Carter Hall (LSD 3) - Naval Cruise Book

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9 l 6 is Ultima Ei' aa EE!! p ,Go Chung Cheng Rosa ysHiiNGHAi, SATlllRDAY, DECEMQR 1, isis Wmigpigphnone 12128: Edmw Deliberatgcguttlingb' if Floatin Dr dock Vessel tWitnessed n l hangpoo In full 'view of scores of nearhyl river craft, an 8000-ton naval auxi-lf -liary, the 'U.S.S. Carter Hall, yes-,f terday morning sank at its mooringsfl .in the Whangpoo. ' None of 'the crew of 225 men and 15 officers suffered injury, nor wasl .any material damage to the 457- ,foot iesselfapparent as she settled 'in midstream. During the hourandl fa half it took the Carter Hall' to go down, perfect order and calm reigned throughout the ship. Y Strangely enough, the captain of fthe Carter Hall. Lieut. Commander Henry L, Jost, Jr., USNR, of Bel- ton, Mo., was not in the least per- ,Lturbed over the incident. A She'll be u tomorrow and just! fi ' ' P ,, ' , i. Qspyd as ever, was his 'oaliyi fohimeq. 5 K, , ,ass 02 Scuttlinz ..ASi6,3,njiv1rxt investigation revealed Elini' it was' Va case of deliberate Scuttliniy 'carried out at llieut. Commander Josl's own orders. It waz 'part oi the day's work, 'Such visits as yesterday's trip to Davy Jones's locker are. commonl- olaha in fthe history of the Carter Hall. She has been sunk more, th 500' times in nearly three years lim? operating in the Pacific, and has at ways bobbed up again ready for her' next assignment. She was built that way. The fact of the matter is that the Carter Hall is one of the U.S. l'fcmy's' newest type ships, an ship, dock. Marine architects have designed this type of vessel so that it can be submerged to vary- ing depths up to ap maximum oi 27 feet in order to allow small craft to float into its midsection. Then Gate Closes When thesekcrail have entered the well, as ii is called, .lzrough a gate in the SS'-ru of the sho. tht gate is closed, 'ind waiter if pi mped out ol the siiipf ballast tanks. At .lie end of twc iioars or so oi pump- ing, the ship ::-. afitaii .ii its normal depth and the l'wcll s cry, The small craft in thi: well are reacly UZ ltigvuaorked on all the way from 1 0 , 2 vp' - ' When the craft is ready to. be discharged, the ballast tanks are filled .with water, the 'gate is lofivefvd. and sbon the repaired ,boat P8 afloat in the well and able to mleave uptler its own power, Its al as simple in principle as hotel elevator that goes from floor to the basement and :3 . ,illpe ,garter Hall's job as a sea- 1201112 'elevatorn falls into :wo H9084 She handles both freight Bild passenger traffic. Not only iioeslcshe dlp down lor ships that 'mt-lit ,bb drydocked for repair, but -she ,also takes dpboard numerous landing craft an troop persgnnel .tor ,transport to, distant inland' fLS'D', which stands for landinirfbigqg, , Has seq, A Lot , I 'Ingher line ot duty as a boat and ,troop transport. and drydock they fCArtet' Hall has operated at New! fGuinll,, the Admiralty Islands, thel fSolomon Islands, the Marshalls, the? ,Marianna the New Hebrides, thel Pltilipgines, the Palaus, lNew Bri-I ,'tain,,' orneo, Okinawa, Korea and, 'Shang'hai. ' ' A.rough idea of her capacity as a ferrylng ship can be given by 'the numbers of small craft she trans-. ported to -strategic areas. The total Qincludes approximately 120 amphi- Lbiouslftanks, 30 tank-carrying iona- fini craft: more than 600 medium, I-ianding crafty 300 personnel land-A ling craft: a dozen infantry landigg lcraftg three PT boats: 10 picket ,boatsg seven whaleboatsg and several' J and R boats. Q Much of the time spent in iollov. Ting her unusual assignment waz. spent by the Carter Hall in anvai-.ce battleareas. At Leyte ner- gunnczu were unofiicially crediti-,, knocking down' two ani... planes. Crewrnen who rua. . aboard her since the siii. .ite . the Pacific, rate four bar. seal. 'on the Asiatic-Paciic ,gr ribbon and two on the .p :ani , Liberation ribbon. ' Concentrated On Rvnairs It Since her arrival in Shanghai,' 'the Carter Hall has concentrated, 'on dry-docking small craft for re- ffpaira. The occasion for her 'inost firecent sinking was a U.S. glin- .iboat which had tangled a line in. its propeller. ,g So realistic was the sinking 'that a merchant liberty shi direct- ly aaiern of the Carter I-lalljblinked the following message: , You appear to ,Tyou need help? I No, came the 'igilat .going down l. ill be right back up. u i be sinking. Do answer, we're for., a minute.l

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On 1 May 1968, after Amphibious Operations in Hawaii and an extensive yard period, CARTER HALL sailed from Long Beach for Da Nang, RVN, carrying a full load of amphibious craft. For nearly eight months CARTER HALL has steamed an average of 4,000 miles each month Carrying troops, ammunition, general cargo vehicles, amphibious crafts and boats throughout the Western Pacific in direct support of the Viet Nam War effort. Included in the troops were RVN Naval River Assault Groups and U.S. Army and Marine Companies. In September and October CARTER HALL operated with Amphibious Ready Group Alfa in Operation Swift Persuit off the Viet Nam Demilitarized Zone. On September 18, CARTER HALL celebrated the 25th anniversary of her first Commission. The crew took time off from their demanding schedule to wish their Proud Lady a Happy Anniversary. CARTER HALL revisted Taiwan, Singapore, Hong Kong, and Yokosuka this cruise, and also enjoyed dipping southward below the Equator to indoctrinate all hands in the ways of King Neptune and Davy Jones. All members of the crew who served aboard during the entire deployment earned the Viet Nam Service Medal with Campaign Star, and the Republic of Viet Nam Campaign Medal. 1 May to 16 December 1968 has been a memorable cruise and an addition to CARTER HALL'S 25 years of readiness of which all hands may be proud. The CARTER HALL Plantation, our namesake, was built by Nathaniel Burwell between 1792 and 1800 in Clarke County, Virginia.

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OF ICER 2 N 26, V, fr ' SIS if .. ' M . 5 L, Y - W W Q if A t ' in I 11 . fi! ftop left to rightj LCDR Peter C. BENNETT, LT Gale GRINSTEAD, L'I'jg Roger LEHMAN, ENS Gordon PULLIN, WO John NEAL, CWO John BELL, LT Roy F. STEENBURGH, WO Richard DUTTON, fbottom left to rightj LTjg Robert PLATT, LT Charles BONNEY, LT John TOONE, LT Paul GABOURY, LTjg Richard FRYE, and ENS John HADEN P Yi And thls 1S Just a model of the gu111ot1ne MAA force 1S Bu11d1ng'