San Marcos (LSD 25) - Naval Cruise Book

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SECTIUN 1 3

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3. R ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Without the perseverence and work freely given of the below listed people this book would not have been possible. We gratefully ack nowledge their assistance and generous giving of their time. ADVISOR WPHO TOGRA PHER ARTISTS MAPS NARRA TIVE COVER DESIGN COPY ORGANIZA TION CRUISE BOOK COMMITTEE CDR. A. W. Weaver, USN Figueroa, RM2, USN Kett, USMC Thorpe, USMC Peckham, USN Peckham, USN Hall, USN Brokamp, USN CAPT. W. E. Lockridge, lr. ENS. I. T. Canane, USNR USMC

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THE Uss SAN MARCUS QLSD-25, A Short History if Ngo, The USS SAN MARCOS QLSD-251, named after Fort Castilla dc San Marcos, oldest masonry fort standing in the U. S., located in Texas, was the first Landing Ship Dock ever built along the Deleware River. The ship, the largest of the en- tire family of landing ships, is four-hundred-fifty-seven H571 feet in length. She is seventy-two 172, feet wide at the beam, and displaces over five thousand tons. She is almost a third longer than the LST's Qlanding ship tankj, next mem- ber in size, and is as large as some Navy Escort Aircraft Carriers. Launched on 10 january 1945, at the Philadelphia Navy Yard, the San Marcos was commissioned on 15 April 1945, d th d un er e comman of CommanderI.ys1e E. ELLIS, USN. Attached to the Pacific Fleet from April 1945 until December 1947, the San. Marcos performed many duties, in very many of the islands that were made famous during the last war. In 1945 she went to the Marshall Islands, Guam, the Caroline Islands, Okinawa, Saipan, Iwo lima and finally Iapan. In 1946 and most of '47 the Fightin Two-Bits participated in the Atomic Bomb testa at Bikini Atoll, and made the shuttle runs from Seattle, Washington to the Aleutians and Alaska. Finally on 12 December 1947, with the Navy reducing to peacetime strength, the San Marcos reported to the Com- mander, Pacific Reserve Fleet. At 1000 on 19 December, she was Decommissioned at San Dicgo, Califomia. When the gathering clouds of uncertainty throughout the world brought many of the US N avy vessels out of their re- tirement in late 1950, the San Marcos was one of the first LSD's to undergo reactivation. This was carried out at Mole Pier, San Diego, California, during December 1950 and january 1951. At last on January 26, 1951, the San Marcos WSS recommissioned under the command of Commander George M. PRICE, USN.