Racine (LST 1191) - Naval Cruise Book

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Ei fs he USS BACINE CLST-1 1913 a tank landing ship is named for the city and county of Racine, Wisconsin, She is the second ship of the fleet to bear the name. I Z keel was laid 13 December 1969 and she was launched on 15 August 1970 under the sponsorship of Mrs.. Edwin B. Hooper, wife of Vice Admiral Hooper, Director of Naval History. The USS RACINE was commissioned on 9 July 1971 at Long Beach Naval Shipyard, Long Beach, California, with Rear Admiral Horace V. Bird officiating. he RACINE was built by national Steel and Shipbuilding Company of San Diego. Her his new class of LST is a radical departure from the LST's of old. The primary Z I mission is the same, to land tanks and other heavy equipment directly on a hostile beach during an amphibious assault. However, the method by which this mission is to be accomplished with the new LST's is unique. The new LST's are able to steam in excess of 20 knots for an indefinite period of time, thus enabling them to be an integral part of a modern amphibious task force. this is accomplished in the Newport class partly, Through an increase in power, but more importantly through a redesigned hull using a fast destroyer type as a model. The new hull design creates a need for a new method of landing material since there is no longer to be bow doors. The ship designers came up with not one, but two methods of landing, one over the bow, the other from the stern. The over the bow method is the reason for the hugh derrick arms extending some 90 feet beyond the bow. The derrick's arm hold a bow ramp over which a 60 ton Cmaximumb tank may be driven directly to the beach or to a floating causeway. Amphibian vehicles may off load directly from the stern while the ship is still underway through the use of a stern gate. The ship is also designed with a helicopter deck so that she can participate in vertical envelopment amphibious operations.

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1 ' .1 f K rl ti QXGHESNC5 EXPLANATION OF THE SHIP'S INSIGNIA he emblem to represent the ship borrows heavily from the emblem of Racine, Wisconsin, the namesake of LST 1191. The figures laboring with an anvil are symbolic of the industrious Iabores and creative craftsmen who have brought prosperity to the city of Racine, Belle City of the Lakes . The eagle, our national emblem, stands for freedom - that great treasure which we have so long en- joyed and which the USS RACINE is charged to protect. The anchor is symbolic of USS RAClNE'S crew and the Great Lakes sailors of Racine who brought supplies to the city, enabling it to grow and prosper. The links of chain surrounding the emblem are symbolic of RACINE sailors past, present and future, all joined for the common goal - the preservation of freedom. The motto of the USS RACINE - HONOR, VIGILANCE, VALOR , represents the ship's company, ever vigilant and ready to serve with honor and valor.

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he new class of LST is more than twice as large as the old T's At 8000 tons the Newport class is a large as the newest CG. Maneuvering such a large ship in on a beach would be an almost impossible task without assistance. to give this assistance, a bow thruster' is added. This is a separate variable pitch propeller mounted on the forward part of the hull. Using the bow thruster, the coming officer is able to move the ship laterally through the waterg, sports car handling for a limousine'. The RACINE conducted five deployments to the Western Pacific in its first ten years of commissioned service, which included service during the Vietnam War. ln January 1981, the RACINE was assigned to the Naval Reserve Force. The mission of the Naval Reserve Force was to provide trained units and qualified personnel available in the time of war of emergency. ln order to accomplish this mission, the ship is composed of sixty percent full time active duty personnel and forty percent reservists who train one weekend a month and two weeks of active duty each year to maintain their proficiency in amphibious warfare. RACINE has been assigned to Surface Squadron One, homeported in Long Beach, California since 15 January 1981. BASIC STATISTICAL DATA Length ................ ................................................... 5 22 Feet Beam Cwidthb ......... ........ 6 9 Feet, 92 Inches Displacement ............ ........ 8 300 Tons CFull Loadl Mean Draft fdepthl ....... ........ 1 5 Feet CFull Load! Shaft Horsepower .... ........ 1 6,000 Speed .................... ........ O ver 22 Knots Propulsion ..... ........................... T win Screws, Variable Pitch Powered by Six Diesel Engines Bow Thruster ...... ....... S ingle Speed, Variable Pitch, Located Forward Armament ........... ....... T wo 3-Inch, 50 Caliber Rapid Fire Twin Mounts Cargo Capacity ..... .............................. 2 ,000 Tons