- USS Fort Marion (LSD-22)
USS "Fort Marion" (LSD-22) was a "Casa Grande"-class
dock landing ship of theUnited States Navy . She was named for the Castillo de San Marcos in St. Augustine,Florida , which had been calledFort Marion from 1821 till 1942. [USS "San Marcos" (LSD-25) was named for the same landmark, under its original name, which was restored in 1942.]USS "Fort Marion" (LSD-22)
"Fort Marion" was launched on
22 May 1945 byGulf Shipbuilding Corp. ,Chickasaw, Alabama , sponsored by Mrs. Louise S. Dodson; and commissioned on29 January 1946 , Commander H. A. Adams in command."Fort Marion" arrived at
San Diego herhome port ,26 May 1946 , and through the next three years repairedlanding craft , carried cargo and landing craft betweenSan Diego andSan Francisco , and took part in amphibious training exercises on theCalifornia coast. Between4 April and21 July 1949 , she made her first tour of duty in theFar East , calling inAlaska outward bound.Korean War
Upon the outbreak of the
Korean War , "Fort Marion" sailed for action12 July 1950 , and arrived atPusan withMarines and their equipment2 August . For the next month, she ferried troops fromKobe to Yokosuka for further routing onward toKorea . On12 September , at Pusan, "Fort Marion" embarked men of the 3rd Battalion, 5th Marines and three LSUs, carrying tentank s, for the invasion of Inchon. "Fort Marion" was theflagship of Captain Norman W. Sears' Advance Attack Group, which comprised "Fort Marion" and thefast transport s "Horace A. Bass", "Diachenko", and "Wantuck".cite web
url= http://www.history.navy.mil/books/field/ch7b.htm
title= Ch. 7, Pt. 2: 15 August – 21 September: North to Inchon
last= Field | first= James A., Jr.
date= 1962; Electronic edition, June 2000
work= History of United States Naval Operations: Korea
publisher= U.S.Naval Historical Center
accessdate= 2008-05-02 ]Shortly after midnight on the 15th,
destroyer s andcruiser s of the Gunfire Support Group enteredFlying Fish Channel and headed north, accompanied by the Advance Attack Group. "Fort Marion"'s Marines and tanks landed on Green Beach onWolmi-do starting at 06:33. The seizure of this strategically-placed island made possible the landings at 17:30 that afternoon by the rest of the 5th Marines and the 1st Marines. "Fort Marion" lay offInchon for the next month, receiving casualties and caring for small craft.From
25 October 1950 until23 November "Fort Marion" lay atWonsan for similar duty, as well as aiding in the withdrawal early in December. From29 December through March 1951, she carried troops fromJapan to Korea.In April, a special task organization, Task Force 74, was set up under Admiral
Roscoe H. Hillenkoetter , with the mission of interdictingNorth Korea 's east coast rail line by a commando raid. "Fort Marion", with 250 men of the BritishRoyal Marines '41 Commando battalion , and "Begor" (APD-127) with a UDT detachment, set sail for Sorye Dong, eight miles south ofSŏngjin , with a supporting force composed of "Saint Paul" (CA-73), two destroyers, and six minesweepers. The landing itself was the responsibility of Captain Philip W. Mothersill, commanding officer of "Fort Marion" and Commander Amphibious Group; Adm. Hillenkoetter controlled only the supporting ships. Despite fog and an unsuitable landing zone, the commandos blew up about 100 yards of railroad, and were then successfully reembarked, although they found that airstrikes byTask Force 77 had already made the railway inoperable. [cite web
url= http://www.history.navy.mil/books/field/ch10b.htm
title= Ch. 10, Pt. 2: March–April 1951: On to the Parallel
last= Field | first= James A., Jr.
date= 1962; Electronic edition, June 2000
work= History of United States Naval Operations: Korea
publisher= U.S.Naval Historical Center
accessdate= 2008-05-02 ] "Fort Marion" sailed from Yokosuka for home26 April 1951 .During her second Korean War deployment, from
16 April 1952 to14 January 1953 , "Fort Marion" operated with a mine squadron in Wonsan Harbor, acting as mother ship for the small ships as they carried out their dangerous operations. She also operated with an amphibiousconstruction battalion , and joined in a mock invasion on the coast north of Wonsan.1953 – 1960
Extensively overhauled in 1953, "Fort Marion" was equipped with a mezzanine deck and fitted to carry
helicopter s. She arrived at Sasebo7 December to resume duty as a minesweepertender , and during this tour of duty joined in amphibious exercises offOkinawa and Japan. Back in San Diego19 August 1954 , she sailed later that year to theHawaiian Islands for exercises, and in May 1955 took part inOperation Wigwam , the experimental detonation of an underwateratomic explosion .In 1956–57, 1958, and 1959, "Fort Marion" made additional deployments to the western Pacific, taking part in mine and amphibious warfare operations, and in the summer of 1958, joining in emergency operations to meet the threat posed by renewed Communist shelling of the Nationalist-held offshore islands. In September, serving with the Taiwan Patrol Force, she brought supplies to
Quemoy under Communist fire. "Fort Marion" spent much of 1960 in an extensive modernization overhaul which added many useful years to her expected span of service, and on22 November sailed for Far Eastern duty once more."Fort Marion" served in several
Vietnam War campaigns between 1965 and 1969."Fort Marion" was decommissioned on
13 February 1970 , and stricken from theNaval Register on31 October 1974 . The ship was sold to theRepublic of China on15 April 1977 .Awards
"Fort Marion" received five
battle star s forKorean War service and five campaign stars forVietnam War service.ROCS "Chen Hai" (LSD-192)
Ex-"Fort Marion" served in the
Republic of China Navy as ROCS "Chen Hai" (LSD-192). She was decommissioned in May 1999, and sunk to form anartificial reef on9 December 2000 .References
*DANFS
External links
*cite web
url= http://www.history.navy.mil/danfs/f4/fort_marion.htm
title= "Fort Marion"
first= | last=
date= | work= DANFS | publisher= U.S.Naval Historical Center
accessdate= 2008-05-02
*cite web
url= http://www.navsource.org/archives/10/12/1222.htm
title= LSD-22 "Fort Marion"
first= Gary P. | last= Priolo | date= 10 August 2007
work= Amphibious Photo Archive | publisher= NavSource Online
accessdate= 2008-05-02* [http://www.ussfortmarionlsd22.com/ USS "Fort Marion" veterans' website]
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