La Moure County (LST 1194) - Naval Cruise Book

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USS LAMOURE COUNTY LST 1194 USS LA MOURE COUNTY (LST 1194) COMMAND HISTORY FOR CALENDAR YEAR 1978 January 1978 found the USS LA MOURE COUNTY ' inport Little Creek training her Rochester Reserve Unit from 6-20 January while preparing for a role not common to LSTs; an intelligence gathering mission. Operation UNCOVER AMBUSH began on 2 February with the ship sailing south to the Caribbean where she limbered up for the major part of the assignment yet to come. She returned to Little Creek on 25 February to prepare for the journey to points north. UNCOVER AMBUSH PHASE II started on 10 March, but bad weather along the track forced LA MOURE into St. John ' s, Newfoundland from 14- 19 March. She next had the privilege of being the first U.S. Navy warship in 12 years to visit Reykjavik, Iceland. During her visit over the Easter Weekend an open house was held with some 2400 visitors touring the ship. On 26 March she set course northward to join the ' ' Order of the Blue Nose ' ' by crossing the Arctic Circle on 29 March. She stayed at sea observing foreign Navy ' s operations until entering Tromso, Norway on 28 April for a brief fuel stop. It was during this visit that she received her new Executive Officer, LCDRM. J. ' ' Nick ' ' Nicholson. Remaining only hours she continued down the Norwegian coast for a visit to Bergen from 30 April to 3 May. LA MOURE returned from UNCOVER AMBUSH on 17 May being welcomed by Deputy CINCLANTFLT Vice Admiral Donald D. Engen, COMNAVSURFLANT Vice Admiral William L. Read, COMPHIBRON SIX, Commodore Paul J. Mulloy, the CINCLANT Band reporters, families and friends. The big welcome was in recognition of her work during the just completed special surveillance operation . Her work was of such quality that the Secretary of the Navy awarded the ship and crew the Na vy Unit Commendation . Additionally, many of her officers and men received individual awards. From 7 May till 4 June LA MOURE was in a stand down status for a much deserved rest . On 5 June the Training Readiness Evaluation (TRE) phase of Amphibious Refresher training (PHIBREFTRA) was conducted concurrently with the 1st week of an Inter- mediate Maintenance Availability- (IMAV) with S1MA Little Creek. The I MAY lasted through 23 June and a concurrent Restricted Availability for main engine and bow ramp repairs extended through Independence Day. On 15 June the two staff members of the House Armed Services Committee, Counsel George Norris and Professional Staff Member Louis Rriser arrived for a close look at LST ' s. The much needed perio d of underway PHIBREFTRA extended from 5 to 14 July. From 15-20 July LA MOURE pre- pared with other Amphibious Squadron Eight units to enter the Atlantic Fleet Amphi- bious Ready Group. August found LA MOURE still working through inspections with a Combat Systems Readiness Review and Food Service Management Team Visiting from 31 July through 1 1 August and Diesel Engineering Readiness Assist Team from 7- 18 August along with a Supply Management Inspection 8-9 August. The inspections ended just in time for LA MOURE to leave on Exercise Northern Wedding 21 August 1978. LA MOURE picked up her Marines and their equipment at Morehead City, N. C. on 22 August and got underway that same day. Serving as part of a Marine Amphibious

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Brigade size unit the ship crossed the North Atlantic and landed her Marines on the Shet- land Islands 8 September. Departing the Shetland area on 12 September she road out hurricane Elsie and arrived at Esbjerg, Denmark to offload all Marines on 16 September. On 17 September LA MOURE set sail for Kiel, West Germany via the Skaggerak and Kattegat arriving on the 19th. With the ending of Northern Wedding and the beginning of her port visits, she stayed in Kiel until setting sail on 28 September with all of her embarked Marines for an overnight transit to Kristiansand , Norway. She arrived in Kristiansand in time to host a V.I. P. luncheon with Norwegian Commodore Almrost and the Honorable Thv Kvinlaug , Mayor of the city of Kristiansand . Leaving Kristiansand on 4 October LA MOURE steamed overnight to arrive in Cux- haven, West Germany for another V.I. P. luncheon with guests including Captain Flentge , the Garrison Officer of Cuxhaven and Lieutenant Sohnchen, Commanding Of- ficer of Tank Battalion 74. While in Cuxhaven she had the added pleasure of havin g 2898 visitors during an open house on the 7th and 8th of October. On 9 October LA MOURE got underway for another overnight passage , this time to the largest sea port in the world , Rotterdam , The Netherlands . She had a pleasant but short visit getting underway on 12 October for Scotland. On 13 October LA MOURE arrived inRos-yth, Scotland and enjoyed a V.I. P. visit from the Lord Mayor of Dumfernline , Scotland and his family. This would be her last port visit for 1978 and her crew treated it as such. LA MOURE set course for home on 16 October transitting the English Channel to ren- dezvous with task force units steaming in formation to arrive in Morehead City , N . C . on 30 October. Once the Marines were put ashore , LA MOURE fought heavy seas through- out the night and was the first NORTHERN WEDDING ship to get home to Little Crrek on 31 October. November brought a stand down period until the 9th when LA MOURE went to Nor- folk for an intermediate maintenance availability. This availability lasted until 29 November and on her return home she gave her dependents a chance to see her in action with a Dependent ' s Cruise. On 4 December LA MOURE got underway for the last time this year to participate in Amphibious Readiness Exercise 1-79. Returning to port on 8 December with the year ' s work completed , the crew went into the holiday season able to spend time with family and friends. Her festive spirit was in full bloom when on 18 December Santa visited over 50 of LA MOURE ' s children at a party on board. 1978 A VERY FULL YEAR