Catamount (LSD 17) - Naval Cruise Book

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A WestPac cruise . . . with its laughter ... its monotony ... its excitement . . . its frustration . . . the Paramount . . . reveille . . . holiday routine . . . quarters for division officers ' muster and inspection . . . midwatches . . . operation Lone Eagle . . . boat runs ... 8 o ' clock reports . . . sweepers . . . gunnery exercises . . . liberty call . . . now relieve the watch . . . mess gear . . . Oro ' s . . . volleyball in the well deck . . . mail call . . . shoe shine boys on the wingwall . . . surf inside the well deck . . . the Marines . . . LCD 1482 . . . Softball games . . . Grande Island . . . light off 1 Generator . . . New Year ' s Eve . . . Chaplain Cortney . . . now the tour will leave in five minutes . . . Bonanza again . . . Protestant lay leader services . . . working parties . . . the girl on the pier in Kobe . . . Japanese taxi drivers . . . China Fleet Club . . . Stars and Stripes are now on sale . . . Get an IC up here immediately . . . right ten degrees rudder . . . light on the hill, bearing 074 . . . Olongapo . . . good chow . . . bad chow . . . now cleaning gear is being issued . . . anchor tends 090, light strain . . . E Division, all present and accounted for . . . condition yoke . . . the last cruise for some, the first for others, one of many for most ... for all, memorable.

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The WestPac Cruise of the USS Catamount 1962-63 Date of Departure: 11 June 1962 Date of Return: 23 January 1963 Length of Cruise: 217 Days Days at Sea: 127 Days in Port:100 Total Number of Miles : 35,681 Amount of Fuel Used: 2,576,107 Gallons Man-Hours Spent on Watch .- 134, 756 IT WAS A LONG CRUISE, LONGER THAN ANY OF US HAD ANTICIPATED. BUT, LIKE ALL OTHERS, IT FINALLY ENDED. AFTER TWENTY DAYS, THE LOOKOUT SPOTTED POINT LOAAA: THE EXCITEMENT BEGAN. SUDDENLY, WE WERE SETTING THE FINAL SPECIAL SEA DETAIL. TIME RACED BY. EVERYONE BECAME A LOOKOUT, SEEING IN SUCCESSION THE SUBMARINE PIERS, NORTH ISLAND AIR BASE, ADMIRAL KIDD, AND THEN PIER 6. THERE THEY WERE — WAITING ON THE PIER. EVEN BEFORE IT SEEMED POSSIBLE, THE LINES WENT OVER, THE BROW WAS READIED, AND THE CRUISE ENDED.

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The Catamount The USS Catamount, one of the four LSD ' s in Amphibious Squadron Five, was commissioned on 9 April 1945 at Norfolk, Virginia. The Catamount is the first ship in the Navy to bear her name, and is named in honor of the famed Catamount Tavern in Bennington, Vermont. After a shakedown cruise in Chesapeake Bay, she sailed directly to the Pacific. As the Pacific War drew to a close, the Catamount performed admirably and carried into Tokyo Boy Admiral Nimitz ' barge and Admiral Holsey ' s Reno Silver Saddle. From mid-1946 until 1950, the Catamount operated. out of Norfolk. While there, she gained nationwide prominence when a news wire service discovered her secondary use for the 394-foot well deck, that of flooding it and turning the huge space into a large, portable swimming pool. When the hostilities commenced in Korea, the Catamount was returned to the Pacific. She arrived in Korean waters in September 1950 and commenced heavy duty for the remaining three years of the war. During the Korean conflict, the Catamount earned seven stars and the Korean Service Medal for the landing at Inchon, the evacuations, and other vital operations. Since then, the Catamount has been an active participant in several notable Navy endeavors, including the breaking of the Quemoy artillery blockade in 1958, DEW line replenishment, and watchdog cruising off the Vietnamese coast during the Laos crisis. In 1960, the Catamount was the ship dispatched by President Eisenhower to carry relief supplies to earthquake victims in Chile. The present Commanding Officer, Commander Harry F. Slawson relieved Commander C. W. Smith on 13 October, shortly after the Catamount had entered the Long Beach Naval Shipyard for a Mark II FRAM overhall. The Catamount is classed as a Landing Ship Dock. An LSD is a specialized amphibious type ship developed during World War II to transport combat load vehicles to the assault area. The craft are launched by flooding the 394-foot well deck and dropping the stern gate. Another important function is to provide a floating drydock and repair ship for the same craft. In recent years, and especially during the cruise, the Catamount has also been used for both launching and landing helicopters.