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U.S.S. TUSCALOOSA
(LST-1187)EXTRA THREE PERCENT
Click to view crew list
USS TUSCALOOSA (LST-1187 ) - a Newport-class tank landing ship
In Commission 1970 to 1994LST-1187 Deployments - Major Events
Add a LST-1187 Shellback Initiation | Add a LST-1187 Deployment - Major Event | ||||
Month | Year | to | Month | Year | Deployment / Event |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
NOV | 1968 | - | Keel Date: 23 NOV 1968 at National Steel and Shipbuilding Company San Diego CA | ||
SEP | 1969 | - | Launch Date: 6 SEP 1969 | ||
OCT | 1970 | - | Commissioned: 24 OCT 1970 | ||
JAN | 1972 | - | SEP | 1972 | West Pac-Viet Nam |
MAY | 1972 | - | JUN | 1972 | West Pac-Viet Nam |
DEC | 1972 | - | DEC | 1972 | Alapulco |
AUG | 1973 | - | APR | 1974 | West Pac |
APR | 1975 | - | NOV | 1975 | West Pac-Viet Nam |
APR | 1975 | - | NOV | 1975 | West Pac |
JAN | 1976 | - | AUG | 1977 | West Pac |
MAR | 1977 | - | NOV | 1977 | West Pac |
JUL | 1979 | - | FEB | 1980 | West Pac |
AUG | 1982 | - | FEB | 1983 | West Pac |
DEC | 1982 | - | FEB | 1983 | Middle Pacific |
JAN | 1983 | - | JAN | 1984 | Grenada |
JAN | 1984 | - | Shellback Initiation - 18 JAN 1984 - Pacific Ocean | ||
OCT | 1984 | - | APR | 1985 | West Pac |
JAN | 1985 | - | Shellback Initiation - 18 JAN 1985 - Pacific Ocean | ||
JAN | 1985 | - | JAN | 1985 | Shellback Initiation - 19 JAN 1985 - Pacific Ocean |
JAN | 1985 | - | Shellback Initiation - 18 JAN 1985 - Indian Ocean | ||
MAY | 1985 | - | JUL | 1985 | Escorting the Nautilus from San Francisco to the Panama Canal |
JAN | 1986 | - | Shellback Initiation - 1 JAN 1986 - Pacific Ocean | ||
JUN | 1986 | - | DEC | 1986 | West Pac / Alaska |
SEP | 1986 | - | Shellback Initiation - 3 SEP 1986 - Pacific Ocean | ||
JAN | 1989 | - | JAN | 1989 | USS Tuscaloosa |
JAN | 1989 | - | JAN | 1991 | Panama Canal |
JUN | 1989 | - | Shellback Initiation - 19 JUN 1989 - Indian Ocean | ||
AUG | 1989 | - | JAN | 1991 | West Pac |
OCT | 1989 | - | MAY | 1990 | West Pac |
DEC | 1989 | - | JUL | 1990 | West Pac-Indian Ocean-Persian Gulf |
JUN | 1990 | - | Shellback Initiation - 6 JUN 1990 - Pacific Ocean | ||
JUN | 1990 | - | Shellback Initiation - 6 JUN 1990 - Pacific Ocean | ||
JAN | 1991 | - | JAN | 1991 | Panama Canal |
JAN | 1992 | - | JUL | 1992 | West Pac-Indian Ocean-Persian Gulf |
FEB | 1994 | - | Decommissioned: 18 FEB 1994 |
LST-1187 General Specifications
Class: Newport-class tank landing ship
Named for: Tuscaloosa
Complement: 14 Officers and 241 Enlisted
Displacement: 5190 tons
Length: 522 feet
Beam: 69 feet 9 inches
Flank Speed: 20 knots
Final Disposition: In reserve
USS TUSCALOOSA (LST-1187)
Tuscaloosa (LST-1187) was laid down on 23 November 1968 at San Diego
Calif.
by the National Steel and Shipbuilding Co.; launched on 6 September
1969; sponsored by Mrs. Thomas F. Connolly; and commissioned on 24 October
1970
Comdr. Harry W. Kinsley
Jr.
in command.
Tuscaloosa spent the remainder of the year alternating in underway
and upkeep periods. On 4 January 1971
she began duty off the coast of California
as a test ship evaluating John C. Calhoun's (SSBN-630) sensors.
She continued a rigorous training schedule out of San Diego
her home port
into the spring when she prepared for a deployment to the western Pacific.
The tank landing ship loaded a cargo of Quonset hut components and a tank-deck
load of LVT's
tanks
and heavy construction vehicles and departed the west
coast on 18 May 1971.
Arriving at Okinawa on 1 June
Tuscaloosa unloaded and proceeded
-- via Subic Bay
Philippines -- to Danang
South Vietnam. After taking
on a cargo of Marine Corps equipment
she returned home to San Diego on
6 July and began an extensive post-shakedown availability which lasted into
the fall. On 1 October
Tuscaloosa got underway for a seven-month
WestPac deployment
in company with Amphibious Squadron 5 -- Tripoli
(LPH-10); Duluth (LPD-9); Anchorage (LSD36); Mobile
(LKA-115); and Schenectady (LST-1185).
For the remainder of the year
the landing ship conducted exercises and
operations in the Philippines and off Okinawa. She operated with marines
took part in amphibious exercises
and ended the year at Sasebo
Japan.
The ship got underway for the Ryukyus on 4 January 1972 but was delayed
by a collision with a Japanese patrol craft. The next day
after an informal
investigation ascertained that she had not suffered any damage
she resumed
her voyage to Okinawa where she embarked marines and transported them to
Yokosuka. Following repairs to her bow doors
the ship sailed for the Philippines
and arrived at Subic Bay on 16 February. There
the ship loaded a cargo
of generators and delivered them to Vungtau
South Vietnam.
The ship returned to Japan soon thereafter
transporting marines and equipment
before she headed back to the Philippines for amphibious exercises. Then
upon completion of these exercises
Tuscaloosa got underway in company
with Mobile and Denver
and proceeded via Okinawa to Vietnamese
waters
arriving on "Yankee Station" in the Tonkin Gulf on 6 April.
She remained on station until 3 May
when she proceeded via Danang to Subic
Bay. Tuscaloosa subsequently returned to Vietnam and operated both
at Danang and on "Yankee Station" until late May.
The LST next supported Thailand contingency operations by transporting Marine
Corps equipment and Navy construction battalion tools. She then returned
to Subic Bay and pressed on to the United States at the end of her grueling
10-month deployment.
She engaged in local operations and amphibious exercises off the California
coast into mid-1973
before she again deployed to WestPac on 29 August
her holds filled with Project "Handclasp" material for delivery
to communities in the Philippines. Tuscaloosa later participated
in Operation "Pagasa II" in conjunction with units of the Philippine
Navy and operated out of Subic Bay for the remainder of the year
with calls
at Hong Kong and Kaohsiung
Taiwan
on her itinerary.
Commencing 1974 with exercises with Korean naval units in Operation "Fly
Away
" Tuscaloosa visited Keelung
Taiwan
in late January
before departing Okinawa on 11 February 1974 and returning via Pearl Harbor
to the west coast of the United States. The next major item on Tuscaloosa's
agenda was a major overhaul by the Todd Shipyards at Seattle
Wash.
which
began on 9 July.
On 3 August
an 11-man rescue and assistance party from the ship assisted
Moctobi (ATF-105) in rescuing USNS Lipan which had collided
with another vessel in the Strait of Juan de Fuca and lay dead in the water
in danger of sinking. Prompt salvage efforts over a three-day period enabled
Lipan to return to port for repairs.
After Tuscaloosa's own repairs and overhaul had been completed
she
rejoined the fleet on 12 December and operated along the California coast
into the spring of 1976. She again deployed to WestPac on 1 April
getting
underway from San Diego in company with two Korean minecraft and Barbour
County (LST-1195) for Pearl Harbor and Okinawa
While Tuscaloosa and her three consorts sailed westward
the situation
in Southeast Asia deteriorated rapidly. Both the South Vietnamese and Cambodian
governments were tottering and their forces falling back under the onslaught
of communist troops. Tuscaloosa arrived at Pearl Harbor on 6 April
and proceeded on toward the Ryukyus on the same day. Arriving at Okinawa
on the 18th
the LST's crew urgently offloaded her cargo and pressed on
the next day for Subic Bay. After a full-power run
she arrived there on
the 21st and embarked 280 stragglers who had been unable to return to their
ships -- Enterprise (CVAN-65)
Midway (CVA-41)
and Hancock
(CVA-19) -- when the carriers pulled out hurriedly to participate in "Frequent
Wind
" the evacuation of Saigon.
Tuscaloosa now turned-to to support Operation "New Life"
-- escorting 26 former South Vietnamese Navy ships to the Philippines. During
the seven-day passage
she provided over 200 pallets of food and medical
supplies per day and earned the Meritorious Unit Commendation while thus
engaged. In addition
she sent salvage and repair parties to various ships
to effect any repairs necessary to keep the less seaworthy Vietnamese ships
afloat. Two craft were evacuated and sunk by gunfire from Tuscaloosa
to eliminate possible hazards to navigation. In addition
four Vietnamese
craft were temporarily taken over by the United States Navy and placed under
the command of four officers from Tuscaloosa.
From Subic Bay
Tuscaloosa proceeded to Okinawa and
upon arrival
there
was ordered to make best possible speed for the Gulf of Thailand.
Four days later
when nearly at her destination
she was ordered to turn
back. The evacuation of the area had been completed
and her services were
no longer needed. Thereafter
the LST continued routine operations during
this WestPac deployment before returning to the west coast of the United
States on 17 November 1975. She conducted another deployment to the western
Pacific during the period 29 March to 17 November 1977 and spent the period
3 February to 10 Deccmber 1978 in regular overhaul at San Diego. Tuscaloosa
continued to operate with the Pacific Fleet into 1979.
Tuscaloosa earned four battle stars and a Meritorious Unit Commendation
during her Vietnam service.
Tuscaloosa was decommissioned 18 February
1994 and transferred to the Venezuelan Navy.
[Note: The above USS TUSCALOOSA (LST-1187) history may or may not contain text provided by crew members of the USS TUSCALOOSA (LST-1187) or by other non-crew members and text from the Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships]