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U.S.S. FORT MANDAN

(LSD-21)

VICTORIAM PORTAMUS

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USS FORT MANDAN (LSD-21) - a Casa Grande-class dock landing ship

In Commission 1945 to 1971

LSD-21 Deployments - Major Events

Add a LSD-21 Shellback Initiation Add a LSD-21 Deployment - Major Event
Month Year to Month Year Deployment / Event
JAN1945-Keel Date: 2 JAN 1945
JUN1945-Launch Date: 2 JUN 1945
OCT1945-Commissioned: 31 OCT 1945
APR1952-SEP1952Blue Nose - Arctic Circle
MAY1953-JUN1953Trans. Nuclear Cannon aft. Atomic Test Nevada back to Aberdeen
JUL1954-JUL1955Blue Nose - Arctic Circle
JUL1955-JUL1955North Pole
NOV1955-Shellback Initiation - 14 NOV 1955 - Atlantic Ocean
MAR1957-MAY1957Caribbean
FEB1958-MAY1958Caribbean
MAR1958-JUN1958Blue Nose - Arctic Circle
JAN1959-AUG1959Mediterranean
JAN1959-AUG1959Mediterranean
JUN1959-JUL1959Mediterranean
JAN1960-JAN1966Mediterranean
APR1961-SEP1961Filming of The Longest Day on Corsica (June 28/29 1961)
SEP1962-MAY1963Mediterranean
SEP1962-MAY1963Mediterranean
JUN1963-JAN1965Gitmo
OCT1963-DEC1963Guantanamo Bay
JUN1965-AUG1965Mediterranean
AUG1967-DEC1967Caribbean
JUN1968-NOV1968Mediterranean
JUN1970-DEC1970Mediterranean
JAN1971-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]