*****The Ships Launching and Commissioning
The Birth of LST 1159
*First
Cruise - September 1953 to February 1955
Cruise 1 Summary - East and west coast ports of call. Across the Pacific Ocean. Ports of call in Hawaii, the Philippines, Japan and China. Evacuation of French Troops from French Indo China(Vietnam) following the defeat of France by the Vietminh(Viet Cong). Evacuation of the Nationalist forces and civilians from the Taechen Islands in China. A burial at sea. Return to the United States.
*****Then and Now Photos
Cruise 2 Summary - First Navy Yard Overhaul. Across the
Pacific. Japanese ports of call. Pacific Island ports of
call. collision at Sea. Return to the USA. West coast ports of call.
Cruise 3 Summary - Training cruises across the Pacific.
Philippine ports of call. Nationist China port of call.
Back to the USA. Operations between Hawaii and the mainland
USA.
Cruise 4 Summary - Across the Pacific. Home port changed
from San Diego to Yokosuka, Japan. Navy dependants moved to
Japan. Training exercises with Marines in the Philippines
and Okinawa. First Marine fatality. Operations and ports of
call in Japan.
The Making of a Crew
*Second Cruise - April 1955 to May
1958
* Third Cruise - May 1958 to May
1960
*Fourth Cruise - June 1960 to
December 1962
*Fifth Cruise - January 1963 to
December 1965
Cruise 5 Summary - Various ports of call in China and Japan. Training exercises landing Marines and equipment in the Phlippines, and South Korea. An operational landing of Marines and their equipment in Thailand because of worsening conditions in Vietnam. Seventh Fleet participation in the Vietnam War.
*****Cruise 5 Bill Haack's Photo Album
*Sixth Cruise - January 1966 to
February 1969
Cruise 6 Summary - The most demanding and dangerous cruise of LST 1159. Combat beachings. Brown water service on the rivers of Vietnam. Heavy battle damage with crew deaths and many wounded.
*Seventh Cruise - February 1969 to
January 1972
Cruise 7 Summary - Riverine warfare training and support. Operations in the Mekong Delta. Transporting Marines, railroad rolling stock, a totem pole! Ports of call in Japan, thePhilippines, Micronesia. Home port changed to San Diego. Transporting dependents from Yokosuka to Tokyo. Crossing the Pacific for the last time. Training Spanish crew. Decommissioning.
*The Last Cruise - January 1972 to
December 1979
Cruise Summary - Vessel transferred to Spain. Name changed, number changed. Scrapped?
Summary - The beginning and end of "conventional" LSTs. The
new breed of amphibious assault vessels.
Well men, we have filled up our website. As a result I am moving the first and second reunion pages, the Magnificent Seven page, Bill Hacks Alphabetical listing and adding some other information that did not fit on our original web site. I have named this web page "Connections" because all of the information contained in it deals with connections that have been made since the original web page was developed. You can visit this page by clicking on the link shown here.
Click here to go to our Connections website