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USS
Vancouver (LPD 2):
Vancouver (LPD-2) was laid down on 19
November 1960 at Brooklyn, N.Y., by the New York Naval Shipyard; launched on
15 September 1962; sponsored by Mrs. Stuart Symington; and commissioned on 11
May 1963, Capt. Thomas C. Harbert, Jr., in command.
After completing builders trials at New York and shakedown training out of
Norfolk, Virginia, Vancouver departed the latter port on 14 August and laid a
course for the west coast. She transited the Panama Canal on 20 August and -
after making a side trip to Acapulco, Mexico, in the process of assisting a
disabled fishing vessel - arrived in San Diego, her permanent home port, on
the 31st.
Late in September and early in October, Vancouver made the traditional visit
to her namesake city - Vancouver, Washington - and then returned to San Diego
for seven weeks of training. Underway training occupied the first four weeks
while amphibious training took up the last three. In mid-December, she
welcomed on board newly appointed Secretary of the Navy Paul H. Nitze, and
Admiral U.S. Grant Sharp, Commander in Chief, Pacific Fleet, as well as
several other high ranking Navy and Marine Corps officers, and treated them
to a display of her multifaceted amphibious capabilities.
In mid-February 1964, the ship moved from San Diego to Long Beach where she
entered the naval shipyard for post-shakedown availability. She finished
repairs on 21 May, completed final acceptance trials early in June, and then
returned to San Diego. Late in June, the amphibious transport dock ship made
another voyage north to Canada for a visit to another namesake city, British
Columbia, in time to participate in that city's annual maritime festival. On
the way back home, she stopped in San Francisco for the Independence Day
weekend and then reentered San Diego on 7 July. At that point, she began her
operational schedule. She participated in three amphibious warfare exercises
between July and October and then began preparations for her first deployment
to the Far East.
Her first tour of duty with the 7th Fleet coincided with the beginning of the
rapid acceleration of American involvement in South Vietnam heralded by the
Gulf of Tonkin incident in August 1964. She departed San Diego on 16
November, loaded marines at Port Hueneme, and set out across the Pacific on
the 17th. Vancouver arrived in Buckner Bay, Okinawa, on 6 December, and
unloaded her passengers. Embarking another Marine battalion at Okinawa on 21
December, she moved to Subic Bay in the Philippines, where she traded her
second load of marines for a third which she transported to Okinawa in
January 1965.
Sometime in February, the ship embarked elements of the 9th Marine
Expeditionary Brigade and, on 8 March in company with Henrico (APA-45) and
Union (AKA-106), landed the marines at Danang, South Vietnam, to protect the
perimeter of the airbase there and free South Vietnamese troops for other
combat duties. During the remaining three months of her first deployment to
the Orient, Vancouver twice revisited Vietnam - on both occasions on resupply
missions. In June, she concluded her deployment and headed home. However,
less than two months after her return, she embarked marines for a special
troop lift to the widening conflict in Vietnam. She departed the west coast
on 5 August and did not return until 5 October. At that point, she began the
normal schedule of upkeep and training exercises at San Diego and other
points along the California coast.
During the first week in July, Vancouver embarked LVT's and Battalion Landing
Team (BLT) 1/26 (1st Battalion, 26th Marines) in preparation for her second
7th Fleet assignment. On the 9th, she put to sea and, after a two-day stop at
Pearl Harbor from 14 to 16 July, arrived at Subic Bay on 28 July. There, she became
a unit of the newly constituted 7th Fleet Amphibious Ready Group (AEG), Task
Group (TG) 76.5 - a self-contained mobile amphibious assault team made up of
a Special Landing Force (SLF), marines and support units, and the ships which
served as their transportation and mobile bases. In a series of training
exercises held in the Philippines, the Navy-Marine Corps teammates honed
their skills for an almost instant response to any need for amphibious
support or reinforcement in the 7th Fleet's zone of operations.
Quite naturally, Vietnam constituted the area most in need of such a
capability at that time. Accordingly, the ARG concluded its amphibious
training on 12 August, reembarked the landing force, and sailed for the
waters off Vietnam. Between 16 and 29 August, Vancouver participated in her
first combat action during Operation "Deckhouse III" which
consisted of two landings at a point some 60 miles east of Saigon. The first
phase, from 16 to 20 August, saw BLT 1/26 move ashore in both modes -
waterborne and airborne - against minor opposition and later destroy a
fortified, Viet Cong-held village. During the second set of landings, 22 to
29 August, the marines sent ashore changed operational control from the ARG
to the authorities ashore to assist in Operation Toledo, a search-and-destroy
mission to deprive the enemy of valuable caches of arms and supplies. At the
conclusion of Deckhouse III, Vancouver returned to Subic Bay for 10 days of
upkeep.
Departing the Philippines on 12 September, the ship began her second
amphibious assault, Deckhouse IV, on 15 September in the vicinity of the Cua
Viet River in Quang Tri Province just south of the demilitarized zone (DMZ).
The landings constituted a seaward arm of the larger Operation Prairie being
conducted by American and South Vietnamese forces ashore to destroy North
Vietnamese Army fortifications, bunkers, and supply caches in the area and to
stem intensified infiltration across the DMZ. During their 10 days ashore,
the marines of the SLF encountered heavy resistance and accounted for 254 of
the enemy killed before they reembarked on 25 September. At the conclusion of
the operation, Vancouver disembarked her portion of BLT 1/26 troops at Danang
and headed for Okinawa.
After she embarked BLT 3/3 there, she returned to Vietnamese waters on 6
October and steamed with the contingency force in the area off the DMZ for
the next 22 days. On 28 October, she disembarked BLT 3/3 and, two days later,
embarked BLT 3/26 for transportation to the Philippines. She departed Danang
on 1 November and arrived in Subic Bay on the 12th. During December, she
participated in an amphibious exercise, Mudpuppy II, at Mindoro and conducted
upkeep at Subic Bay. On the 30th, the amphibious transport dock ship got
underway for Vietnamese waters and arrived near Vung Tau the following day.
There, near the entrance to the Saigon River, she began another amphibious
operation in the Deckhouse series -
Deckhouse V, on 4 January 1967. It lasted until the 15th and was a
joint United States-South Vietnamese effort utilizing marines of both
nations. Vancouver embarked more than 500 South Vietnamese marines at Vung
Tau on the 4th and, after a two-day delay caused by bad weather, sent her
binational force ashore on the 6th by both assault craft and helicopter. In
spite of continued bad weather and her first experience with riverine
operations, the ship and her boats remained in the area for 10 days,
providing the necessary logistics support for the SLF operating ashore. After
reembarking the SLF and South Vietnamese marines on 15 January and then
disembarking the latter again at Vung Tau the following day, she departed
Vietnam to return to the Philippines.
The ship arrived at Subic Bay on the 19th but remained only two days before
continuing on to Okinawa where she exchanged BLT 1/9 for BLT 1/4 late in
January. Following a visit to Keelung, Taiwan, she returned to the
Philippines early in February and conducted an amphibious exercise, Mudpuppy
III, with the marines of BLT 1/4. Another brief rest and relaxation period at
Subic Bay at the end of the first week in February preceded her departure
from the Philippines on the 12th. Vancouver resumed duty with the ARG on 14
February and, two days later, began her part in Operation Deckhouse VI,
another two-phase amphibious assault in support of operations of wider scope
being conducted ashore.
At the conclusion of Operation Deckhouse VI, the amphibious transport dock
ship visited Subic Bay; Hong Kong; Okinawa; and Yokosuka, Japan, before
departing the latter port on 24 March to return home to San Diego. After a
three-day stop at Pearl Harbor at the end of the month, she arrived in San
Diego on 8 April.
Following an unusually long period in port at San Diego, Vancouver resumed
operations along the west coast in July. In addition to single-ship underway
training, she revisited Vancouver, British Columbia, in July to participate
in a Fleet Assembly as part of the Canadian Centennial Celebration. Late that
month, the ship resumed local operations which included underway training and
amphibious refresher training. That employment occupied her for the remainder
of the year and the first month of 1968.
On 1 February 1968, the ship departed San Diego, bound for Okinawa to begin
another tour of duty with the 7th Fleet. She stopped at Pearl Harbor from 8
to 10 February and, after being diverted from Okinawa on the 12th, arrived in
Danang on the 23d to disembark her marines, urgently needed to stem the 1968
Tet offensive. The following day, Vancouver got underway for Subic Bay where
she arrived on the 26th. On the 27th, she changed operational control to TG
76.5 and became part of the 7th Fleet ARG once more. On 29 February, the ship
steamed out of Subic Bay for the Cua Viet River area of Vietnam where she
began supporting the SLF, operating ashore since late January. While
continuing that mission, she put into Danang on 10 March and spent the next
two weeks repairing boats as well. In April, she steamed around off the DMZ
providing support for BLT 3/1 until 10 April when she headed back to the
Philippines.
Vancouver arrived in Subic Bay on the 15th and remained there until the 26th
at which time she got underway to return to Vietnamese waters. The amphibious
transport dock ship arrived on station near the mouth of the Cua Viet River
and began providing logistics support to elements of BLT 3/1 committed to
defensive positions in the vicinity of Dong Ha. That duty lasted until 3 June
when she reembarked the SLF.
On 6 June, Vancouver began a combat operation, code named Swift Sabre. The
SLF moved ashore in two groups. One group assaulted beaches in landing craft
while the other group flew well inland in helicopters. Both groups then began
moving toward one another in a sweep of Elephant Valley in Thua Thien
province to eliminate a frequent source of hostile mortar fire on the Danang
air base. After supporting the marines for a week, Vancouver received a
replacement SLF, BLT 2/7, when BLT 3/1 changed operational control to
military authorities ashore. The new battalion landing team came on board on
14 and 15 June, and Vancouver set a course for the Philippines on the 15th.
She entered Subic Bay on the 18th and began a 10-day upkeep period. Between
30 June and 3 July, the ship participated in the amphibious exercise Hilltop
XX and then departed Subic Bay on 5 July for her last tour of duty in
Vietnamese waters during the 1968 deployment.
Immediately upon her arrival off Vietnam, she began preparations for the
amphibious operation, Eager Yankee. In the predawn of 9 July, destroyers Benner
(DD-807) and O'Brien (DD-725) shattered the silence and sporadically lighted
the darkness with gunfire. At the conclusion of the prelanding bombardment,
Vancouver, as primary control ship for the boat phase of the assault, began
shuttling marines ashore some 10 miles east of Phu Bai. The first elements of
BLT 2/7 went ashore in LVT's and began establishing defensive positions and
clearing landing zones for the airborne phase of the operation. The ship
remained in the area providing logistics support for the marines as they
drove northwest toward a known Viet Cong haven. After a week without
contacting the enemy, Vancouver's landing force joined shore-based units in
Operation Houston IV while the ship continued in her support role. The second
operation ended on 22 July, and the marines reembarked that same day.
However, they did not remain on board for long because, on the following day,
Operation Swift Play began. In that operation, an all-helicopter affair, the
marines landed well inland about 10 miles southwest of Hoi An in east central
Quang Nam province. They failed to contact the enemy during the helicopter
assault and, the following day, changed operational control to authorities
ashore while Vancouver played her usual support role. She remained in the
vicinity until 19 August at which time she headed back to Subic Bay without
her Marine Corps contingent.
The warship arrived in Subic Bay on 21 August and spent the next six days
engaged in turnover operations with her relief, Ogden (LPD-5). On 27 August,
she put to sea bound for Hong Kong where she arrived on the 29th. After a
five-day rest and relaxation period, she departed Hong Kong for Okinawa.
Diverted to Subic Bay by a typhoon, she continued her voyage via the San
Bernardino Strait and finally arrived at Okinawa on 9 September. The
following day, she set sail for Yokosuka, Japan, where she arrived on the
12th for five days of upkeep.
On the 17th, Vancouver began her voyage home. She reentered San Diego on 28
September and, after a month of post-deployment standdown, resumed local
operations along the California coast.
That employment lasted until early in February 1969 when she began the first
portion of her regular overhaul at San Francisco. That phase of the task was
completed in mid-April and, after a brief return to San Diego, the ship
entered the Long Beach Naval Shipyard for drydocking. The refurbishing was
finished near the end of May, and Vancouver returned to San Diego on the
28th. Following two months of inspections and refresher training, the ship
loaded vehicles and cargo at San Diego and got underway for the western
Pacific on 1 August. She made a three-day stop at Pearl Harbor from the 8th
to the llth; then resumed her voyage and arrived at Okinawa on 21 August.
After unloading cargo at Buckner Bay, she got underway for Vietnam on the
24th. Upon arriving at Tau My, South Vietnam, on 27 August, Vancouver
unloaded cargo there and at Danang before departing Vietnam that same day.
On the 29th, she arrived in Subic Bay and began turnover operations to
relieve Paul Revere (LPA-248) of duty with ARG Bravo (TG 76.5). A week later,
on 6 September, she put to sea with TG 76.5 for her first line tour with the
amphibious ready group. She arrived off Danang two days later and entered the
harbor on the 10th to unload more cargo. On 12 September, she and her group
participated in Operation Defiant Stand by staging an amphibious feint about
10 miles south of the actual landing beaches to draw off defenders while ARG
Alfa stormed ashore. The task group completed its deception early that
morning and headed back out to sea to steam around until needed again. That
routine, punctuated by brief visits to Danang and a series of amphibious and
other exercises, occupied her until late October.
On 20 October, Vancouver began a new phase in her participation in the
Vietnam War. Operation Defiant Stand had been the last amphibious operation
of the war. On the heels of President Richard M. Nixon's announcement of the
staged withdrawal of large numbers of American troops from the conflict, the
amphibious ready group began carrying out the withdrawal. On 20 October,
Vancouver moved from Danang to Cua Viet and began loading elements of BLT
1/4. She completed Operation Keystone Cardinal on 22 October and set course for
Okinawa the following day. She disembarked the marines at Okinawa on 25 and
26 October but remained at the island for liberty until 2 November. After
embarking BLT 1/9, she headed for Subic Bay where she disembarked the marines
on the 4th.
Following a week of repairs at Subic Bay, she re-embarked BLT 1/9 on the
12th, conducted an amphibious assault exercise on the 13th, and got underway
for Vietnam on the 14th. The new line period, unlike those before, consisted
entirely of steaming well off the coast outside the territorial waters of
Vietnam in order that the amphibious ready group's presence not be construed
as a violation of President Nixon's troop reduction in Vietnam. She continued
steaming in the new operating area until 23 November at which time she
retired toward the Philippines. She entered Subic Bay on the 27th. Another
practice landing in the Philippines followed on 1 December, and Vancouver
repaired storm damage sustained during the transit from Vietnam to the
Philippines.
On 6 December, the ship once more got underway for the coast of Vietnam. She
arrived off Danang on the 9th; but, four days later, she left the combat zone
for visits to Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Okinawa. Vancouver returned to the
Vietnamese coast on the last day of 1969. New Year's Day 1970, however,
brought her departure from the area on her way back to the Philippines. She
entered Subic Bay on the 11th and remained in the Philippines until the 20th
when she scarted a round-trip voyage to Okinawa. The ship returned to Subic
Bay on the 27th and remained in the area until 4 February when she headed for
Taiwan. After a patrol of the Taiwan Strait, she entered port at Kaohsiung,
Taiwan, for a four-day visit. She returned to Subic Bay on 21 February and
began turnover operations with her relief ship Denver (LPD-9). On 4 March,
she departed Subic Bay for Okinawa where she delivered cargo on 6 March.
Continuing her voyage on the 7th, she stopped at Danang on 11 March, unloaded
cargo, and headed back to Okinawa where she refueled on the 14th before
continuing on toward the United States.
Vancouver arrived in Del Mar, Calif., on 27 March and, the following day,
moved to the San Diego Naval Station for drydocking and repairs. Repairs were
completed early in June, and the ship departed San Diego on 10 June with
Naval Academy midshipmen embarked for their summer cruise. She arrived in
Yokosuka on 24 June and departed again on the 29th. The ship visited Hong
Kong between 4 and 8 July and stopped at Danang on 9 and 10 July to load
cargo bound for the United States. On the way back home, she stopped at Pearl
Harbor from 24 to 27 July and then reentered San Diego on 1 August. Local
operations out of San Diego, including LVT training and amphibious refresher
training, occupied the ship's time through the end of the year and for the
first three months of 1971.
On 30 March, Vancouver put to sea to return to the western Pacific. She made
a two-day stop at Pearl Harbor at the end of the first week in April and
arrived in Subic Bay on the 19th. The ensuing six weeks brought amphibious
training and port visits to Singapore and Kaohsiung. In June, the ship
carried cargo from Vung Tau and Danang in the Vietnam to Subic Bay and
Okinawa. Early in July, Vancouver participated in an amphibious exercise at
Zambales and then departed the Philippines on the 19th for a week at Hong
Kong. On 28 July, the ship returned to the Philippines at Min-doro for more
amphibious exercises. August brought voyages to Sasebo, Japan, and Kaohsiung,
Taiwan; and, early in September, she returned to the Philippines for another
round of practice landings at Zambales.
On 9 September, Vancouver left Subic Bay to pick up cargo in Vietnam. She
stopped at Danang, Qui Nhon, and Camranh Bay before returning to Subic Bay on
the 17th. On 25 September, she embarked upon a round-trip voyage to Okinawa
and returned to Subic Bay on 9 October. On 14 October, Vancouver set out on
her voyage back to the United States, stopping en route at Okinawa and Pearl
Harbor before arriving back in San Diego, Calif., on 5 November.
The amphibious transport dock ship remained in San Diego through the end of
1971 for post-deployment standdown and for the usual holiday leave and upkeep
period. On 11 January 1972, Vancouver began local operations along the
California coast. That duty lasted until 10 June, when she embarked
midshipmen for the annual training cruise and got underway for the Far East.
During the midshipman cruise, the ship made a visit to Yokosuka, Japan, and
two each to Hong Kong and Subic Bay in the Philippines. Late in July, she
headed back to the west coast, arriving at San Diego on 4 August. There, on
the 21st, Vancouver began her regularly scheduled overhaul.
The ship completed post-overhaul sea trials early in February 1973 and
conducted type and refresher training until mid-March. On 17 March, Vancouver
again deployed to the western Pacific. She arrived in Sasebo, Japan, on 4
April then continued her voyage on the 5th. She briefly stopped at Okinawa on
6 April and arrived in Subic Bay on the 8th.
On 9 April 1973, she relieved Cleveland (LPD-7) as one of the support ships
for Operation End Sweep, the clearing of American mines in the harbors of
North Vietnam as a result of the withdrawal of American forces from Vietnam.
During April, May, and June, the amphibious transport dock ship alternated
tours of duty in Vietnamese waters in support of the minesweeping forces with
liberty and upkeep periods in Philippine ports. She also made periodic
liberty calls at Hong Kong and at various Japanese ports.
The ship completed her last tour of duty in Vietnamese waters on 18 July and
headed back to the Philippines, arriving in Subic Bay on the 20th. For her
remaining two months in the Far East, Vancouver visited Hong Kong; the
Japanese ports Numazu, Kagoshima, and Iwakuni. She returned to the
Philippines early in September, whence she put to sea on the 19th to return
home. After stopping overnight at Pearl Harbor on 2 and 3 October, the ship
continued on to San Diego where she arrived on the 9th and began a year of
operations along the California coast. Her tasks included: helicopter
qualifications, landing craft training, and full scale amphibious warfare
exercises.
On 18 October 1974, she concluded her west coast schedule and got underway
for the western Pacific. She stopped at Pearl Harbor on 25 and 26 October
and, continuing her voyage on the 26th, arrived in Buckner Bay, Okinawa, on 9
November. Though assigned to ARG Alfa as relief for Ogden, Vancouver began
her first peacetime deployment to the Far East in more than a decade. For the
next six months, she spent most of her time alternating between Okinawa and
the Philippines conducting a series of amphibious exercises and transporting
marines and cargo.
Having received orders on 13 February 1975 to proceed to rendezvous with ARG
Alfa (TG 76.4) Vancouver consequently cancelled a port visit to Manila and a
scheduled Convoy exercise and stood out, bound for the Gulf of Thailand.
After operating in those waters (17-24 February), Vancouver and her consorts
returned to Subic Bay on account of worsening weather on 25 February. In-port
maintenance for ships and embarked aircraft ensued until 1 March at which
time ARG Alfa sailed to return to the Gulf, to prepare for Operation Eagle
Pull, the evacuation of Cambodia. TG 76.4 conducted training and preparations
(5 March-12 April), punctuating those evolutions with swim calls on 20, 22,
and 30 March to permit her crew to enjoy some relaxation.
Eagle Pull commenced on 12 April 1975, with Vancouver utilizing helicopters
and deploying marines from BLT 2-4 to conduct the evacuation. "Due to
the length of [the] preparations," her chronicler writes, "most of
the evacuees were to be airlifted to Thailand and only a handful were
actually evacuated during Eagle Pull," with Okinawa (LPH-3) embarking
the evacuees. TG 76.4 proceeded north upon completion of the operation, and
disembarked the evacuees at Settahip, Thailand. The ships then returned to
Subic Bay on 17 April, greeted upon arrival by Admiral Maurice F. Weisner,
Commander in Chief, Pacific Fleet.
The deterioration of affairs in South Vietnam, however, dictated a quick
return to those waters. Vancouver and the rest of TG 76.4 sped out of Subic
Bay on 18 April 1975, and headed for the coast of South Vietnam,
rendezvousing with TG 76.3 -- carriers Enterprise (CVAN-65) and Midway
(CVA-41) and the guided missile light cruiser Oklahoma City (CLG-5), the
flagship for Vice Admiral George P. Steele, Commander, 7th Fleet -- on 23
April. Five days later, Vancouver -- placed on one-hour alert and detached
for the purpose -- proceeded to the mouth of the Batak River to serve as
flight deck and wet well for refugees. During her time in those waters, the
ship recovered six Air America helicopters, and later transferred the 123
evacuees via the ship's embarked LCM-8s to the Military Sealift Command (MSC)
ship Pioneer Contender. Winding up those evolutions off the mouth of the
Batak on 28 April, Vancouver proceeded north to rejoin TG 76.4.
The following day [29 April 1975], Operation Frequent Wind, the evacuation of
South Vietnam, began, Vancouver reprising her operations during Eagle Pull,
utilizing her embarked helicopters and marines. "Operations lasted all
day and through the night with helicopters full of evacuees landing on any
flight deck they could find clear," an observer on board wrote later,
"Not only U.S. helos but South Vietnamese ... shuttling refugees out to
U.S. ships for future transfer to MSC ships. Plans and preparations made for
Eagle Pull came in handy in Operation Frequent Wind. During the evacuation,
Vancouver processed over 2,200 refugees." The evolutions over on 1 May,
the amphibious ship, along with TG 76.4, steamed to Subic Bay, arriving on 3
May.
At the end of the deployment, she departed Okinawa on 20 May 1975 and arrived
back in San Diego on 6 June, and resumed west coast operations almost
immediately with type training and a weapons inspection. Similar duty
occupied her through the end of that year and during the first nine months of
1976. On 25 September 1976, she headed back to the western Pacific once more.
She made a three-day stop at Pearl Harbor at the beginning of October and put
in at Kwajalein Atoll on the 10th for ARG commanding officers to conduct
turnover briefings. From Kwajalein, she continued her voyage to Broad Sound,
Australia, where she arrived on 21 October. There, she conducted a rehearsal
landing in preparation for the Operation Kangaroo II landing exercises
conducted between 24 and 29 October in conjunction with Australian military
and naval forces. At the conclusion of Operation Kangaroo II, Vancouver made
a five-day visit to Sydney, Australia, and then got underway for Okinawa. She
reached her destination on 20 November, disembarked one group of marines, and
took on another. The following day, she headed for Subic Bay, arriving there
on the 24th to begin a three-week availability. Late in December, Vancouver
embarked upon a voyage to Taiwan and Hong Kong observing New Year's Eve at
the latter port.
After a return to Okinawa and Subic Bay early in January 1977, the ship
visited Singapore during the latter half of the month. She returned to the
Philippines on 11 February and conducted exercises in the vicinity of Subic
Bay until mid-March. On 16 March, the amphibious transport dock ship put to
sea, bound for Inchon, Korea. During the latter part of March and early part
of April, she participated in amphibious training with units of the South
Korean military. On 12 April, she stopped at Okinawa and the next day headed
back to the Philippines. Vancouver arrived in Subic Bay on 16 April but
departed again on the 28th for a round-about voyage home. She made stops at
Okinawa, Eniwetok, and Pearl Harbor before arriving back in San Diego on 21
May. After a month of post deployment standdown, the ship entered the
Bethlehem Steel Co. shipyard at San Pedro, Calif., for her regular overhaul.
She remained there into 1978.
Vancouver completed her overhaul satisfactorily on 18 April 1978. A rigorous
period of refresher training out of San Diego followed in preparation for the
ship's forthcoming deployment to the western Pacific. Vancouver departed from
San Diego on 31 August and spent the remainder of the year in operations with
the 7th Fleet. Her schedule took her to Eniwetok Atoll, Marshall Islands;
Subic Bay, Philippines; Pusan, Korea; and Hong Kong, B.C.C.; while basing out
of Subic Bay, she twice put to sea to avoid tropical storms (Nina, 10-12
October, and Rita, 20-28 October).
Vancouver (LPD-2) earned 11 battle stars for service in the Vietnam conflict.
Note: Vancouver's history for 1979-1992 is pending.
source:US Naval Historical Center
Vancouver was decommissioned 27 March 1992 and mothballed in reserve status
at Pearl Harbor until she was transferred to the National Defense Reserve
Fleet, Benicia, California.
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