Francis Marion (LPA 249) - Naval Cruise Book

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MARINES Captain William H. LEONARD, USMC Former Combat Cargo Officer 1st Lieutenant Hubert T. WINSTON, USMC Combat Cargo Office The primary mission of FRANCIS MARION is to transport combat troops to any troubled spot in the world. After arriving at this troubled spot, the Swamp Fox is responsible for getting the troops to the beach and providing the necessary combat material needed to support the attack. FRANCIS MARION has room for 1,650 combat equipped troops and space for carrying jeeps, trailers, trucks, and light armored vehicles. All Marine divisions and personnel that are embarked on FRANCIS MARION are coordinated by 1st Lieutenant Hubert T. Winston, USMC, the ship ' s Combat Cargo Officer. Lt. Winston coordinates the loading, stowage, and off-loading of all vehicles and equipment. Through these long months in the Mediterranean, every where we turned there has been an olive green uniform to greet us. Marines everywhere-on the deck, sleeping in passage ways, cleaning rifles, sunbathing, waitingin lines. -and what for?- ! don ' t know, there was a line here and I thought it would be a good idea to get in it. And so it went. But more important than these things, in the last five and a half months the Navy and Marine Corps have worked as a team and have accomplished an out- standing job.

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The primary object of deploying to the Mediterranean is to maintain a battle-ready force for peace. Our first operation anchorage was Alcudia Bay, Majorca, Spain. Seldom does a striking force visit the Mediterranean without stopping off for at least one friendly war game. The exercise was a turn-away landing. Landing craft, loaded with troops and equipment, headed for the beach, pivot- ed and returned to the ship before reaching shore. At Kavalla, Greece, the force performed an ex- hibition landing for our Hellenic allies. The operation gave an overall picture of potential American striking power. Lt. Gen. Martin J. Greene, Chief of Staff, U. S. Marine Corps, on an official tour of the Mediterranean, viewed the landing with Vice Admiral William E. Centner, Jr., Commander Sixth Fleet. Following this, we landed at Pilos, Greece on the morning of July 8th. At Porto Scudo, helicopter operations all day long, loading and unloading landing craft, work, work and more work made up another average day in the life of a Charging Gator . Enroute to Aranci Bay, Sardinia, we hit a stretch of bad weather, during which the ship experienced 20-30 degree rolls. At Aranci, Marines maneuvered ashore while Francis Marion headed out to sea for a gunnery shoot. The cli- max of these war games was Operation South Tramp, which took place at Turkish Thrace and was the largest NATO invasion of the cruise. The operation was consummated with an assault landing at Saros Bay, September 26th. Involved in the exercise were 29 Sixth Fleet ships, approximately 200 aircraft, 12,000 Navy and Marine Corps personnel, two Hellenic ships, one infantry battalion, two American, three Turkish, two Bintish, two Italian and two Hellenic submarines. It was with a sigh of relief that we steamed out of Saros Bay. We had just finished our last amphibious am- pliibious landing of the cruise and were homeward bound! ONE ALFA SET CONDITION ONE ALFA LAND THE LANDING FORCE ' liMMnai .f4« v