UNDERWAY! 2025 Wall Calendar / W.W. II SPECIAL EDITION NOW AVAILABLE - CLICK HERE |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
For RATING SHIRTS - Click on your Rating Abbreviation below: | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Click on your Rating abbreviation above: |
U.S.S. ALAMO
(LSD-33)WE DELIVER
Click to view crew list
The USS ALAMO (LSD-33), a Thomaston-class dock landing ship, was commissioned on 24 AUG 1956. Built by Ingalls Shipbuilding in Pascagoula, Mississippa, USS ALAMO, after final fit out a Portsmouth NSY in Hampton Roads, VA, sailed for her homeport of San Diego. She took up her duty as a West Coast "Gator Freighter", deploying numerous times to the Western Pacific. At first she deployed in peace, but aster the U.S. became more and more involved in Vietnam, she carried her Marines to combat duty. After the war in Vietnam wound down, USS ALAMO continued deploying westward, including a voyage across the Indian Ocean to Kenya in 1980. USS ALAMO served her country for 34 years, 1 month and 4 days, until decommissioned on 28 SEP 1990. USS ALAMO was transferred to the Brazilian Navy after decommissioning and she remains in service as Rio de Janeiro (G31).
The USS ALAMO (LSD-33) deployment history and significant events of her service career follow:
LSD-33 Deployments - Major Events
Add a LSD-33 Shellback Initiation | Add a LSD-33 Deployment - Major Event | ||||
Month | Year | to | Month | Year | Deployment / Event |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
OCT | 1954 | - | Keel Date: 11 OCT 1954 at Ingalls Shipbuilding Pascagoula MS | ||
JAN | 1956 | - | Launch Date: 20 JAN 1956 | ||
AUG | 1956 | - | Commissioned: 24 AUG 1956 | ||
FEB | 1961 | - | AUG | 1961 | West Pac |
APR | 1961 | - | APR | 1961 | Loaded a missile or rocket at Port Huenme Ca (Near Oxnard Ca) |
JUN | 1961 | - | DEC | 1961 | West Pac |
OCT | 1962 | - | MAY | 1963 | West Pac |
JUN | 1964 | - | DEC | 1964 | West Pac-Viet Nam |
AUG | 1964 | - | NOV | 1964 | West Pac-Viet Nam |
JUN | 1965 | - | AUG | 1965 | West Pac-Viet Nam |
JUN | 1966 | - | SEP | 1966 | West Pac-Viet Nam |
OCT | 1967 | - | JUN | 1968 | West Pac-Viet Nam |
JAN | 1969 | - | SEP | 1969 | West Pac-Viet Nam |
MAR | 1969 | - | Shellback Initiation - 21 MAR 1969 - Pacific Ocean | ||
MAR | 1969 | - | Shellback Initiation - 25 MAR 1969 - Pacific Ocean | ||
JUL | 1969 | - | MAR | 1970 | West Pac-Viet Nam |
MAR | 1970 | - | AUG | 1971 | West Pac-Viet Nam |
AUG | 1970 | - | MAR | 1971 | West Pac |
JAN | 1972 | - | JAN | 1972 | West Pac-Viet Nam |
APR | 1972 | - | DEC | 1972 | West Pac |
APR | 1972 | - | DEC | 1972 | West Pac-Viet Nam |
JAN | 1974 | - | JUN | 1974 | West Pac |
JUN | 1974 | - | Shellback Initiation - 5 JUN 1974 - Pacific Ocean | ||
MAR | 1975 | - | JAN | 1976 | West Pac |
MAY | 1975 | - | Shellback Initiation - 1 MAY 1975 - Pacific Ocean | ||
FEB | 1976 | - | Shellback Initiation - 12 FEB 1976 - Pacific Ocean | ||
FEB | 1976 | - | Shellback Initiation - 12 FEB 1976 - Pacific Ocean | ||
JUN | 1976 | - | Shellback Initiation - 6 JUN 1976 - Pacific Ocean | ||
MAR | 1977 | - | NOV | 1977 | West Pac |
MAY | 1980 | - | Shellback Initiation - 3 MAY 1980 - Pacific Ocean | ||
MAY | 1980 | - | Shellback Initiation - 3 MAY 1980 - Pacific Ocean | ||
MAY | 1980 | - | Shellback Initiation - 3 MAY 1980 - Pacific Ocean | ||
MAY | 1980 | - | Shellback Initiation - 3 MAY 1980 - Indian Ocean | ||
JUN | 1981 | - | DEC | 1981 | West Pac |
AUG | 1981 | - | Shellback Initiation - 30 AUG 1981 - Indian Ocean | ||
AUG | 1981 | - | Shellback Initiation - 30 AUG 1981 - Pacific Ocean | ||
FEB | 1984 | - | FEB | 1984 | Mini Gator Excorcices |
APR | 1984 | - | Shellback Initiation - 24 APR 1984 - Pacific Ocean | ||
APR | 1986 | - | Shellback Initiation - 1 APR 1986 - Pacific Ocean | ||
NOV | 1987 | - | MAY | 1988 | West Pac |
DEC | 1989 | - | JUN | 1990 | West Pac |
MAY | 1990 | - | Shellback Initiation - 8 MAY 1990 - Pacific Ocean | ||
SEP | 1990 | - | Decommissioned: 28 SEP 1990 | ||
NOV | 1990 | - | JUN | 2012 | Decommisioning |
LSD-33 General Specifications
Class: Thomaston-class dock landing ship
Named for: the Alamo
Complement: 304 Officers and Enlisted
Displacement: 8899 tons
Length: 510 feet
Beam: 84 feet
Flank Speed: 21 knots
Final Disposition: Loaned to Brazil 12 November 1990
USS ALAMO (LSD-33)
Alamo (LSD-33) was laid down on 11 October 1954 at Pascagoula
Miss.
by the Ingalls Shipbuilding Corp.; launched on 20 January 1956; sponsored
by Mrs. Daniel V. Gallery
the wife of Rear Admiral Daniel V. Gallery: and
commissioned on 24 August 1956
Capt. James L. Semmes in command.
After commissioning
the ship briefly visited Galveston
Tex. then headed
for Norfolk
Va.
to complete her outfitting and initial loading. On 13
October
the dock landing ship sailed for the west coast. After transiting
the Panama Canal
she reached San Diego
her home port
and joined the Amphibious
Forces
Pacific Fleet. The ship held amphibious exercises and acceptance
trials off San Diego in February 1957. Further training exercises occupied
her until 29 May
when she got underway for the Marshall Islands. Alamo
paused at Peart Harbor from 6 to 8 June to load amphibious craft
then
continued on to the Marshall Islands. She discharged the craft at Eniwetok
on the 14th and for the next 10 days
provided shuttle service between Eniwetok
and Bikini Atolls. Alamo put to sea from Bikini on 22 June and steamed
by way of Pearl Harbor to San Diego where she loaded landing craft
tugs
and spare parts before sailing for Pearl Harbor on 23 July. There
on 6
August
she embarked marines and their equipment and put to sea for participation
in Operation "Tradewinds
" conducted in the area of Lahaina Roads
Maui. Alamo returned from this exercise on the 15th; then left Pearl
Harbor four days later to return to San Diego.
On 24 September
Alamo began a voyage to the western Pacific (WestPac).
She repeated her pattern of loading equipment at Pearl Harbor for transport
to Eniwetok. Alamo then shuttled equipment between Emwetok
Utirik
Kwajalein
and Ujelang Atolls. A voyage to Yokohama
Japan
where she arrived
on 17 November
interrupted that duty. Alamo cleared that port on
21 November to resume her shuttling service in the Marshalls before returning
to San Diego on 15 December.
The beginning of 1958 brought more training and upkeep. On 8 March
Alamo
headed for Pearl Harbor where she joined a fast transport group for
a series of amphibious force landing and salvage exercises at Kauai. The
ship departed Pearl Harbor on 7 April and reached San Diego on the 14th.
Ten days later
she entered the Mare Island Naval Shipyard for an overhaul
and returned to her home port on 31 July to begin two and one-half months
of refresher training. On 10 October
Alamo sailed for Japan. After
loading landing craft at Yokosuka
Alamo headed to Kaohsiung
Taiwan.
At that port
the ship conducted amphibious training with units of the Nationalist
Chinese Navy until 2 December 1958. She then steamed for independent ship
exercises off Okinawa and stopped at Naha to load the men and equipment
of Marine Transport Squadron 163 for transportation to Yokosuka. For the
next two months
Alamo shuttled various Marine Corps units between
Yokosuka and Okinawa
terminating her last voyage of this duty at Naha on
11 February 1959. Three days later she pushed on to Sasebo
Japan
but again
got underway for home on 23 February and paid visits to Adak and Kodiak
Alaska
and San Francisco
Calif
before reaching San Diego on 12 March.
Following a round-trip run to Astoria
Oreg.
-- from 17 to 25 April --
to deliver a load of small craft
she took part in exercises with other
units of Amphibious Squadron 3 off Coronado
followed by Operation "Twin
Peaks
" held off the California coast from 18 May to 5 June. Late in
September
Alamo sailed for the Far East. The ship visited Kaohsiung
Taiwan; Yokosuka
Iwakuni
Kagoshima
and Shimazu
Japan
Naha
Okinawa
Hong Kong
Subic Bay
Philippines
and Buckner Bay
Okinawa. After touching
at Pearl Harbor
she arrived at San Diego on 3 May 1960. From 25 July to
1 November
the ship was overhauled at the Todd Shipyard
Seattle
Wash.;
and
from 14 November to 9 December
she went through refresher training.
The vessel began 1961 with amphibious refresher training at San Diego and
devoted most of the first half of the year to training and gunnery exercises
naval reserve training cruises and Operation "Greenlight Phase III."
On 17 June
she got underway for another WestPac deployment. Upon her arrival
at Subic Bay
Alamo joined the 7th Fleet's Amphibious Ready Group
(ARG) and shuttled Marine Corps units to Buckner Bay. She took part in Operation
"Warm-Up" off the northwest coast of Okinawa from 13 to 20 October.
A visit to Hong Kong followed before the ship returned to Subic Bay and
began preparations for her voyage back to the United States. She got underway
early in December and arrived at San Diego on the 16th.
Alamo remained there until 6 March 1962
when she got underway for
San Francisco and the Todd Shipyard for her first interim overhaul. Six
weeks later
she returned to San Diego. Local operations occupied her until
16 October when she got underway for the Far East with Amphibious Squadron
3. En route
several ships of the squadron were diverted to the Caribbean
in response to the Cuban crisis
and Alamo was held in Hawaii on
a standby basis. On 17 November
she sailed for typhoon-stricken Guam with
emergency supplies. After a two-day stop in Guam to unload supplies
the
vessel proceeded to Subic Bay. Local operations off San Miguel were held
before the ship sailed to Hong Kong for the Christmas holidays.
The ship visited Manila during the New Year's holiday in 1963 then returned
to Subic Bay. In January
she took part in Operation "Jungle Drum II"
in Thailand and then spent two days in Bangkok. Her next assignment took
her to the flood- stricken island of Mindanao in the Philippines. The month
of March was taken up by Operation "Silver Blade" off Taiwan.
After three weeks of restricted availability at Subic Bay
Alamo sailed
on 20 April for Yokosuka. The ship finally reached San Diego on 11 May.
Following a period of upkeep and training
she got underway for four weeks
of operations in the Pacific Northwest with units of Amphibious Squadron
7 and Army Reserve units. Visits to Seattle
Wash.
and Portland
Oreg.
preceded her return to San Diego on 6 September. In mid-September
the ship
entered the Bethlehem Steel Co. shipyard
Long Beach
Calif.
to begin an
overhaul which was completed barely in time for her to get back home for
the Christmas holidays.
A period of upkeep and refresher training kept the crew busy through March
1964. In April
Alamo proceeded north to assist the earthquake-stricken
region around Kodiak
Alaska. She returned to San Diego in May and took
part in Operation "Pine Tree." Then
after several weeks of preparations
Alamo departed San Diego on 18 June
bound for the Far East. Upon
reaching Pearl Harbor
she was involved in Operation "Tool Box"
and had a period of leave and upkeep before sailing for Okinawa on 9 July.
Alamo returned to Subic Bay on the last day of July. On 5 August
she sailed with Marine Corps Battalion Landing Team (BLT) 3/1 embarked for
patrol duties off the coast of Vietnam and
through most of the autumn
alternated periods of leave and upkeep at Hong Kong and Subic Bay with Vietnamese
patrol duty through 2 December. The ship arrived back in San Diego on 18
December 1964.
Participation in Operation "Silver Lance" off the coast of southern
California lasted from 23 February through 10 March 1965. On 11 March
Alamo
was called upon to make an unscheduled run to Yokosuka carrying men
and equipment for the American military buildup in the Far East as the United
States was beginning direct participation in operations in Vietnam. She
returned to San Diego on 12 April. The ship made a second unscheduled deployment
to WestPac on 25 May. She sailed to Okinawa
onloaded marines
then landed
them at Qui Nhon and Danang
Vietnam. Alamo touched briefly at Yokosuka
then headed back to San Diego. She took part in Operations "Cleansweep"
and "Ragweed" during September
devoted most of the autumn to
training exercises
and ended the year in port at San Diego.
In February 1966 the ship began her seventh major deployment to Westpac.
Alamo spent six months operating as a part of an amphibious ready
group (ARG) and shuttled troops and equipment from Subic Bay and Okinawa
to various points in Vietnam. She returned to the United States in August.
In September
her home port was switched to Long Beach
Calif
and she was
assigned to the newly formed Amphibious Squadron 7.
In early 1967
she entered drydock at the Todd Shipyard in San Pedro
Calif.
for her third major overhaul which
with the ensuing series of refresher
training exercises
accounted for most of the year. In November
the ship
sailed for the Far East. There
Alamo was engaged in a series of
lifts from Guam and the Philippines to Danang. She also again became a member
of an ARG and operated along the Vietnamese coast for much of her tour.
The ship also participated in four amphibious operations before returning
to Long Beach in June 1968.
The ship engaged in local operations along the west coast for the rest of
1968. On 30 January 1969
she began another WestPac deployment in which
she lifted troops and equipment to Danang and then proceeded to Subic Bay
where she joined ARG "Bravo." The vessel also took part in three
amphibious operations off the coast of South Vietnam. After eight months
away from home Alamo returned to Long Beach on 26 September 1969.
The ship then engaged in a series of training exercises and operations for
the remainder of the year.
Alamo opened 1970 at San Pedro
Calif.
undergoing a restricted availability
during which repairs were made to damaged deck plating
cranes
and a boiler.
Work was completed on 19 January
and the ship made final preparations for
more service in Oriental waters. On 31 January
she sailed with Denver
(LPD-3) to participate in Operation "Keystone Bluejay
" which
involved the withdrawal of American troops from Vietnam. Alamo sailed
into Danang harbor on 19 February and began loading marines and equipment
for transportation back to the United States. Alamo debarked the
marines at Camp Pendleton
Calif
on 14 March and then steamed north to
Long Beach. She spent the next four and one-half months in training exercises
refresher training
and availability. On 1 August
Alamo headed out
to sea on her 10th WestPac deployment. She stopped at Pearl Harbor and Guam
before reaching Subic Bay on 20 August. There
she unloaded her cargo and
sailed on 21 August for Danang to bring more marines back to the United
States. Alamo reached Camp Pendleton on 11 September. After 10 days
of leave and upkeep she got underway for Danang. Alamo also visited
Yokosuka Tokyo
and Subic Bay. She transported landing craft along the Vietnamese
coast between such points as Danang
Vung Tau
Song Bo De
and An Thoi.
In early December
the ship took on board BLT 2/4 for participation in Exercise
"GRR-1' in Subic Bay. Upon finishing that exercise
she sailed to Hong
Kong for Christmas. On 28 December 1970
she returned to the Danang operating
area.
The vessel steamed to Mindoro
Philippines
on 5 January 1971 for amphibious
operations andoved on to Subic Bay on the 10th to onload equipment to ship
to Vietnam. After briefly touching back at Subic Bay
Alamo left
Danang to onload marines and vehicles as part of the general American troop
withdrawal. On 1 February
she got underway to return to Long Beach and
reached home port on 22 February. A leave and upkeep period ensued.
Operations resumed on 5 April as Alamo sailed for southern California
waters to hold a midshipman training cruise and amphibious exercises. In
early May
Alamo unloaded her ammunition at the Seal Beach Naval
Weapons Station in preparation for an overhaul at the Long Beach Naval Shipyard.
The ship entered drydock on 13 May. Yard work was completed on 15 September
and then began a period of refresher training which lasted through 10 December.
The year 1972 began with the vessel in upkeep. Then a series of training
exercises in preparation for deployment followed. In April
Alamo left
Long Beach for the Far East. During her seven and one-half-month WestPac
tour
she made numerous troop and equipment lifts to and from Vietnam. Following
completion of these duties
she got underway and returned to Long Beach
on 8 November.
The vessel remained in upkeep through 27 March 1973. On the 28th
she moved
to the weapons depot at Seal Beach to unload ammunition. She entered the
Bethlehem Steel Shipyard at San Pedro on 5 April for a restricted availability.
This period ended on 15 May
when Alamo held sea trials along the
California coast. She commenced an availability at San Diego on 28 May to
convert the fuel system from Navy standard fuel oil to distillate fuel.
This work was completed on 14 September
and the ship sailed to Hunters
Point Naval Shipyard on 16 September to begin a week of training. She returned
to Long Beach on 24 September. Alamo held amphibious refresher training
off Coronado
Calif.
through 12 November
and remained at Long Beach through
the end of the year.
The first three weeks of 1974 were spent making final preparations for another
WestPac deployment which began on 19 January. Eight days later
Alamo
took part in a Marine Corps landing exercise off Kaneohe Bay
Hawaii.
She reached Okinawa on Valentine's Day. After refueling and onloading Battalion
Landing Team (BLT) 2/9 she sailed to Numazu
Japan
unloaded the marines
and pushed on to Yokosuka for a fortnight's restricted availability. Next
came port calls at Beppu
Japan
and at Keelung
Taiwan. Alamo's ensuing
assignment was an amphibious training exercise off Okinawa which
in turn
was followed by stops at Subic Bay; Chinhae
South Korea; Hong Kong; and
Numazu and Yokosuka
Japan. On 30 May
the ship got underway to participate
in Exercise "Kangaroo I." The assault force gathered in the Coral
Sea off the east coast of Australia. On 19 June
she headed for Sydney for
a leave period. On 4 July
the ship weighed anchor and sailed home
via
Pago Pago
American Samoa
and arrived back at San Diego on 19 July. Local
operations
which began for the ship on 23 September
were soon followed
by preparations for an overhaul which began at San Diego on 4 December 1974.
Alamo got underway for Long Beach on 27 May 1975 and spent the month
of June at her home port in restricted availability. On 2 July
Alamo
sailed to Seal Beach to take on ammunition and
on 14 July
began amphibious
refresher training off San Diego. She sailed on 4 October for another WestPac
cruise. Following her arrival at Pearl Harbor
she took part in an amphibious
exercise held in Kaneohe Bay from the 12th to the 14th. The next day
the
ship continued her journey
bound via Kwajalein for Subic Bay. After a brief
stop there on 1 November
Alamo sailed to Sasebo for upkeep. She
next transported BLT 2/9 from Numazu to Okinawa
then made a trip to Pusan
Korea. Her other subsequent norts of call included Sasebo and Kagoshima
Japan; Keelung
Taiwan; Buckner Bay
Okinawa
Singapore Sattahip
Thailand;
and Inchon
Korea. On 7 May
Alamo finally set course for the United
States. She reached her new home port of San Diego on 25 May and
following
upkeep
devoted herself to local operations along the California coast for
the rest of 1976.
The year 1977 began with three months of refresher training for the ship.
On 29 March
she once again set off for the Far East. During this trip
Alamo visited the now-familiar ports of Iwakuni and Numazu
Japan
Subic Bay
Buckner Bay
Inchon and Pusan
Korea
Hong Kong
and Keeiung
Taiwan. She also participated in joint exercises with Korean and Thai naval
forces and made numerous troop and supply shuttles before getting underway
for home on 23 October. On 17 November
Alamo arrived at San Diego
and entered a post-deployment standdown period.
On 19 January 1978
Alamo began a fortnight's operations off the
southern California coast and then turned to preparations for an overhaul.
On 13 March
Alamo entered the Todd Shipyard in San Pedro. She held
sea trials in December and was in port at Long Beach for the Christmas holidays.
She returned to San Diego on 11 January 1979. The vessel sailed to Seal
Beach on the 22d to load ammunition and then commenced a series of training
exercises. In June
the ship was assigned to resupply duty and provided
small boat repair service at the naval outpost on Eniwetok. The group was
involved in a cleanup operation to make the island habitable once again.
After finishing her work on 28 June
she got underway for Pearl Harbor.
At the end of a short stay there
she resumed her voyage and sailed into
San Diego harbor on 15 July. She spent the month of August in restricted
availability. In September
Alamo took part in a fleet exercise involving
over 30 American and Canadian warships that included an amphibious landing
on the island of Vancouver
just off the Canadian coast. On 9 October
Alamo
sailed to Seattle
where she underwent repair work for three weeks.
She returned to San Diego on 2 November. The ship spent the remainder of
the year preparing for a scheduled WestPac deployment in early 1980.
Alamo embarked upon the voyage to the Far East on 4 January 1980.
En route
she made stops at Pearl Harbor and Guam before arriving at Subic
Bay in the Philippines on 10 February. The dock landing ship stayed in the
Philippines through the end of the month
getting underway once between
the 22d and the 26th to carry out an amphibious landing exercise at Zambales.
On 1 March
she departed Subic Bay bound ultimately for duty in the Indian
Ocean. Along the way
Alamo stopped at Pattaya
Thailand
and at
Singapore. She departed Singapore on 15 March and made her way across the
Indian Ocean to the Arabian Sea where she joined the contingency force established
in response to the takeover of the American embassy in Tehran
Iran. Alamo
operated in that area until the beginning of May. At that time the dock
landing ship headed for the Navy facility at Diego Garcia Island. After
stopping at Diego Garcia from 5 May to 13 May
she returned to sea and shaped
a course for Western Australia. Following a five-day visit to Perth
the
ship departed Australia on her way back to the Philippines. Alamo paid
a five-day visit to Subic Bay as well and then began the voyage back to
the United States.
The dock landing ship stopped off at Pearl Harbor between 24 and 26 June
to disembark marines and arrived in San Diego on 3 July. Post-deployment
standdown occupied her time from then until 11 August when she began normal
operations along the west coast. She remained so engaged through the end
of 1980 and for the bulk of the first six months of 1981. On 24 June Alamo
stood out of San Diego for another tour of duty with the 7th Fleet.
Once again
however
her western Pacific assignment included an Indian Ocean
interlude. After a stop at Pearl Harbor and an exercise out of Buckner Bay
Okinawa
she visited Subic Bay for a fortnight in August. On 21 August
Alamo left the Philippines for the east coast of Africa and arrived
in Mombasa
Kenya
on 6 September. There
she participated in a bilateral
exercise with Kenyan forces before heading back across the Indian Ocean
via Diego Garcia to Australia. After visits to Perth and Sydney and the
multilateral exercise Operation "Kangaroo 81
" the dock landing
ship set course for the Philippines on 1 November. She pulled into Subic
Bay on the 9th and remained there for the rest of the month. On the 30th
the ship got underway for the United States.
Alamo reentered San Diego again on 23 December and ended the year
with the usual leave and upkeep routine. The relative inactivity following
a deployment continued through the end of January 1982. In February
the
dock landing ship carried out some operations at sea
but
late in the month
began preparations for regular overhaul. The extended repair period began
on 12 April
lasted through the end of 1982
and carried over well into
1983. Overhaul ended on 6 May 1983
and Alamo commenced refresher
training in the southern California operating area. Late in June
however
damage to her propulsion plant interrupted her training evolutions and caused
her to spend the summer tied up to a pier for repairs. Late in September
Alamo resumed operations at sea.
Service along the west coast
interrupted sporadically by repair problems
continued through the end of the year and into 1984. In February
she began
concentrating her efforts on readiness exercises
trials
and examinations
specifically geared to preparing the amphibious warship for her scheduled
deployment to the Far East. On 30 May 1984
Alamo embarked upon the
voyage to the western Pacific. On the first leg of the crossing she participated
in multinational defense exercises with units of the navies of Australia
Canada
and New Zealand as well as with elements of the Japanese Maritime
Self-Defense Force. For the most part
those exercises were conducted in
the Hawaiian Islands.
On 3 July
Alamo concluded her visit to Hawaii and resumed the voyage
to the Orient. En route
further troubles surfaced in the boilers of her
main propulsion plant so that
upon her arrival in Subic Bay on 20 July
she commenced another round of repairs. The dock landing ship carried out
post-repair trials during the last week in August and finally departed Subic
Bay on the 24th. Alamo reached Buckner Bay
Okinawa
on 27 August
and began embarking marines for transportation to Japan. Between 28 August
and 16 September
the amphibious warship made two round-trip voyages between
Okinawa and Japan carrying marines to and from training exercises. On 18
September
she stood out of Buckner Bay on her way to Inchon
Korea. During
the period 18 September to 13 October
she made three round-trip voyages
between Okinawa and South Korean ports. Upon her return to Okinawa from
the third of those assignments
a problem with her stern gate tied her up
with repairs until 2 November. At that time she headed back to Korea to
participate in the bilateral exercise Operation "Valiant Blitz 85-1"
in cooperation with elements of the South Korean Navy and Marine Corps.
Following stops at Buckner Bay and Sasebo
Japan
Alamo began the
voyage back to the United States at the end of the third week in November.
The dock landing ship made the usual call at Pearl Harbor and then reentered
San Diego on 6 December.
Post-deployment standdown and holiday routine occupied her time for the
rest of 1984 and during the first two weeks of January 1985. Alamo resumed
local operations out of her home port late in January. The amphibious warship
spent the whole of 1985 conducting exercises
trials
examinations
and
inspections either in port in San Diego or in waters adjacent to the west
coast. The only break in that schedule came in October when she made a round-trip
voyage from the west coast to Hawaii and back for refresher training.
At the beginning of 1986
preparations for her upcoming tour of duty with
the 7th Fleet occupied the energies of Alamo's crew. She embarked
upon the voyage west on 16 January 1986 and made no stops along the way.
The danger of violence during elections in the Philippines even prompted
the cancellation of planned exercises at Iwo Jima in order that Alamo
and other Navy ships be on station near Manila to render assistance
to United States citizens in that eventuality. The threat never really materialized
and she entered Subic Bay on 9 February. Ten days later
the dock landing
ship set sail for Hong Kong where she spent the five days from 21 to 26
February. Returning to Subic Bay briefly at the end of the month
Alamo
then headed for Okinawa on 2 March. At Okinawa
she embarked troops
for a major bilateral amphibious exercise conducted on the South Korean
coast. Alamo returned to Okinawa on 1 April but stayed only until
the 4th when she got underway for Japan. Following a nine-day call at Sasebo
the dock landing ship returned to Subic Bay on 20 April. From there
she
voyaged to Singapore by way of the Indonesian island of Bali. Back in the
Philippines by mid-May
Alamo carried out exercises there for the
remainder of the month. On 10 June
she headed back to Okinawa. Alamo
arrived at her destination on the 13th and spent the next 10 days conducting
amphibious exercises at Okinawa.
On 23 June
the dock landing ship put to sea for the passage home. After
brief pauses at Iwo Jima and Pearl Harbor
the amphibious warship dropped
anchor at Del Mar
Calif.
on 15 July. She moved to San Diego on the 16th
and commenced postdeployment standdown. The leave and upkeep period ended
during the second week in August
and Alamo started another schedule
of amphibious warfare training in waters along the west coast. Those evolutions
lasted until 14 October at which time she began a restricted availability
at pierside in San Diego. She remained there through the end of 1986.
Alamo was decommissioned 2 Nov 1990 and loaned the same
day to the Brazilian Navy as Rio de Janeiro
[Note: The above USS ALAMO (LSD-33) history may or may not contain text provided by crew members of the USS ALAMO (LSD-33) or by other non-crew members and text from the Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships]