Whetstone (LSD 27) - Naval Cruise Book

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C 0 0 M F M F A 1 N C D I E N R G , -If 19 Cla . Q ,Mya b -9 ' ,I 1, . ff, H WILLIAM H. WEBB 4

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To the Crew of WHATBTONE an tnelr famllles U S S WHETSTONE KLSD-277 FPO SAN FRANCISCO 96601 .9 As WHHLSTONE returns from her most recent d ployment to the western PaC1flC, some 28,000 mlles and 229 days slnce departlng from san Dlego, I would llke to take thls opportunlty to b lefly revlew and express my feellngs about the crulse WHETbTONm's role durlng the deployment was one of support of Narlne forces ln Vletnam Upon our arrlval 1n Danang on Dec mber 2, 1967, com pletlng the 8,000 mlle translt from San D1 go, three sectlons of Small Boat Repalr Barges were off loaded fo use ln nearby Hue Our flrst asslgnment was a l1ft of l2 large hellcooters from Oklnawa to Danang The LDD 15 not d for 1ts ablllty to transport a varlety of dlfferent types of landlnv craft However, hellcopters plac d a new reoulre ment on the handllng and loadlng skllls of all conc rned T was very pleased when all the alrcraft were dellvered wlthout so much as a scratch The flrst of many tasks WBLL DON We Jolned the f1ve shlp Amphlblous Ready roup BRAVO on Chrlstmas Day, and th most challenglng 80 days of the d ployment followed Durlng thls tlme WHETSTON par+1c1pated ln several amphlblous and support operatlons Each task has 1ts own problem, not the least of whlcn was weath r Haln, w1nd, and accompanylng rough seas caused tn utmost ln efrort and sklll to be the routlne of the day The total performance of the crew produced re sults whlch brought forth many off1c1al me sages of appreclatlon and pralse In mld March our assl nment ln dlrect support of 1n country operatlons near tne Vletnam DMZ ended Followlng an upkeep perlod 1n Sublc Bay, Ph1l1pp1nes, transportlng and lncluded Several Cua Vlet and the second phase of the deployment, support 1D the form of many dlfferent types of 3mphlblOUS and patrol craft commenced, a V1S1t to Hong Kong trlps were made between Sublc Bay and Danan , Cam Ranh Bay, Nha Be, Vletnam Perhaps, the most lnterestlng was to Nha Be near b3lg0HJ slnce lt lnvolved a rlver translt of some 30 mlles lnland Although there had been rec nt attacks on the shlpplng, wHJT8TONL fo tunately spent one nlght at anchor at Nha Be, and made the T1V8T trans1ts w1thout 1nc1dent Hong Kong 1S a story unto ltself as shown by the plctures 1n thls Crulse Book It was a busy, restful and most engoyable v1s1t fbusy buylng the myrlad of ltems avallableb A flnal brlef stop at Sublc Bay, then a week ln Yokosuka, Japan to pre pare for the homeward translt, brought to a close th1s N STPAC deployment The WHETBTONL famlly performed her Job exceedlngly well throughout the crulse Support and love from home kept us golng throughout months The crew 1S the flnest of whlch I have had the pleasure to serve I extend my slncere appreclatlon for a JOD WELL DONE, and best wlshes for the future did!! W. H. WEBB Commandlng Officer ' L T Q ' ' ' ' 'TW T 4,4 o T Q 1 ' . . fx . U - 1 ' - nn- . Q . .. . C 4 N 1 0 1 . . L . . . . 1 0 . S - I . 9 U 0 1 SO' . . . -rs - 4 0 . . . , . 'X L . . . . , , , 9 o ' 1 s , o ' 9 , ' . . . e Q .L . L . . , '5 O . N T 1.4, . . . . . . f., ,- p , 'J 0 v Q n a e e . , Q W I Q 0 Q 0 Q L Ib u ' ' ' . . . , . . A S , . . I e . ,, . . 0 A . . . A . . . O' D . . - , . U . . . - . D , . . . . . O . . - 1 . v I . . . . V U 1 . . . 0 O ' g 'A ' 1 I I U 5 1 Q -N Q I n l 1 O l U C u - 7 ' 21 Q ' 'I vi S - .L , , . . . . . . I . . . . . , , . . . Q O . . . O - . - - 1 - , . - '-. 21 , ' IN 31 C 0 ' . , . 7 0 0 u ' I I I 0 ' ' O . 5