Rushmore (LSD 14) - Naval Cruise Book

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Keeping the Peace, said our Commander in Chief, is a lonely vigil. Nowhere is this more true than on the A Naval ship. Away from home and family for long periods, the bluejacket lives a life that is neither understood nor appreciated by the average civilian. Yet in spite of this, the Navy man goes about his job in a routine ion, but realizing deep inside that he is contributing to the preservation of liberty. Again this year, Rushmore deployed to the Mediterranean to carry out American policy in that ing the four months overseas, the men aboard have stood some long watches, have worked hard to a dirty result of the shipyard. But also we have had some fine times, both on the beach and oh ,xt we f A naval ship is more than just a hunk of hardware with warm bodies aboard. lt is the i.,.ig4.g9fgSgrrany varied officers and men. Each has contributed in some way to the ship and her book we have captured an image, however small, of the best of the Amphibs: the Nw 'QW lr is ,, , ,, .1 f-eff' f 1 swf: ...Q .1 I ,Q 1 .A 3 fu ,' Kg, , ,MV ,,, , , ,.... f ...vga -r5...,,. 'M 'X ,fs v I :f 'f '1i ' X1 gg' 7 f 1-J' fflffe' 4' f is ' f' f 5' , fl 4? +',,a,, ff , g , I.. .. ' ' L.. gd' M M Q s 45. ff iff ' 'YA . ,, , , i ,M 4 ri 5 4' j 'Q ' ! ' f rv . I ,,' ggfnlflfw , , ' f ff f i If ' -- ,,,L, f I, 'bf H ff, A., ,-.nv ,-. , . 1 c. ' 1, ,dpafgtg J Ja. g,ff 2.59, ,i 5,4 if . if if 0 2 ,M wevfy, '4 .1 f ' qv ,Y . ','5,g'1, ,Q 1 tiff 4 ' Lai ff . s.,' - c 2 A e f ' ff? 3 K 'f 'S - 1 Mya , ,, I ff' 5 4 ffft ,fi -5-ew f4rj, , 1 I 5,1 f' Q We I4 :i?f: jl' ' ' if L i ' uv v-4-inf 1 .fn ,V fffiffg li USS -i RUSHMQRE MEDITERRANEAN CRUISE ' A FEBRUARY-5 JUNE 1963

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History of the USS Rushmore CLSD-145 ln the eighteen and one half years since her orig- inal commissioning, RUSHMORE has lived three dis- tinct lives: Two active, combat-distinguished war- time years in the thick of things in the Pacific: four and one half quiet, out-of-commission years in Pas- cagoula, Mississippi: and the most recent eleven and one half years operating the Atlantic. The letters LSD in the ship's title represent landing ship dock . Born of wartime necessity, this new type was designed as a combination dock and landing craft carrier. She is 458 feet long, 72 feet wide and has a speed of 14 knots and displaces from 4500 to 8000 tons, depending on her load. The really unique feature of this type is the 394 foot- long well, which carries her main cargo. By flood- ing her ample ballasting tanks with sea water, or emptying them, the LSD may be lowered or raised in the water so that the well deck varies from dry to a depth of ten feet of water. From this feature stems the primary mission of the LSD: rapid delivery off an enemy beach of a large number of combat-loaded . lf landing craft. f LSDs are named after historic sites in America. RUSHMORE is named for the Mount Rushmore Me- ry... morial in the Black Hills ti of South Dakota, where a giant sculpture in moun- tainside stone commemo- rates four of our greatest Presidents: Washington, Jefferson, Lincoln and The- odore Roosevelt. Under wartime pres- sures, RUSHMORE was built in six months in New- port News, Va., by the New- port News Shipbuilding and Drydock Company. Her keel was laid on 31 December 1943: launching was on 10 May 1944: and on 3 July 1944 RUSHMORE was commissioned. An interesting sidelight of Rushmore's building is that she was originally intended for the British. All original plans and blueprints still carry her ex- pected name, HMS SWORD. Beginning a scant three months after commis- sioning, RUSHMORE performed distinguished com- bat service in the last year of the war in the Pacific, which culminated in the surrender of Japan. She participated in four amphibious landings: Leyte in October 1944: Palawan in February 1945: Mindanao in March 1945: and Tarakan, Borneo in April-May 1945. For these she earned three battle stars on K A Our Proud Motto her Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal. Among RUSHMORE'S many and varied wartime experiences, some are especially interesting and memorable. For her fine work at Leyte and Lingayen in the Philippines, she receievd two letters of com- mendation. She steamed a total of 70,000 miles in her wartime life, crossing the equator ten times and the 180th meridian six times. For the Borneo land- ing, RUSHMORE carried Australian troops of the famed Rats of Tobruk Battalion which helped chase Rommel out of Africa. The ship carried every manner of cargo, of which perhaps the most unu- sual of her career was a 137 foot long Japanese submarine, transported from Samar, Philippine ls- lands to San Francisco. ln late 1945, in the wake of the war, RUSHMORE earned the Navy Occupation Service Medal with Asia clasp for operations in occupied Japanese waters. The American Campaign Medal and World War ll Victory Medal complete the total of four ribbons she . now displays on her bridge. Next came decommis- sioning in August 1946, and mothballing in Pasca- goula, Miss., the beginning of four and one half years of the silent waiting for which the reserve fleet was intended. The Korean War brought on the third and present phase of the RUSHMORE life, with recommissioning in Charleston, S. C. on 21 September 1950. The en- suing eleven and one half years, busy ones spent ranging the Atlantic, have seen the ship log another 162,000 miles to add to the 70,000 of World War ll. About half the ship's time has been spent at sea during this period. Caribbean exercises, Reserve cruises, Mediterranean deployment, and Arctic trips for resupply of the Dew line bases, sum up the story of these years The ship's hull has been ice-strength- ened for these Arctic trips and of all the fleet ships, none but icebreakers can match the RUSHMORE'S six consecutive summers of Arctic experience. Her last two years have been spent operating in the Mediterranean and Caribbean areas. This past spring she took part in Operation Demo- lex which was viewed by President Kennedy and Op- eration PHIBEX in Vieques. The past summer was spent in Hoboken, N. J. in the Bethlehem Steel Ship- yard undergoing a so-called FRAM overhaul.