Vancouver (LPD 2) - Naval Cruise Book

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free helicopter landing made by a CH-46 helicopter from HMM-164 piloted by Captain T. Sarles, USMC. On 1 August ,VANCOUVER departed San Diego for WESTPAC beginning an eight month deployment. After brief stops in Pearl Harbor and Buckner Bay, VAN- COUVER arrived off the coast of Tan My, South Vietnam early on 27 August. Here she offloaded a tanker monomooring buoy and HANDCLASP material which had been transported from San Diego. VANCOUVER arrived in Subic Bay on 29 August to relieve USS PAUL RE- VERE, and became part of Amphibious Ready Group BRAVO-Task Group 76.5. On 12 September VANCOUVER and the other ships of Ready Group Bravo con- ducted an amphibious feint landing as part of Operation Defiant Stand approxi- mately 30 miles south of Danang, in hope of confusing the enemy and forcing him to spread his forces thin. On 21 September, loading was completed of BLT 2f26 consisting of over 650 men and 890 tons of equipment. On 15 October VANCOU- VER participated in the Eighth Vietnamese Awards Ceremony, a highly complex demonstration conducted in honor of Prime Minister and Mrs. Tran Thien Khiem who viewed the demonstration from aboard, the USS NEW ORLEANS. On 20 October LBT 2! 26 was offloaded in Danang and the ship proceeded to Cua Viet, South Vietnam where BLT 1X4 was loaded. The battalion consisted of 720 officers and men and 730 tons of equipment, all being a part of President Nixon's 50,000 man troop withdrawal from Vietnam. BLT 1 X 4 was offloaded at Kin Red Beach, Okinawa, on 26 October. BLT 1X9 consisting of 660 men and 952 tons of equipment was loaded. VANCOUVER then proceeded to Subic Bay for upkeep. Prior to departing Subic on 14 November, VANCOUVER participated in a practice landing with BLT lf 9, she then headed for waters of the Danang area en- route to Manila, but was diverted to Subic Bay because of rough seas and bad weather arriving on 27 November. On 1 December another practice amphibious landing was conducted in Subic Bay with BLT 1X9 before the ships of Ready Group BRAVO departed for their third line period in the waters off Danang. As the sec- ond line period, this period was brief, and on 13 December, VANCOUVER, with the other ships of Ready Group BRAVO, departed Vietnamese waters for Hong Kong, arriving on 16 December for a six day R KL R visit. On 22 December VAN- COUVER departed Hong Kong for Buckner Bay, Okinawa where she spent Christ- mas. On 27 December she departed Okinawa and arrived off Danang on 31 Decem- ber beginning her fourth line period. On 5 January, in company with the ships of Ready Group BRAVO, she departed the Vietnam operation areas and proceeded to the Lyngayan Gulf, where memorial services were' held on January 12, in honor of the crew of the Amphibious Transport USS DUPAGE CAPA-412 which was lost as a result of a kamikaze attack in the closing days of World War II. A ceremonial wreath was placed in the water by the USS NEW ORLEANS, and a gun salute fired in honor of the 33 sailors who lost their lives. VANCOUVER steamed to Subic Bay arriving later that day for a shore upkeep period, followed by amphibious exercises off the Zambales operation. Following the exercise the ship proceeded to Okinawa, arriving off Ora Wan the morning of 23 January and offloaded BLT 1! 9. The following morning VANCOUVER headed for Subic Bay where 613 Marines and 978 tons of equipment from BLT 2X 9 were loaded, marking the beginning of Phase III of President Nixon's 50,000 man troop redeployment from Vietnam. The ship then went to Kaohsiung, Taiwan, for a 4 day R 8L R. VANCOUVER along with USS THOMASTON and USS WHITFIELD COUNTY, departed Kaohsiung on 17 February and returned to Subic Bay where BLT 2! 9 was offloaded and final preparations for the long cruise home were started. She soon departed Subic Bay and proceeded to Buckner Bay Okinawa where some 300 tons of ammunition were offloaded in the record time of 6 hours. VANCOUVER got underway on 7 March for Danang where 392 men of the Fifth Marine Expeditionary Brigade and 16, 500 tons of equipment were loaded into VAN- COUVER's vehicle stowage and well deck. The ship departed Danang that afternoon and returned to Buckner Bay on 14 March where Marine supplies and equipment were onloaded. That evening VANCOUVER started her 6,008 mile voyage to Del Mar to offload Marines and their cargo. On 27 March, VANCOUVER ended her eight month deployment when she returned home to San Diego.

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SHlP'S HISTORY USS VANCOUVERwas constructed by the New Y0I'k Naval Shipyard, Brooklyn, New York. The keel was laid on November 19, 1960 and officially christened VANCOUVER by her sponsor, Mrs.Stuart Symington, on May 11, 1963, marking her official entry onto the rolls ofthe Navy. VANCOUVER is named after the city of Vancouver, Washington, which in turn derived its name from the noted English explorer and sailor, Captain George Vancouver. Following completion of her fittingout, VANCOUVER left New York in July, 1963 and conducted trials and training on the East Coast before transiting the Pan- ama Canal on August 20, being the first ship of her class to report to the Pacific Fleet for duty. The primary mission of VANCOUVER is to participate in the execution of am- phibious operations including embarkation, transit to an objective area and an as- sault under combat conditions, employing the latest and most effective amphibious force doctrine. VANCOUVER can carry a combination of helicopters, landing craft, vehicles and troops. Her offensive capability rests primarily with the 200- foot flight deck from which assault troops can be rapidly dispatched, and her floodable well from which armored and conventional assault craft laden with troops, heavy weapons and support cargo can be sent to combat areas ashore. VANCOUVER is 521 feet long, 104 feet wide and displaces 15,500 tons fully loaded. It has 540 compartments and from keel to signal bridge is 10 decks high. In addition to a crew of 24 officers and 410 enlisted, the ship is designed to carry more than 900 combat-ready Marines, with all their associated equipment includ- ing tanks, trucks, jeeps, LVT's, various assault boat mixtures, ammunition and combat rations to support amphibious operations. Two General Electric steam turbines give heracrusing speed in excess of 20 knots. Twin screws and rudders give the ship a high degree of maneuverability comparable to that of a cruiser. Defensive capabilities are provided by eight 3 ! 50 caliber automatic dual purpose guns in twin mounts. Since arriving on the West Coast, VANCOUVER has deployed to the Western Pacific five times. In service with the Seventh Fleet and the Amphibious Ready Group, the ship has earned the Vietnamese Service Medal with six campaign starts, the Armed Forces Expeditionary and Vietnamese Campaign Medal, and the Meritorious Unit Commendation for her roll in Operation Deckhouse V, the largest amphibious undertakings since the Inchon, Korea landing in September 1950. VANCOUVER returned from her third major deployment to Vietnam and the Far East on September 28, 1968 and remained in San Diego until mid-November when she got underway for amphibious exercises in waters adjacent to Camp Pendleton, California. Following completion of the exercise VANCOUVER de- parted for San Francisco arriving on 22 November and hosted open house during her two day stay. VANCOUVER returned to San Diego and participated in her final amphibious training of the year in the Coronado Roads area from the 2nd to the 4th of December. VANCOUVER then returned to the Naval Station in San Diego where she spent the remainder of the year in advanced preparation for the upcoming re- pair and modernization . . On 3 February, VANCOUVER departed San Diego for San Francisco with 70 private vehicles and 30 dependents on board who lived at Hunter's Point Naval Shlpyard during the 2 1X2 months in San Francisco. On 6 February, VANCOUVER entered Triple A Machine Shop, Inc., San Francisco, where she .completed Phase I of her overhaul. The ship departed San Francisco on 17 April for a ,brief weekend in San Diego before entering Long Beach Naval Shlpyalid fOI' dI'yd0Cking and Phase II of her overhaul. Work was 311353952 99119 Sh1D.s hull and she left dry dock on 26 May to return to San Diego oo on aviation fuels that were oftloaded prior to overhaul. OH 6 June Captain Edward J. Brown USN relieved Captain John LaCava UENIL as ffgmfmarldine Officer, Uss VANCOUVER1 The ship then commenced four w e s o e resher Training conducted by the Fleet Trainin ' . . g Group San Diego completing her final battle problem on 3 July with an overall gradeyof EXCEL: I-'-ENT! OH 21 July the ship commencedaconcentrated five d ' d f A hib- . ay perio o mp wus Refresher Tfalnme- OH 22 July, VANCOUVER logged her a,oootn accident- -Q

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CAPTAIN EDWARD J. BROWN, USN Q Captain Brown, who was born in Brooklyn, New York, enlisted in the Navy' in May 1943. He attended the Navy Officers Candidate program at St. Lawrence Uni- versity in Canton, New York and was commissioned as Ensign in June 1945 from the Midshipman School at the University of Notre Dame. He served in the Pacific aboard USS APL-54 until July 1946,when he was released to inactive duty. Recalled to active duty shortly after the outbreak of the Korean conflict in 1950, Captain Brown served as Executive Officer of the Military Department in two Military Sea Transport Service troop transport ships, the General M.C. MEIGS and, the General D.E. AULTMAN. He served on the staff of the Com- mander, Military Sea Transport Service, Pacific Area until December 1952. Cap- tain Brown then attended the U.S. Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, Cali- fornia, where he studied meteorological engineering. Upon completion of his tour of duty at the school he served on the staff of Commander Amphibious Group FOUR in Norfolk. Captain Brownwas then assigned to the Pacific Fleet destroyer STEPHEN POTTER QDD-5385 as Operations Officer and then as Executive Officer. Captain Brown left Norfolk in 1958 for Guam, where he served at the Fleet Weather Central as senior analyst and forecaster and as a typhoon forecaster. His duty in Guam was followed by a tour as Executive Officer of the ammunition ship VESUVIUS QAE-151 from 1960 to 1963.Captain Brownthen, in succession, served as Commander Landing Ship Squadron TWO, Commander Landing Ship Division 41g and Commanding Officer of the Long Beach based destroyer HENDERSON QDD-7851. Captain Brown reported to VANCOUVER in June 1969 from a tour as Amphibious Placement Officer in the Bureau of Naval Personnel in Washington, D.C. Captain Brown is married to the former Diane Mansell of Long Beach, he, his wife and his three children--Dan Lee, Edward J r. and Karen--reside in San Diego. Captain Brown is presently in receipt of orders to the staff Commander Service Force, Pacific Fleet, located in Pearl Harbor, and in August 1970. 'expects tb be relieved