 | Mediterranean |
JAN | 1971 | - | Decommissioned: 23 JAN 1971 |
LSD-21 General Specifications
Complement: 17 Officers and 237 Enlisted
Displacement: 7930 tons
Length: 457 feet 9 inches
Beam: 72 feet 2 inches
Draft: 8 feet 2.5 in
Flank Speed: 17 knots
USS FORT MANDAN (LSD-21)
Fort Mandan was assigned first to the Atlantic Reserve Fleet following
her shakedown training in Chesapeake Bay
but later was assigned to duty
with the Service Force
2d Fleet.
She spent the next year in routine operations off the Atlantic coast. In
April and May 1947 she participated in 8th Fleet exercises
and cruised
with the Naval Academy and NROTC midshipmen to northern European ports during
June and July. On 16 January 1948 she was placed out of commission in the
Atlantic Reserve Fleet.
The outbreak of the Korean war occasioned her reactivation and on 25 October
1950
Fort Mandan was recommissioned
with Captain Philip D. Quirk
USN
commanding. In December she joined the Amphibious Force
Atlantic Fleet.
During 1951 she engaged in Atlantic Fleet exercises through 17 May
conducted
drills in the Caribbean Sea through 29 August
and following a brief cruise
in Caribbean waters underwent preparations for the "Convex" operation
which occurred from 28 February to 31 March 1952.
Fort Mandan participated in the first NATO maneuvers
Operation "Mainbrace"
in August and September 1952
and cruised with the 6th Fleet in the Mediterranean
from October to January 1953.
Returning to the United States
she exercised in the Norfolk area until
September when she weighed anchor to take part in Operation "Sunec"
with calls at Greenland
Labrador
and Newfoundland.
During 1954 she was overhauled at Norfolk Navy Yard
took refresher training
at Narragansett Bay and another "Sunec" cruise on which she visited
Baffin Island
Labrador
and Newfoundland. Two training cruises in the Caribbean
in 1955 were succeeded by a third "Sunec" deployment on which
she crossed the Artic Circle for the second time.
In 1956 Fort Mandan conducted amphibious training exercises at Vieques
P.R.
and underwent overhaul at Baltimore before steaming again for the
far north where she cruised in September and October. Amphibious exercises
again occupied her during November 1956 and much of 1957 when she joined
in "Caribex" in the Canal Zone and "Narmid"
From September through November 1957 she was attached to MSTS for Arctic
Service
successfully transporting Army men and equipment from Greenland
to Newfoundland and Virginia in a winter closing-out operation.
Caribbean exercises kept her active during the first half of 1958. In the
summer months she received an overhaul at Norfolk to prepare her for more
exercises in the Caribbean and a cruise to Halifax and Argentia in November.
In February 1959 she joined the 6th Fleet for maneuvers in the Mediterranean
where she remained until August. In the fall
Fort Mandan operated
from Little Creek
Va.
in conducting drills and exercises
along the Virginia
Capes area and in 1960 she again carried troops and equipment for amphibious
landings in the Caribbean.
[Note: The above USS FORT MANDAN (LSD-21) history may or may not contain text provided by crew members of the USS FORT MANDAN (LSD-21) or by other non-crew members and text from the Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships]