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U.S.S. FORT SNELLING

(LSD-30)

THE FIGHTING FORT

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The USS FORT SNELLING (LSD-30), a Thomaston-class dock landing ship, was commissioned on 24 JAN 1955. Built by Ingalls Shipbuilding Corp. in Pascagoula, Mississippi, USS FORT SNELLING was homeported at Little Creek, Virginia and spent her entire service career as an East Coast "Gator Freighter". FORT SNELLING routinely deployed to the Caribbean and Mediterranean, as well as contingency operations in Beirut, the Dominican Republic, the search for the lost atomic bomb off of Palomares, Spain and the Invasion of Grenada. USS FORT SNELLING served her country for 29 years, 8 months and 4 days, until decommissioned on 28 SEP 1984. The hulk of FORT SNELLING was scrapped in 1995.

The USS FORT SNELLING (LSD-30) deployment history and significant events of her service career follow:

LSD-30 Deployments - Major Events

Add a LSD-30 Shellback Initiation Add a LSD-30 Deployment - Major Event
Month Year to Month Year Deployment / Event
AUG1953-Keel Date: 17 AUG 1953
at Ingalls Shipbuilding Pascagoula MS
JUL1954-Launch Date: 16 JUL 1954
JAN1955-Commissioned: 24 JAN 1955
SEP1956-APR1957Mediterranean
SEP1956-DEC1956Mediterranean
SEP1957-OCT1957Caribbean
SEP1957-OCT1957Mediterranean
AUG1959-OCT1959Caribbean
JAN1961-JAN1961Cuban Missle Blockade
JAN1961-SEP1963Somalia
MAR1962-AUG1962Mediterranean
OCT1962-DEC1962Cuban Missle Blockade
SEP1963-OCT1963Search for remains of Nucular Submarine Threasher
JUN1964-SEP1964Caribbean
NOV1964-NOV1964Steel Pike
JAN1965-JAN1966Mediterranean
MAR1965-JUN1965Caribbean
APR1965-APR1965Dominican Republic Landing
OCT1965-MAY1966Mediterranean
JAN1966-APR1966Search for lost Atomic bombs Palomares Spain
JAN1966-JUN1967Mediterranean
SEP1966-SEP1966Dominican Republic with.drawal
OCT1966- Shellback Initiation - 29 OCT 1966 - Atlantic Ocean
OCT1966-NOV1966Ascension Island -- pickup Space Module
OCT1966-Shellback Initiation - 10 OCT 1966 - Atlantic Ocean
OCT1966-Shellback Initiation - 29 OCT 1966 - Atlantic Ocean
FEB1967-MAR1967Springboard
FEB1968-MAY1968Caribbean
NOV1970-MAR1971Mediterranean
SEP1971-MAR1972Mediterranean
SEP1971-MAR1972Mediterranean
JAN1972-JAN1975West Pac-Viet Nam
JUL1972-SEP1972Blue Nose - Arctic Circle
JUN1973-DEC1973Mediterranean
NOV1976-MAY1977Mediterranean
JAN1977-JAN1978Mediterranean
APR1978-APR1978collision with USNS Waccamaw April 3rd.
APR1979-MAY1979Caribbean
JUN1979-DEC1980Dry Dock
JAN1980-JUL1980Mediterranean-Lebanon
JAN1980-JAN1984Caribbean
JAN1981-JAN1981Mediterranean-Lebanon
FEB1981-APR1981Guantanamo Bay
JUN1981-SEP1981Hoduras
JAN1982-MAR1982Blue Nose - Arctic Circle
JAN1982-APR1982Blue Nose - Arctic Circle
OCT1982-MAY1983Mediterranean-Lebanon
OCT1983-NOV1983Grenada
OCT1983-MAY1984Mediterranean-Lebanon
OCT1983-OCT1983Grenada
SEP1984-Decommissioned: 28 SEP 1984

LSD-30 General Specifications

Class: Thomaston-class dock landing ship

Complement: 304 Officers and Enlisted

Displacement: 8899 tons

Length: 510 feet

Beam: 84 feet

Draft: 19 feet

Final Disposition: Sold for scrap 25 August 1995



USS FORT SNELLING (LSD-30)



Fort Snelling (LSD-30) was launched 16 July 1954 by Ingalls Shipbuilding Corp. Pascagoula Miss.; sponsored by Mrs. Robert F. Briscoe wife of Vice Admiral Briscoe; and commissioned 24 January 1955 Commander H. Marvin-Smith in command.

Homeported at Norfolk Va. Fort Snelling carried out an intensive exercise schedule along the east coast and in the Caribbean almost always with Marines embarked for amphibious training. She made her first deployment to the Mediterranean in 1956 returning the next year again to serve with the 6th Fleet. During her 1958 deployment she was at sea bound for the island of Rhodes when on 14 July she was notified to land her Marines at Beirut Lebanon the next day. Thus Fort Snelling took part in the immediate response of the U.S. Navy to the Middle Eastern crisis of summer 1958. Several times more before leaving the Mediterranean she returned to the coast of Lebanon to support the Marines ashore. Through 1959 and 1963 Fort Snelling continued her training operations with marines in the Caribbean and on the Carolina coast.


Fort Snelling was decommissioned 28 September 1984 and transferred to the Maritime Administration 7 September 1989. Her name was struck from the Naval Vessel Register 24 February 1992 and she was sold 25 August 1995.

[Note: The above USS FORT SNELLING (LSD-30) history may or may not contain text provided by crew members of the USS FORT SNELLING (LSD-30) or by other non-crew members and text from the Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships]