Ashland (LSD 48) - Naval Cruise Book

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(J -« USS ASHLAND (LSD 1) ASHLAND (LSD-I) had her keel laid on 22 June 1942 at Oakland. Calif., by the Moore Drydock Company, was launched on 21 December 1942 and finally commissioned on 5 June 1943. Following two months of sea trials, the dock landing ship loaded amphibious craft and personnel at San Diego. CA. and then headed out to sea. Over the course of the next two and a half years, from 1 1 August. 1943 until January. 1946. USS ASHLAND took part in several amphibious exercises and assaults throughout the Western Pacific serving as a troop transport and small boat repair ship. On 23 January. 1944. she sortied with Task Force 52 for the assault on the Marshall Islands. ASHLAND was directly involved in the assaults on Kwajalein Island and Eniwetok and several of the other small islands which would soon become major supply and fuel depots for friendly forces. After a period of availability in Pearl Harbor and several training exercises in Hawaiian waters, the ship sailed away on 29 May for the initial assault on the Marianas. She launched boats for the invasion on Saipan on 15 June and then assumed duties as a repair ship. On 24 July. ASHLAND took part in the invasion of Tinian. In the fall of 1 944. ASHLAND was assigned to Task Force 79 and prepared for the invasion of the Philippines where she took pan in the assaults against Leyte and Luzon. The following year, she launched her boats against Iwo Jima on 1 9 l-ebruar . Despite continuing air attacks. ASHLAND ' s crew carried out repair work on schedule until she finally withdrew to Hniwelok on 31 March. Throughout the rest of the war. she continued transporting troops and supplies to other locations like Kcrama Retto and Okinawa. After the end oi the war on 1 5 August. ASHLAND conluiued her duly of carrying ami lending landing craft in the Far Fast until January 1946. Shortly thereafter she returned to the United States and was placed out of commission, in reser e. in March 1946 at San Diego. ASHLAND earned seven battle stars for services rendered during World War II. Throughout her initial years of service, she proved the versatility and nexibilily of the dock landing ship concept.

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THE ASHLAND ESTATE ■ This LANDING SHIP DOCK lakes its name from ASHLAND, the Kentueisy home of Henry Clay, one of our nation ' s greatest statesmen. Besides being an historical site, ASHLAND is an architectural gem. It was designed by Benjamin H. Latrobe, a noted architect. Latrobe was appointed surveyor for the United States Government in 1 803 by President Thomas Jefferson. He rebuilt our capitol at Washington after it was burnt by the British during the War of 1 8 1 2. His works are monumental such as Statutory Hall, the Senate Chamber and the Supreme Court Building. ASHLAND is one of the grand homes he designed and named for the profusion of ash trees on the Clay Estate. Set back from the road among the trees planted by Henry Clay, the two-story mass of this great brick house is flanged by one-story wings. The main entrance projects in a form of a bay; the single doorway has a half-circle fanlight and plain molded architrave and cornice. The Paladin window above is accentuated by a small eaves pediment that relieves the straight cornice line of the roof. Beside the house is a thick grove of pine trees and the path Henry Clay liked to pace as he composed his speeches. The glory of ASHLAND is its parklike grounds, the grove of ash and locust trees, the green lawn, the carefully placed dogwood, rosebud and other flowering trees and shnibs. and the fomial garden behind the mansion. It makes the entire scene inviting to the visitor. Clay entertained the Marquis de Lafayette and virtually all prominent politicians of his time. Noted travelers from abroad were frequent guests at ASHLAND. The furnishings of the mansion as described by a visitor combined comfort and simple elegance. There were gold brocaded silk draperies, sofas and china brought from Lyon, France after Clay signed the Treaty of Ghent which ended the War of 1812. There is a huge canopied bed in which Clay slept. It was covered with a silk quilt made by the admiring Ladies of Philadelphia . Portraits of Clay by Kentucky artist Matthew Harris Jouett and G. P. A. Healy and a marble bust sculptured by Joel T. Hart are treasured items. Today, most of the furniture used by the Clays remains in the mansion. Clay stocked his farm with horses. Hereford cattle. Durham bulls and cows from England. From Malta, Spain and France he imported donkeys and sheep and made ASHLAND one of the finest farms of its day. The name ASHLAND and Clay are synonymous with determination. The creation of this magnificent estate where there was once a wilderness is an enduring monument to American enterprise and perseverance during a period when our nation was expanding westward. LSD 48, like LSD- 1 , bears a name rich and indelible in American history. Appropriately it is a proud name for an equally proud ship of our United States Navy.

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mm. i ' ASHLAND was recommissioned on 27 December 1950 and completed her shakedown training in February 1951. In April, she sailed for the east coast where her first assignment was Operation Bluejay, held in conjunction with the Military Sea Transportation Service (MSTS). The next several years consisted of a number of major underway periods including a deployment to Greenland and several lengthy operations in the Caribbean as well as the North Atlantic. A notable highlight occurred in September, 1953, when she took two French submarines and seven French naval personnel on board for transpor- tation to the west coast. The vessel transited the Panama Canal on 10 October, deposited her cargo and passengers at San Diego and then returned to Norfolk in October to resume service along the east coast. On 1 November, 1956, ASHLAND was transferred to the control of Commander, Naval Air Forces, Atlantic, for alter- ations enabling the ship to tend aircraft. By July 1957, she was configured to handle six P5M2 aircraft. At the conclusion of a deployment to the Caribbean, she was decommissioned for a second time on 14 September 1957 and placed in the Norfolk Group of the Atlantic Reserve Fleet. On 29 November 1961, ASHLAND was recommissioned. Assigned to Amphibious Squadron 4. she began a routine of alternating between local east coast operations and 6th Fleet deployments to the Mediterranean and Caribbean. In October 1964, she participated in Operation Steel Pike, the largest amphibious assault staged in peacetime up to that point, where she served as a primary control vessel and boat repair ship. In March, 1966. she conducted numerous amphibious landings in the Caribbean, including Operation Beachtime , a landing which involved over 40 ships of the 2nd Fleet. Then in Januar ' 1968, she deployed to the Mediterranean where she took part in the NATO Exercise Dawn Patrol which involved naval forces of France and Greece. On 12 November 1968, ASHLAND weighed anchor for what proved to be her last Mediterranean tour. During the deployment, she repeated her routine of amphibious landing exercises and port visits before returning to the United States in mid- 1969. There, it was found that the repairs she needed to continue efficient operation would be prohibitively expensive. Therefore, ASHLAND was decommissioned on 22 November 1969. Her name was struck from the Navy list on 25 November 1969, and she was sold to N. W. Kennedy, Ltd., of Vancouver, British Columbia in May 1970.