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U.S.S. SPIEGEL GROVE
(LSD-32)TOP DOG
Click to view crew list
USS SPIEGEL GROVE (LSD-32) - a Thomaston-class dock landing ship
In Commission 1956 to 1989LSD-32 Deployments - Major Events
Add a LSD-32 Shellback Initiation | Add a LSD-32 Deployment - Major Event | ||||
Month | Year | to | Month | Year | Deployment / Event |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
SEP | 1954 | - | Keel Date: 7 SEP 1954 at Ingalls Shipbuilding Pascagoula MS | ||
NOV | 1955 | - | Launch Date: 10 NOV 1955 | ||
JUN | 1956 | - | Commissioned: 8 JUN 1956 | ||
JAN | 1957 | - | JUN | 1957 | Mediterranean-Lebanon |
JAN | 1958 | - | OCT | 1958 | Mediterranean-Lebanon |
FEB | 1960 | - | JUN | 1960 | Caribbean |
MAR | 1961 | - | SEP | 1961 | Solant Amity 11 |
MAY | 1961 | - | Shellback Initiation - 1 MAY 1961 - Atlantic Ocean | ||
OCT | 1962 | - | OCT | 1962 | Cuban Missle Blockade |
JAN | 1963 | - | JUN | 1963 | Solant Amity IV |
MAR | 1963 | - | Shellback Initiation - 17 MAR 1963 - Atlantic Ocean | ||
OCT | 1963 | - | OCT | 1963 | Cuban Missle Blockade |
JAN | 1964 | - | JUN | 1964 | Mediterranean-Indian Ocean-Persian Gulf |
NOV | 1965 | - | APR | 1966 | Caribbean |
NOV | 1966 | - | APR | 1967 | Mediterranean |
NOV | 1966 | - | JAN | 1967 | Mediterranean |
OCT | 1967 | - | APR | 1968 | Caribbean |
JUL | 1968 | - | OCT | 1968 | Find USS Scorpion Nuke Sub Azores Islands |
AUG | 1968 | - | AUG | 1968 | Lisbon, Portugal port visit |
MAR | 1969 | - | MAR | 1969 | Savannah, Georgia |
MAY | 1969 | - | JUN | 1969 | Operation |
MAY | 1969 | - | SEP | 1969 | Operation |
JUL | 1969 | - | SEP | 1969 | Santa Lucia |
FEB | 1970 | - | FEB | 1970 | Aruba |
FEB | 1970 | - | FEB | 1970 | Panama Canal Zone |
MAR | 1970 | - | APR | 1970 | St. Croix |
APR | 1970 | - | APR | 1970 | Barbados |
JUL | 1970 | - | SEP | 1970 | Midshipman Cruise..Portsmouth, England...Copenhagen, Denmark |
JAN | 1971 | - | MAR | 1971 | Secondary Recovery Ship (Atlantic) for Apollo 14 mission. |
FEB | 1971 | - | FEB | 1971 | Apollo 14 Liberty..Rio DeJaniero, Brazil |
MAR | 1971 | - | Shellback Initiation - 28 MAR 1971 - Atlantic Ocean | ||
APR | 1971 | - | OCT | 1971 | Mediterranean |
APR | 1971 | - | SEP | 1971 | Med 1-71 Cruise..Crete, Izmir Turkey, Athens, Naples |
AUG | 1972 | - | Shellback Initiation - 1 AUG 1972 - Atlantic Ocean | ||
JUN | 1973 | - | AUG | 1973 | Caribbean |
MAY | 1974 | - | OCT | 1974 | Mediterranean |
MAR | 1975 | - | APR | 1975 | Caribbean |
JAN | 1976 | - | JUL | 1976 | Mediterranean |
SEP | 1976 | - | Shellback Initiation - 9 SEP 1976 - Atlantic Ocean | ||
OCT | 1976 | - | DEC | 1977 | ship yard bethlehem steel baltimore Md |
JUN | 1977 | - | Shellback Initiation - 17 JUN 1977 - Atlantic Ocean | ||
JAN | 1979 | - | JUN | 1979 | Mediterranean |
JAN | 1979 | - | JUN | 1979 | Mediterranean |
JAN | 1980 | - | JUL | 1980 | Mediterranean |
JAN | 1980 | - | JUL | 1980 | Mediterranean-Indian Ocean |
AUG | 1980 | - | NOV | 1980 | North Atlantic |
MAY | 1981 | - | AUG | 1981 | Dry Dock |
JUN | 1983 | - | NOV | 1983 | UNITAS |
JUL | 1983 | - | Shellback Initiation - 27 JUL 1983 - Pacific Ocean | ||
JUL | 1983 | - | Shellback Initiation - 25 JUL 1983 - Atlantic Ocean | ||
JUL | 1983 | - | Shellback Initiation - 27 JUL 1983 - Atlantic Ocean | ||
JUL | 1983 | - | Shellback Initiation - 7 JUL 1983 - Atlantic Ocean | ||
AUG | 1983 | - | Shellback Initiation - 23 AUG 1983 - Pacific Ocean | ||
JAN | 1984 | - | MAR | 1984 | North Atlantic |
MAY | 1987 | - | NOV | 1987 | Mediterranean-Indian Ocean-Persian Gulf |
JUN | 1987 | - | NOV | 1987 | Mediterranean-Indian Ocean |
JUL | 1987 | - | Shellback Initiation - 23 JUL 1987 - Atlantic Ocean | ||
JUL | 1987 | - | Shellback Initiation - 23 JUL 1987 - Indian Ocean | ||
OCT | 1989 | - | Decommissioned: 2 OCT 1989 |
LSD-32 General Specifications
Class: Thomaston-class dock landing ship
Named for: Spiegel Grove
Complement: 18 Officers and 300 Enlisted
Displacement: 8899 tons
Length: 510 feet
Beam: 84 feet
Flank Speed: 21 knots
Final Disposition: Sunk intentionally in 2002 off Key Largo to form artificial reef
USS SPIEGEL GROVE (LSD-32)
Spiegel Grove (LSD-32) was laid down on 7 September 1954 by the Ingalls
Shipbuilding Corp.
Pascagoula
Miss.
Iaunched on 10 November 1955; sponsored
by Mrs. Webb C. Hayes
and commissioned on 8 June 1956
Capt. S. Filippone
in command.
Spiegel Grove sailed for Hampton Roads and arrived at Norfolk
Va.
on 7 July. She headed for the Guantanamo Bay area on her shakedown cruise
on 26 July and returned on 15 September. The ship was in the yard during
October; and
in November
she participated in amphibious exercises off
Onslow Beach
N.C.
On 9 January 1957
Spiegel Grove
with other ships of Transport Amphibious
Squadron (TransPhibRon) 4
sailed from Morehead City
N.C.
with elements
of the 6th Marines embarked
for a tour with the 6th Fleet in the Mediterranean.
She returned to Norfolk on 3 June and operated along the east coast for
the remainder of the year. In November
she transported 364 Army troops
to Labrador. In January 1958
the LSD was deployed with her squadron to
the 6th Fleet on an extended tour which did not end until 6 October. On
the 22d
Spiegel Grove was assigned to PhibRon 10
the new Fast Squadron.
The years 1959 and 1960 saw the LSD participating in numerous operations
along the east coast and in the Caribbean.
Spiegel Grove stood out of Norfolk in April 1961 with Task Force
(TF) 88 for "Solant Amity II
" a good-will tour to the African
coast. The force carried tons of medical supplies
food and disaster supplies
toys
books
and seed. During the four-month cruise
the ships visited Gambia
Durban
the Malagasy Republic
the Seychelles Islands
Zanzibar
Kenya
the Union of South Africa
Togo
and Gabon before returning home on 8 September.
She then entered Horne Brothers Shipyard
Newport News
Va.
for an overhaul
that was not completed until early January 1962
Spiegel Grove conducted refresher training and then spent March and
April in amphibious exercises in the Caribbean. In May
she took part in
operations supporting Malcolm Scott Carpenter's manned space flight. In
July and August
she returned to the Caribbean for "Phibulex 2-62."
On 1 December 1962 a tender availability period was begun to prepare the
ship for "Solant Amity IV." The LSD loaded supplies during January
1963 and sailed
on 15 February
for her second good-will tour which lasted
until late May. The ship steamed over 21
000 miles and visited nine countries
before returning home. Spiegel Grove next deployed to the Caribbean
from July to September with PhibRon 8.
The landing ship has spent the greater part of her active service participating
in amphibious exercises along the eastern seaboard and in the Caribbean.
Spiegel Grove was deployed to the 6th Fleet from January to June
1964
3 November 1966 to 11 May 1967; and from 17 April to 9 October 1971.
She participated in Operation "Steel Pike I" off Spain in October
1964 and made a midshipman cruise to England and Denmark in 1970. Spiegel
Grove still serves with the amphibious forces of the Atlantic Fleet
into December 1974.
Spiegel Grove was decommissioned 2 Oct 1980 and her name
struck from the Navy list 13 Dec. 1989. The vessel was transferred to the
maritime Administration in the James River fleet, then sunk as a reef and
is located on Dixie Shoal, 6 miles off the Florida Keys.
[Note: The above USS SPIEGEL GROVE (LSD-32) history may or may not contain text provided by crew members of the USS SPIEGEL GROVE (LSD-32) or by other non-crew members and text from the Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships]