Catamount (LSD 17) - Naval Cruise Book

Page 8 text:

The Catamount Tavern One sunny afternoon in the 1770 ' s, a hunter killed a strange looking mountain lion in a forest near Bennington, Vermont. The hunter, proud of his kill, dragged the lion into Bennington, pro- ceeded to have it stuffed, and presented it to Stephen Fay, proprietor and founder of the town ' s leading tavern. At the same time, the Royal Governors of New York and New Hampshire were involved in a dispute, both claiming the region around and containing Bennington. Were New York to win the disagreement, the claims of the settlers would have been invalidated. To aid in resistance, Ethan Allen, who was to become a famous Revolutionary War hero, formed a small band of volunteers, known in history as the Green Mountain Boys. Their primary purpose was to defend the settlers ' claims to their homes and farms. Fay ' s tavern soon became the site for all town meetings. A special convention was even held at the tavern, and before long Allen ' s band of vigilantes began to muster there in the evenings. Shortly thereafter Fay named his tavern The Green Mountain Tavern. After staring at the stuffed lion for many evenings, the Boys decided that the animal ' s face resembled their own grinning defiance to the Yorkers. They then decided to adopt the lion as a mascot and subsequently renamed the tavern for the beast, The Catamount. Soon the Revolutionary War became a reality and colonial leaders of Massachusetts and Connecticut met many times with Allen at the tavern. The attack on Fort Ticonderoga, led by Allen and the Green Mountain Boys in May, 1775 was planned at the Catamount and commenced from there. When England ' s Burgoyne was sent to capture Bennington in August, 1777 the Cata- mount was still functioning as a headquarters for the colonists. Several weeks after the Battle of Bennington, the settlers declared themselves independent of both New Hampshire and New York and formed the independent republic of Vermont. Then the republic became a state; the Catamount was used as the site for several sessions of the state legislature. The state ' s first court was held within its walls and the first man sentenced to death in Vermont was tried and convicted in the tavern and hung within sight of it. The original building was destroyed by fire in 1877, but two memorials to her importance remain. One is the large moument on her site in Bennington, the other is the USS Catamount, possibly the only ship in any navy named for a tavern.

Page 7 text:

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.

Page 9 text:

The Captain Commander Harry F. Slawsm Commander Harry F. Slawson relieved as Commanding Officer of the Catamount on Friday, 13 October as the ship entered the FRAAA yard period at Long Beach. He came from the Washburn (AKA 108) where he had served as Executive Officer since June 1960. Commander Slavi son was commissioned an Ensign, USNR, on 13 June 1943 after graduating from Bowling Green University and the USNR Midshipman ' s School, Columbia University. Upon commissioning, he attended Harvard University a nd Massachusetts Institute of Technology for duty under instruction in electronics and radar and taught briefly at radar maintenance school in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. While in Hawaii, he volunteered for submarines and was selected for duty as Elec- tronics Officer aboard the Piranha. From May 1944 to May 1952 Commander Slawson served aboard the submarines Piranha, Diodon, Charr, Tilefish, and Trutta, during which time he partici- pated in 5 ' A World War II war patrols and 2 during the Korean conflict. From June 1952 until July 1955 Commander Slawson served in the Regulus Missile program, in guided Missile Unit 50 as Executive Officer and Atomic Warhead Assembly Supervisor and in Submarine Missile Division 51 as Missile Operations Officer and Test Coordinator. For the next two years he served as Executive Officer aboard the Alfred A. Cunningham (DD 752); from November 1957 to December 1959 he was Development Officer and Safety Analyst in Research and Development Directorate Headquarters Defense Atomic Support Agency, coordinating atomic weapons matters among the service headquarters, DOD, and AEC in Washington. He then attended the Naval Post Graduate School in Monterey, California and was enrolled in the Man- agement curriculum from January to June 1960, after which he went to the Washburn. Commander Slawson is designated qualified for command of submarines and destroyers. He has been awarded the commendation medal with Combat V, the World War II Victory Medal, United Nations and Korean Service medals, China Service and Asiatic Occupation Medal, the American theater and Asiatic Pacific theater (with 6 stars), and submarine combat pin plus two stars. Commander Slawson has just completed his 7fh deployment to the Western Pacific. He was married in May 1949 to the former Helene Dudley of Newport, Rhode Island. The Slawsons, who have one boy and three girls, reside in Chula Vista, California.