Catamount (LSD 17) - Naval Cruise Book

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1 A Far Eastern cruise with its laughter its monotony its exotic excitement its frustration its value to you, to your country its long distance from home skijjping from Oriental port to Oriental port warming your hands on a hibachi pot on Christmas e e watching the fanatic parchinko players as you walked down any street the small-featured, charming hostesses in ever) ' cabaret who were as integral a part of the establishments as were the bar stools the arguing, smiling souvenier merchants who always made a profit the countless fishing and salvage boats that appeared in every harbor well before reveille Mount Fuji in all its madgesty the hills and mountains with a greenness it was hard to imagine could exist Scochi and Ichi ban and Sayonara shower shoes with the split-toe effect laundry boats as welcoming parties in every port a crashing surf inside the well of your own ship lines on the quarterdeck as the LCVP liberty boat made the gangway life jackets and helmets for general quarters walking, eating, sleeping on a ballasted, inclined plane movies every night in the special open-air theatre. . . . lashing down gear for the unique LSD roll mess gear eight o ' clock reports sweepers, man your brooms Bible study in sick bay at 1830 light oft number one you knew that you were there for a purpose sometimes it was hard to sustain the feeling yet tiic realization was still there your very presence up and down the waterways surrounding tiie islands of Japan jjositivc proof to tiie communist v()rld tliat the ftag which your ship flew would fly anywhere in the world it was needed to keep a free world your own jiractical training shij board life. . . . learning the whys and wherefores of the Navy ]:)reparing )ourself and your ship preparing for the |30ssibility of aiiollicr war ....a Far Eastern cruise tiic first for some, the last for others one of several for most memorable for all Numazu Yokosuka Iik lion Kobe Sascbo To .Jang Po. . . . Pusan. . . . Paeng- yong Do Tyon Pyong Do CHiigasaki beach Nagoya (lamp McGill Okinawa Iwo Jima a Far Eastern cruise. — 10 -

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UNDERWAY She had looked quite beautiful sitting tlicrc at l)crtli 213 in San Diego harbor. Her sides, her decks, her superstructure shined from stem to stern. Freshly equipped with a new mezzanine deck, a futuristic helicopter deck, a ramp, water barrier, and two new twin 40nun. mounts, the USS Catamount was the latest thing in amphibious warfare design. But the 3rd Marine division had to go to Japan. The Catamount was available. Numazu! cried the 3rd Marines, and witliout asking directions, for she had been there before, the big Landing Ship Dock took off. It was goodbye to the ladies, the sweethearts, the wives and, Go to your stations all the special sea and anchor detail! at 0955, August 5, 1953. The jack was lowered, the ensign shifted, and Point Loma was soon out of sight. The Catamount, for the next sixteen days, saw only a warm blue ocean, a bright blue sky, and the other members of the little transoceanic family impersonally known as Task Unit 53.4. 1. Tanks, trucks, anti-tank guns, and other such equipment rested in the after half of the vessel. Some 250 Marines rested in the forward half. The sea was as smooth as a seaman second ' s chin. And across it there was maneuvering, and station keeping, and sun bathing, and geedunking. There were reminiscences over the few months the ship liad spent in the States, and anticipations of the many months she would spend in the Orient. Finally, Kuzo Shima light was spotted at 225° and the seventeen-day trip was practically over. The anchor was dropped early the next morning and eight months of Far Eastern duty had begun for the Catamount. Going To Japan ' The latest in amphibious warfare design. Mount t44, new lire power. Too long in tin Stales anyway. 12 —