De Soto County (LST 1171) - Naval Cruise Book

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oeapower nur l l U.S. Navy Ph0f0S DeSoto County squeezes through lock on St. Lawrence Seaway. Returns By WILLIAM K. STEVENS Virginian-Pilnl Staff Wrller NORFOLK - It may be the most improbable voyage of any U.S. warship in recent years and one of the most successful. There she was, the 8,000-ton tank landing ship DeSoto' Coun- ty, big as a freighter, a major vessel of the Atlantic Fleet Amphibious Force and part of Americais land-sea assault com- bination. She had just shot the rapids of the St. Lawrence River at 26 knots. tShe makes only 17 knots at sea.J She was approaching Clayton, N.Y., last stop on her 95-day, 9,100-mile public relations tour of the Great Lakes. She edged up to the dock at Clayton and tied up to a tele- phone pole, a' maple tree and a front porch. Two-thirds of the townspeople came out to take in the minia- ture shipboard fair and accom- panying show that told the story of modem seapower. The 95-day total for the DeSoto was 426,046 visitors. That was last week. The De- Soto County is back at Little , ....... . . . . .,-.m.:.-.mg--t:-N From Creek Naval Amphibious Base with tales that explain why she is a happy ship. the skipper, Lt. Mann Jr. of Nor- being a career of- is a jazz musician. bass fiddle with a the shi docked in Start with Cmdr. H. D. folk. Besides ficer, he also He sat in on combo when ,p Bay City, Mich. Or take the junior officers, the single ones who are getting let- ters from lake ports and who describe the cruise with one word! Wow. Or the Marine who appeared at the gangway one night just before liberty expired and shout- ed up to the deck officer: Request permission to bring my rocking chair aboard, sir. He carried a brilliant orange 'rocking chair on his back. Said his grandmother gave it to him. Got permission, too. The DeSoto County was picked for the lakes cruise because of 'her outstanding record. It had to be an LST, because that's the only ship with a shallow enough draft for some of the ports she called at and enough deck space for the seapower show. H'-'M' ' f' rss-maze. rr - ......,-...-,.-......,...... ..- I i Success ul Cruise The show itself left landlocked visitors lgog. Some of them didn't know what a Polaris missile was. Their eyes widened as they looked at a full-size missile and heard how one Polaris subma- rine can deliver destructive power equal to all the bombs ex- ploded in World War II. They were fascinated -as frog- men dropped from helicopters, set up demolition charges and exploded them. Most didn't get mad when spray from the ex- plosion showered them. They looked on as members of a four-man -Marine karate team fought each other and broke wooden boards with their fingers and toes. Then they listened as a 25- voice Marine choir serenaded them. They heard the recorded voice of Vice Adm. John S. McCain Jr., commander of the Atlantic amphibious force, tell them grip- pingly about the four-ocean challenge. McCain visited the DeSoto himself several times during the cruise. Once he was accom- panied by Gen. Wallace M. Greene Jr., commandant of the Marine Corps. The visitors stood inside a monstrous cineglobe -half a massive sphere on which were projected three - dimensional movies of landings and takeoffs by carrier-based planes: an am- phibious assaultg and -a Polaris firing. It's like you actually were there, and it is breathtaking. Visitors to the New York World's -Fair can see the same exhibit. The DeSoto County stopped at 18 fresh-water ports, the largest of which were Cleveland and De- troit, and got enthusiastic re- ceptions at all of them. There was the little old lady in one port who, after finishing :the tour, found a small scrap of paper and wrote a note to be sent to -the skipper. The note hoped God would bless the De- Soto County and the Navy for protecting the country. The tour offered stiff- chal- lenges to the seamatnship of Cmdr. Mann and his crew. There were the swirling rapids between Montreal and Quebec, for one thin-g, and 'there were narnow canal looks offering 5 feet of clearance on each side. A major message which the tour .tried to put across was the importance of the Navy-Mamine Corps team -to national securil, The ship carried about 90 Ma- rines besides her crew of 187 of- ficers and men. How close is the teamwork between sailors and Marines? Well, one night in a lake punt the deck officer looked up to see two slightly staggering Marines helping what seemed to be a drunken sailor up the gangway. The sailor's blouse was hanging out and he wore a straw hat and he could.n't walk very well. The Marines took him be ow. A few minutes later the cin- credulous deck officer rubbed his eyes as the same sailor ap- peared on deck, cold sober, in spotless whites and ready tp go. One of my Marine .buddies was three sheets to the wind and didn't want to come back aboard by himself, the sailor explained. The sailor had put on a decoy act. Pm ready to go hack on lib- erty, sir, he said. And did,Aoo cement Navy-civilian relations.

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J 1 527. How is success measur- 1 S ll7l--Salesman For The '21 3 , 7 ,I ., 151 1 In 1. ' 12611 1 -1 1 .uw 1 .H71,1 lg- K 1 :ggi 1 1 13911 ' 1 ' .2215 311 1 . 1.1 1 4 1 '11- .fwf 1 1' 14,13 ggi. 1 11' fbi 11 :Si I ' 'Zig' 1 1 251111 1 ..'1l11 .c.. 1 J.: 1 Hr., ,., 111 ..., N 11 111 11' -.1. 1. -I1-f111 ,, ,M .,f1., 1 11' .41 1,1 ,1 , .-1111 CAPTAINS EYE VIEW-The 'famous Soo quette Mich. to Chicago -Ill. The lock second locks of Sault Ste 'Marie Mich are seen from from left is expected to be opened next year the bridge of the tank landing ship USS DE- The Soo locks transit more freight tonnage SOTO COUNTY as the ship approaches the than the Panama and Suez Canals combined three American locks on her cruise from Mar- annually COVER DOWN-SS9t William Flsch Force ers take a right on tha parade route. The Troops gunnery sergeant for the embarked Ma troops were part of the cnty's Flag Day cere- rines marches three squads of men down the monies main street of Ogdensburg N Y as the col ed? In a military timing and the ear .y -secur- ing of an objective are signs of impending suc- cess. On an -operation where the objective is reaching the public with the import- ance of the Navy-Marine Corps Team... a quarter of a million guests at the way pomt was more than a start n the right direction. Both men and equip- :aentfrom the 2d Marine Division and Force Troops, which toured the Great Lakes this summer aboard the tank landing ship USS DESOTO COUNTY 4LST 11711 contributed immeas- urably to this success. The Marine troops, com- manded by Mai. John A. 0 Brien departed Little Creek Va. June 8 to be- gin the three-month sum mer cruise of the Inland Seas. The Marines normally accustomed to eventually seeing broad expanses of beach when traveling on an LST were soon to stare at the immensity of the seven lor-1.-Q on the St Lawrence Seaway upsteram from Montreal The ports of call were begun with a patriotic flare as the ship arrived in Og densburg N Y on Tune 14 Flag Day Shortly after docking SSEt William Fisch Force Troops marched three squads of Marines down the city s parade route The estimated 10000 specta tors were greatly impress ed by the squads and the ship s Marine color guard The personnel manrung the tank deck displays and equipment quickly learned of the pubhcs interest in the Marine Corps This in terest may occasionally need an up-to-date briefing evidence some of the questions asked Is this the new M 14 one man asked as he stood in front of the M-48 tank Arent they using Springfield rifles any more? ' was another query from an lnterested veteran And of course we met many a man who ' went intro' battle from an old 'Phe Marines left Og densburg with the feeling that its citizenry knew a great deal more about the modern Marine Corns The second stop Roch ester N Y was one that will be long remembered 5,6 THE U5 DESOTO COUNTY QLS1' 11713 elderly couple resting on an overturned 1 Marquette Mich. over the quarterdeck The next port, Buffalo gave shipboard gridiron fans the opportumty to see the AllAmer1can Football game in the city s War Me morial Stadium The chorus from the 2d Marine Division Security Platoon, under the du'ect1on of 1stLt BenJ Borchelt pre sented a 20-minute pro- gram pnor to the start of the nationally televised game Tours to world famous Niagara Falls were ava1l able for the hberty sec tion The Buffalo Yacht Club was the s1te of the crew s dance sponsored by the Niagara Frontier Navy League Throughout the cruise dances and Rathskeller parties were on tap for the men of the Navy Marine Corps Team. Erie the lone Pennsyl vama city on the shi s visiting schedule set t e nud week attendance mark with 8 492 visitors on Wed nesday July 1 The Quaker State .port proved to be a 'fact filled stop for the Marines The LST was the first ship to tie up at the city s re built Pubhc Dock In fact the W La ra 'V N5 Y 1111! 1 1 1 1 1 , .. ,. , 1 1 . 1 1 J 7 , 0 I fr ' X W 1 ll ll . , I , 1.11 11 . ' tc I V 'I , g ' A ' 1 1 YW . , 1111 - , ,,1 1 31,1 21 - 11,1 11 111 1 . 1111 111 3 , . . . ' . -, 1 .111 . ,. . ' 1 111 u 1 . . 1 1111 1 ' ' ' - 11 H1 ' - 1 1111 - - - 1 ' 11111 - - - - i . 317111 Y ' 'Y l - I ,1! -i v a I 7 1 11 ' . 11 1 .. . - 1 13 i , . . ,, , 115 ' 1 f . , 1 1 , 1 E ' . ' s . ' 1 111 - - - 11111 ' . N 1- 1 . , . , . . X1 - . ' , 1 1 1 . . . 1 -1 1 1 1. . , , 11 . , . 11 . , .- . ' , 1 1 - g -. - - ' 1 1111 1 . . - 111 11 1 I N l , - . 1 1 1 - 11 . , 1 1 . 1 - ' . H - , ' KI ml!! I . . , . . . , 1 1 1 ' ' - -1 - ' . 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' ' ' ' ' - - ' I 1E 1 ' 1 - -n 11 1 11 1 5 Q U --N 1 W :1 1 V I 1 ., A.i1' l' '-' BUFFALO THRONGS LST-Long lines of But the USS DESOTO COUNTY falo N Y residents wait on the pier to board bv most of the Marmes and sailors The DeSoto Conn ty moored adiacent to the citys Ontario Beach The stop at the much used beach and amusement cen ter put the bathers at the ships 'door step Rochester was the begin rung of large crowds on board as the attendance av eraged 1200 visitors ner hour People were waiting in lines extending beyond four blocks before the ship opened for visiting on Saturday June 20 That day 13 343 vrsitors came fin 1 e G .1 N- xhwa s x by DSVILLE TURNOUT Hundreds of perse get aboard the USS DESOTO COUNTY du oapltal