Schenectady (LST 1185) - Naval Cruise Book

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1 uss SCHENEC TAD Y ILST-1 1 851 Wes TPAC 86-87 . ' ' 3 Die o and headed west into the vast reaches ofthe Pacific. W On 23 AUQUST 1985 We Shpped Ouf mlosigpsjgnon EEL, Wegy to Hawaii, one in front of us and one behind. The result wa? Successfully tiptoed between two troplceiienced exceptionally good weather on the first leg of our journey. SVSU better than expecied as We exp ' ' H wail we headed out to sea for a week's training with elements of the 131 After fueung and Qetlmg SOTE giclgsiries ixhigh included helicopter operations, launching of our boats and underway Marine Amamlbwus Br'?j1?Sj'OUS jerjieiesgwas extremely beneficial both to the crew and our Marine Corps counterparts, ri' arine am I r - r - 5322 ciesrlncpletion of the training exercise we returned to Pearl Harbor, offloaded the Marine s eCiUlDme0T and f9l0aded the e uipment destined for Samoa and Japan- h 1 d h d d f th t- th QAS We departed HW on 8 Seplembe' We SE' 0525253'SSSEHTaElUZZULnZe?6520WeE,n2MEL. Sfixoiiiesflls 5223 on the again? of Selgpemnattgs vw?tsrr?33er?oih'?cre1slsed the line before had the opportunity to be initiated into the Floyal th t o our s i , - -- - Q2je?VgKirig Neptune and become trusty Shellbacks, instead of the lowly ppllywogs they once were. The initiation was followed by a cookout on the flight deck and a general daY Of ie'eU'eI23g3'I mba was Ieeted by Iam Squaus andlo After all the beautiful weather our arrival off Samoa onthe morningof IGP e II 9 d III , II I IW ' ' -- ' b r entrance. After landing a CB civic action detac ment an err I eavy cons ruction Vlslplmy, fheavi rang Sieriwhcfattgrbeb as enchanting and interesting as one might expect of a South Pacific island. Our ship iirizlsigfvnafnqiyxilsceivled and every crewmember was made to feel welcome by the very hospitable Samoan peopIle. On our final evening in Samoa the entire crew was invited as guests of the owner of one of the Exrge, old hotegi 'gojatravcgtjpiwjlgjast which included singing, dancing and a variety of food of such quality and quantity t at We Were Y ell during the previous 24 hours. With considerable regret we departed Samoa on the i8th of September and se: otir course north by northwest bound for Subic Bay, Republic of the Philippines. This leg of the journey was over 4,000 mi es ong and took almost two weeks. I , . . We stayed in Subic Bay 3 days, which allowed us to fuel the ship andpick up some needed supplies and mIail and to Ilpad marines and their equipment. We hadn't fueled the ship since Hawaiig how s that for gas mileage. Vie tdenvIse saimocg Okinawa, Japan to offload the Marine Corps equipment, then proceeded to Yokohama, Japan to o loa arines finally Yokosuka, Japan for a routine repair period. I I I I , , , The Japanese repair facilities lived up to their reputation for efficiencyand meticulousattention to detail, assiiting crew in bringing all ship's systems back to full operational condition. While in port the ship ran several tours enaasjrlgme crew to see other parts of Japan. Have you ever heard Mickey Mouse speak Japanese? Well one of Our TQUES W DI 0 III Tokyo Disneyland, and as you can imagine it was quite an experience. If you think the cost of living is high in an IIGQ AIS Big Mac, order of fries and a small Coke totaled about 36.50 U.S. We all received a new appreciation of the grea me served aboard SCHENECTADY. I I I , . . Upon departing Japan we headed south to load Marines and their equipment for participation in a major amphlblgss exercise conducted in the vicinity of the Philippines. We exercised virtually all assault systems throughout the gen III! period including no fewer than eight underway launches of Marine amphibious vehicles from the tank deck, be8C '09 III ship for a major offload over the bow ramp, helo ops round the clock, underway replenishment and formation stIeimICg evolutions. The crew and equipment performed magnificently resulting in the ship being singIled out by the Tas ized Commander as doing a particularly fine job. A short port call in Subic Bay following the exercise, provided a well Gel rest from the 18-20 hour days we had just experienced. During November we made two trips to lnchon, Korea to participate in the amphibious lift of USMC equipment and troops. The weather was the coldest we had encountered during the deployment and met with mixed reactions by the crew. Even th h t ' ' oug ransiting the locks into lnchon was time consuming and exacting, Korea proved to be a shopp9f'S Pegedigf with many crewmembers taking advantage of the excellent bargains which were available in lnchon and nearbi' G0 ' The day before Thanksgiving we set our course south for a 6000 nautical mile tri to th S I l I ds culminating in 3 p e o omon s an I We three day port visit in Guadalcanal, where we backloaded a CB disaster relief team and their construction equlpmeflt- trans't d Th ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' i e e Slot in both directions and our appointed cruise historian provided numerous insights to the crew viaI:IlE announcing system as we proceeded through these famous waters which are rich in naval lore and legend We were W8 received by the Solomon Islanders who were delighted to see the U.S. Navy presence after an absence of almost forty years. Our visit to Hong Kong during the holiday season was unequivocally one of the major highlights of our cruise. The city was transform d ' t f ' ' ' ' e in o a antasy land of Christmas lights and decorations which significantly enhanced our holidaY SP'mf' Hong Kong has very limited pier space for military vessels, so normally visiting ships must moor to a buoy and take liber?II' launches back and forth to the ship, however our timing was just right as we were the only U.S. Navy ship inpOfl efld ha the distinction of moorin t HMS ' ' ' ' d g o TAMAR, the British Naval pier in the heart of Honq Kong Our stay was characterized bl' goo th ' wea er, interesting tours, exceptional dining facilities and an opportunity to enjoynsome of the best liberli' in the Western Pacific. New Years felled US in The Philippines where we were QettinQ some work done on the ship to ensure she remained in NP' top condition We departed th Ph'l' ' . ' , 9 ' 'Dplnes and proceeded toward Japan. with an upkeep scheduled' for YokOSUka Whiciz did such great work for us during the month of October. We had one more stop in Korea, this time Pusan, and theft 3 C099 of brief stops to load equipment bound for the St t ' i Q I II I a es. We finally set our course etisl for the long voyage mme- bfgjf gopping in Hawaii to embark our tigers who accompanied us on the final leg of our journey to Americas finest city - lego.

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COMMAND NG 0 FIC R VV f 'ETTTQ' Commander Leon F. Mahoney Commander Mahoney graduated from Seattle University in 1969 with a degree in Political Science. l-ie earned HIS commission from Officer Candidate School in Newport, Rhode Island the same year . . . ' . . TY Following his commissioning, he served as Combat Information Officer in the commissioning crew of USS KANSAS Cl QAOR-15. From 1971 to 1972 he was assigned to the Naval Advisory Group in the Republic of Vietnam, serving in the Vung Tau and Camau areas f ' S o operation. After completing his in country tour, then LTtJGl Mahoney reported to USS MYLE C. FOX DD-829 ' ' S Q J as First Lieutenant. ln 1973, he attended Naval Destroyer School and subsequently reported to Us - l MEYERKORD QFF-10581 as Weapons Officer, the first ship of a split department head tour. In between his depaftmen head tours Commander Mahon , ey was a Combat Systems instructor at Surface Warfare Officers' School fBasicl, lf' Coronado, Californi . I 19 a n 79 he returned to sea duty aboard USS DENVER QLPO-95 as Operations Officer and OvQfh?::l Manager and completed his second department head tour. Commander Mahoney assumed duties as Executive Ofgfge he USS MOUNT VERNON QLSD-391 in August, 1981. Upon completion of his Executive Officer tour in JanuarY- 19 ' reported to Commander Am h'b' ' ' ' ' p i ious Group THREE in San Diego, California as Flag Secretary. ,,V,, UWU Commander Mahoney's awards and decorations include the Navy Commendation Medal with the Combat Sof awardsi, the Navy Achievement Medal, Meritorious Unit Commendation, Navy Unit Commendation, Vietnamese CYOS Gallantry, and the Republic of Vietnam Cam ai M p gn edal. T meroi Commander Mahoney is originally from Lowell, Massachusetts and is married to the former Pamela JHH9 U Muncie, Indiana. They have three daughters, Erica, Jessica, and Re beccat The faintly resides in San Die9O-