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U.S.S. SAGINAW
(LST-1188)WE SHALL DELIVER
Click to view crew list
USS SAGINAW (LST-1188 ) - a Newport class tank landing ship
In Commission 1971 to 1994LST-1188 Deployments - Major Events
Add a LST-1188 Shellback Initiation | Add a LST-1188 Deployment - Major Event | ||||
Month | Year | to | Month | Year | Deployment / Event |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
MAY | 1969 | - | Keel Date: 24 MAY 1969 at National Steel and Shipbuilding Company | ||
FEB | 1970 | - | Launch Date: 7 FEB 1970 | ||
JAN | 1971 | - | Commissioned: 23 JAN 1971 | ||
MAR | 1971 | - | Shellback Initiation - 15 MAR 1971 - Pacific Ocean | ||
MAR | 1971 | - | Shellback Initiation - 15 MAR 1971 - Pacific Ocean | ||
MAR | 1971 | - | Shellback Initiation - 2 MAR 1971 - Pacific Ocean | ||
MAR | 1971 | - | Shellback Initiation - 15 MAR 1971 - Pacific Ocean | ||
MAR | 1971 | - | Shellback Initiation - 15 MAR 1971 - Pacific Ocean | ||
JUN | 1971 | - | JUN | 1971 | Dry Dock |
JAN | 1972 | - | JAN | 1972 | North Atlantic |
MAR | 1972 | - | AUG | 1972 | Mediterranean |
JAN | 1973 | - | AUG | 1973 | Caribbean |
NOV | 1973 | - | DEC | 1973 | CAUSEX Excercise |
MAY | 1974 | - | NOV | 1974 | Mediterranean |
FEB | 1976 | - | JUL | 1976 | Dry Dock |
SEP | 1977 | - | OCT | 1977 | NATO Display Determination Exercise |
FEB | 1978 | - | AUG | 1978 | Mediterranean |
AUG | 1979 | - | SEP | 1979 | Blue Nose - Arctic Circle |
SEP | 1979 | - | APR | 1980 | Mediterranean |
OCT | 1979 | - | APR | 1980 | Mediterranean |
MAY | 1982 | - | NOV | 1982 | Mediterranean-Lebanon |
AUG | 1982 | - | DEC | 1982 | Blue Nose - Arctic Circle |
AUG | 1982 | - | FEB | 1983 | Mediterranean-Lebanon |
JAN | 1983 | - | APR | 1983 | Blue Nose - Arctic Circle |
FEB | 1984 | - | AUG | 1984 | Beirut Lebanon |
FEB | 1984 | - | AUG | 1984 | Mediterranean |
FEB | 1984 | - | AUG | 1984 | Beruit Lebanan |
FEB | 1984 | - | AUG | 1984 | Beruit Lebanan |
FEB | 1985 | - | JUL | 1985 | UNITAS |
JUN | 1985 | - | DEC | 1985 | UNITAS |
JUL | 1985 | - | Shellback Initiation - 17 JUL 1985 - Atlantic Ocean | ||
JUL | 1985 | - | Shellback Initiation - 17 JUL 1985 - Atlantic Ocean | ||
JUL | 1985 | - | Shellback Initiation - 7 JUL 1985 - Pacific Ocean | ||
JUL | 1985 | - | Shellback Initiation - 17 JUL 1985 - Pacific Ocean | ||
JUL | 1985 | - | OCT | 1985 | West Africa |
APR | 1987 | - | AUG | 1987 | Mediterranean-Indian Ocean-Persian Gulf / Fire in Main Control |
AUG | 1987 | - | Shellback Initiation - 1 AUG 1987 - Indian Ocean | ||
MAR | 1988 | - | NOV | 1988 | Dry Dock |
SEP | 1988 | - | OCT | 1988 | Blue Nose - Arctic Circle |
OCT | 1989 | - | APR | 1990 | MARG 1-90 |
AUG | 1990 | - | MAY | 1991 | Operation Desert Shield & Desert Storm |
AUG | 1991 | - | APR | 1992 | Operation Desert Shield & Desert Storm |
MAY | 1992 | - | NOV | 1992 | MARG 2-92 |
JUN | 1994 | - | Decommissioned: 28 JUN 1994 |
LST-1188 General Specifications
Class: Newport class tank landing ship
Named for: Saginaw River
Complement: 14 Officers and 210 Enlisted
Displacement: 5190 tons
Length: 522 feet
Beam: 70 feet
Flank Speed: 20+ knots
Final Disposition: Sold to Australia for use as a transport and was re-named HMAS Kanimbla (L-51)
USS SAGINAW (LST-1188)
The second Saginaw was laid down on 24 May 1969 by the National Steel
and Shipbuilding Co.
San Diego
Calif.
launched on 7 February 1970; sponsored
by Mrs. James Harvey
and commissioned at the Long Beach Naval Shipyard
on 23 January 1971
Comdr. G. P. Brown in command.
The new tank landing ship (LST) completed fitting out
took on ammunition
at Seal Beach
Calif.
and got underway from San Diego on 4 March 1971
bound for the east coast. On her first day out
her lookouts sighted a mechanized
landing craft
LCM(6)-805
adrift at sea. The LST took the drifting
craft in tow and
later
turned her over to Point Defiance (LPD-31).
Then
Saginaw proceeded -- via Acapulco
Mexico
and the Panama Canal
-- to Little Creek
Va.
her home port
arriving on the 26th.
Early in April
while preparing for shakedown
the ship tested a new concept
for her class by hoisting a major self-contained medical unit (MUST) on
her tank decks. This was done to evaluate the feasibility of setting up
complete hospital facilities on her deck after off-loading her troops
vehicles
and cargo. She got underway on 19 April for Guantanamo Bay
Cuba
for shakedown
which lasted until her return to Little Creek on 8 June. Various types of
training and postshakedown availability kept her busy through the end of
the year.
On 16 January 1972
Saginaw weighed anchor to participate in Operation
"Snowy Beach" with Amphibious Squadron 8 at Reid State Park Beach
Maine. On the 28th
she completed the exercise and began preparations for
overseas movement. On 23 February
she embarked marines at Morehead City
N.C.
and sailed for the Mediterranean. She arrived at Rota
Spain
on 5
March and changed operational control to the 6th Fleet on the following
day. For the next five months Saginaw sailed the length of the "middle
sea
" participated in six amphibious exercises at various points across
the Mediterranean
and visited ports along the way
from Spain to Turkey.
She left the 6th Fleet in early August and returned to Morehead City on
the 21st. After disembarking marines there
she entered her home port on
the next day. After a 30-day standdown period
she resumed normal operations
out of Little Creek for the remainder of the year.
Saginaw made two voyages to Vieques Island
P.R. in January and early
February 1973 to transport marines to and from exercises held on that island.
On 22 March
she deployed to the Caribbean for two months as a unit of the
Caribbean Amphibious Ready Group. She returned to Little Creek on 18 May
to regroup and replenish prior to her second deployment to the Caribbean.
On 5 July
she resumed operations in the Caribbean until 24 August when
she re-entered Little Creek. She remained in that area until 26 November
when she put to sea to join other elements of the United States and Canadian
Navies in CAUSEX
a convoy protection ASW exercise. Saginaw returned
to Little Creek on 6 December and remained in port for the duration of 1973.
Saginaw spent the first four months of 1974 in local operations out
of Little Creek and in preparations for deployment to the Mediterranean.
On 10 May 1974
she embarked marines at Morehead City
then got underway
for Rota
Spain. She arrived in Rota on the 20th and
through June
is cruising
the Mediterranean as a unit of the 6th Fleet.
[Note: The above USS SAGINAW (LST-1188) history may or may not contain text provided by crew members of the USS SAGINAW (LST-1188) or by other non-crew members and text from the Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships]