- USS Colonial (LSD-18)
USS "Colonial" (LSD-18) was a "Casa Grande"-class
dock landing ship of theUnited States Navy , named in honor of theColonial National Historical Park , which comprises Jamestown, Williamsburg, and Yorktown in southeasternVirginia ."Colonial" was launched on
28 February 1945 byNewport News Shipbuilding and Drydock Co. ,Newport News, Va. , sponsored by Mrs. L. L. Dean; and commissioned on15 May 1945 , Lieutenant Commander J. A. Paterson, USNR, in command.1945 – 1952
"Colonial" cleared Norfolk on
26 July 1945 for thePanama Canal , San Francisco andPearl Harbor , arriving5 September . Between11 September and26 December , she had duty ferryinglanding craft among the Pacific Islands and toOkinawa . She sailed from Pearl Harbor29 December for the Panama Canal and Norfolk, arriving23 January 1946 ."Colonial" participated in amphibious training out of Norfolk, conducting local, east coast, and
Caribbean operations, and voyaging fromCuba andPuerto Rico as far north as Newfoundland until15 August 1950 , when she cleared Norfolk for Far Eastern duty. Calling at San Diego en route toKobe , "Colonial" landed men andtank s of the 1st Marine Division at Inchon in September, and troops and equipment atWonsan and Iwon in December. "Colonial" was one of the last ships to leaveHungnam in the evacuation of that area. She acted as "mother ship" for minesweepers on theKorea n east coast for a month during this tour, returning to San Diego, her newhome port ,27 August 1951 . Here she was overhauled and had underway training before returning toJapan and Korea for duty from17 January to4 November 1952 . During this tour she supported minesweepers working in Wonsan Harbor, and took part in amphibious training.1953 – 1970
From the close of the
Korean War into 1960, "Colonial" continued to alternate local operations and training out of San Diego with periodic deployments to the Far East. She transported Marines to Korea from5 August to9 September 1953 , returning to the western Pacific in October for a tour which ended in July 1954. After aiding in the development of thevertical envelopment concept ofamphibious assault employinghelicopter s, she returned to the Orient early in 1955 for a tour of duty which included participation in the evacuation of theTachen Islands .In the summer of 1956, "Colonial" served as a floating laboratory in experiments with
balloon -launchedrocket s (rockoon s). TheNaval Research Laboratory 'sOperation San Diego High had the objective of studyingx-ray s and Lyman-alpha UV radiation produced in the upper atmosphere bysolar flare s. For ten days in July, from a location 350 miles southeast of San Diego, each morning a balloon carrying an instrumented Deacon rocket was launched from the helicopter deck of "Colonial". Thedestroyer "Perkins" (DD-877) would pursue the balloon as it drifted downwind.
Observatories watching thesun fromNew Mexico ,Tokyo ,San Francisco , andMexico City would notify the scientists aboard "Colonial" as soon as a flare was observed. They in turn would signal "Perkins" to launch the rocket — through the balloon — up to theionosphere . The operation had extensive coverage in the April 1957 issue of the "National Geographic Magazine ", with a journalist and a photographer on the ship. cite web
url= http://stratocat.com.ar/bases/15e.htm
title= USS Colonial (LSD-18)
author= |last= |first= |authorlink= |coauthors=
date= 25-Jan-2008 |work= |publisher= Stratocat.com.ar
accessdate= 2008-04-18 ]"Colonial" returned to the Far East in 1957. On
30 May she went to the rescue of a grounded Chinesefreighter . On her 1958–59 deployment, she provided repair parts and skilled hands for the American merchant tanker "Wang Bucaneer", disabled at sea in January."Colonial" served in several campaigns in the
Vietnam War between 1965 and 1968."Colonial" was decommissioned in 1970 at the Inactive Ship Maintenance Facility,
Vallejo, California , and laid up in thePacific Reserve Fleet ,Mare Island .She was struck from theNaval Register on15 October 1976 , and transferred to theMaritime Administration (MARAD),29 July 1992 .The ship was sold for scrapping on8 September 1993 , for $353,725, to California Imports and Exports and towed toShanghai ,China for scrapping.Awards
"Colonial" received seven
battle star s forKorean War service and six campaign stars forVietnam War service.References
*DANFS
External links
*cite web
url= http://www.history.navy.mil/danfs/c11/colonial.htm
title= "Colonial"
first= | last=
date= | work= DANFS | publisher= U.S.Naval Historical Center
accessdate= 2008-04-18
*cite web
url= http://www.navsource.org/archives/10/12/1218.htm
title= LSD-18 "Colonial"
first= Gary P. | last= Priolo | date= 28 July 2006
work= Amphibious Photo Archive | publisher= NavSource Online
accessdate= 2008-04-18*cite web
url= http://www.usscolonial.org/index.html
title= U.S.S. Colonial LSD 18
publisher= USS Colonial Association
accessdate= 2008-04-18
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