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USS Fort Snelling (LSD 30)

Named after the fort at the confluence of the Minnesota and Mississippi Rivers - for many years the northernmost military post in the land of the Sioux and Chippewa -, the USS FORT SNELLING was the third THOMASTON - class dock landing ship and the second ship in the Navy to bear the name. The first ship named FORT SNELLING was LSD 23 but this ship's construction was cancelled on August 17, 1945. Decommissioned on September 5, 1984, the FORT SNELLING was stricken from the Navy list on February 24, 1992. On August 25, 1995, the ship was finally sold for scrapping to Peck Recycling, Richmond, Va.

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Crew List:

This section contains the names of sailors who served aboard USS FORT SNELLING. It is no official listing but contains the names of sailors who submitted their information.

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• Click here to see which USS FORT SNELLING memorabilia are currently for sale on ebay.

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USS FORT SNELLING Cruise Books:

• Final Cruise Book 1983-84

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Accidents aboard USS FORT SNELLING:

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USS FORT SNELLING History:

The contract for USS FORT SNELLING was awarded on February 28, 1952. Her keel was laid at Ingalls Shipbuilding Corporation in Pascagoula, Mississippi, on August 17, 1953, and she was launched on July 16, 1954, sponsored by Mrs. Robert F. Briscoe, wife of Vice Admiral Robert P. Briscoe. After fitting out and trials, FORT SNELLING was commissioned on January 24, 1955, with Commander Harry Marvin-Smith in command. Assigned to the Atlantic Fleet and homeported at Norfolk, Virginia, she entered service at a time when the Navy was placing increasing emphasis on rapidly deployable amphibious forces capable of moving Marine units, vehicles, landing craft and heavy equipment into crisis areas.

Following commissioning, FORT SNELLING spent much of 1955 in the normal sequence of shakedown, amphibious training and fleet exercises along the U.S. East Coast and in the Caribbean. She made her first deployment to the Mediterranean in 1956 for operations with the Sixth Fleet. The deployment became considerably more significant when the Suez Crisis erupted after Israel invaded Egypt on October 29, followed by British and French military intervention. With normal commercial transportation disrupted and foreign civilians caught in the conflict area, Sixth Fleet amphibious ships were assigned to evacuation duties. FORT SNELLING formed part of Task Group 61.4 together with USS CHILTON (APA 38) and USS THUBAN (AKA 19). The group entered Alexandria, Egypt, on the night of October 31. On November 1, American personnel established an evacuation center on the waterfront while British and French aircraft were conducting attacks against nearby Egyptian military targets. Despite the unstable situation, civilians were processed and embarked, and when the ships departed Alexandria on November 2 they were carrying approximately 1,500 evacuees. After the crisis, the ship resumed normal Sixth Fleet duties before returning to the United States.

FORT SNELLING returned to the Mediterranean in 1957 and again deployed with the Sixth Fleet in 1958. During the latter deployment, a political crisis in Lebanon developed into an armed American intervention, Operation BLUE BAT, after Lebanese President Camille Chamoun requested Western assistance amid internal unrest and regional instability following the July 14 revolution in Iraq. FORT SNELLING was steaming toward Rhodes when, on July 14, 1958, she received orders to proceed to Lebanon. The first Marines began landing near Beirut on July 15, while FORT SNELLING, assigned in support of Battalion Landing Team 3/6, arrived off the Lebanese coast at about 8:00 p.m. that evening. Underwater Demolition Team personnel immediately went ashore to examine the landing area. During the early hours of July 16, an LCU carrying shore-party equipment worked its way across a sandbar to Red Beach, and later that day FORT SNELLING off-loaded landing craft and heavy equipment. Five tanks belonging to BLT 3/6 were transferred from the ship to an LCU and carried ashore. USS PLYMOUTH ROCK (LSD 29) was also among the amphibious ships supporting the landings. FORT SNELLING subsequently returned to the Lebanese coast several times during the deployment to provide continuing logistical and amphibious support to the Marines ashore before the American force was gradually withdrawn as the political situation stabilized.

During the following years, FORT SNELLING resumed the cycle of amphibious exercises, Marine embarkations and readiness operations along the Atlantic seaboard and throughout the Caribbean. She also continued to make overseas deployments and port visits. On February 28, 1962, for example, she was recorded at Rapallo near Genoa, Italy. Later that year, the Cuban Missile Crisis placed the Atlantic Fleet on a greatly increased state of readiness. After the discovery of Soviet medium- and intermediate-range ballistic missiles in Cuba, President John F. Kennedy announced a naval quarantine of the island. FORT SNELLING operated in the designated Cuban operational area from October 24 through December 6, 1962, and was subsequently credited with participation in the quarantine. Her involvement was part of the large amphibious force kept ready in case the confrontation escalated beyond the maritime quarantine.

A very different mission followed the loss of USS THRESHER (SSN 593) on April 10, 1963. The nuclear-powered attack submarine sank approximately 220 miles east of Cape Cod during deep-diving trials, killing all 129 people aboard. The Navy mounted an extensive deep-ocean search to determine where the submarine had come to rest and, if possible, establish what had happened. FORT SNELLING was assigned as a command and support ship for the bathyscaphe TRIESTE. Together with the salvage ship USS PRESERVER (ARS 8), which served as tow ship, FORT SNELLING supported the deep-diving operations in the search area. TRIESTE began a series of dives during the summer of 1963, photographing scattered wreckage and recovering pieces from the sea floor at depths of roughly 8,400 feet. FORT SNELLING's spacious well deck and support facilities made her particularly suitable for this unusual mission, which continued until deteriorating North Atlantic weather brought the initial search season to an end in the fall.

The political crisis in the Dominican Republic brought FORT SNELLING into another contingency operation in April 1965. An armed revolt had developed into fighting in Santo Domingo, and the United States initially deployed naval and Marine forces to evacuate civilians before committing larger forces under Operation POWER PACK. FORT SNELLING operated with an amphibious force that included USS BOXER (LPH 4), USS RALEIGH (LPD 1), USS RANKIN (AKA 103), USS WOOD COUNTY (LST 1178), USS RUCHAMKIN (APD 89) and USS YANCEY (AKA 93). By April 27, the naval force had evacuated more than 4,300 people, including approximately 2,700 U.S. citizens. As the situation deteriorated, Marines were put ashore and were subsequently reinforced by U.S. Army units. FORT SNELLING and the other amphibious ships provided transportation, landing craft, logistical support and accommodation for the force. Her service during the most intensive phase of the intervention, from April 26 through April 30, formed part of the operations for which participating naval units received a Navy Unit Commendation. American forces remained involved in the Dominican Republic into 1966, and photographs taken in mid-September 1966 show FORT SNELLING with her well deck and flight deck filled with U.S. Army vehicles during the concluding phase of POWER PACK-related operations.

Early in 1966, FORT SNELLING was also assigned an important role in one of the most unusual recovery operations of the Cold War. On January 17, a U.S. Air Force B-52 carrying nuclear weapons collided with a KC-135 tanker during aerial refueling near Palomares, Spain. Three weapons fell on land, while a fourth entered the Mediterranean. A large naval search operation was organized to locate and recover the missing weapon. USS PLYMOUTH ROCK transported the deep-submergence vehicles ALUMINAUT and ALVIN into the operational area, while FORT SNELLING was designated as their principal support ship. To make her well deck available, her normal amphibious load was transferred to USS PLYMOUTH ROCK. The submersibles arrived in the area on February 10, but strong mistral winds and heavy seas complicated preparations. By February 12, both ALVIN and ALUMINAUT had been docked aboard FORT SNELLING, and after the weather improved they began diving on February 14. From the ship's flooded well deck they could be launched, recovered, serviced and prepared for subsequent dives. The search continued for weeks over difficult underwater terrain before the bomb was eventually located and recovered in April.

Later in 1966, FORT SNELLING participated in another operation far removed from conventional amphibious warfare. On November 3, 1966, the U.S. Air Force launched the only flight test associated with its Manned Orbiting Laboratory program from Cape Canaveral. The mission used a Titan IIIC carrying a MOL mock-up and a modified Gemini-B capsule fitted with a hatch through its heat shield. FORT SNELLING was positioned in the South Atlantic as one of the secondary recovery ships supporting the flight near Ascension Island. The Gemini-B capsule completed its suborbital trajectory and splashed down in the recovery area, where it was recovered by USS LA SALLE (LPD 3). FORT SNELLING's participation occurred on November 3, 1966.

FORT SNELLING remained heavily involved in Caribbean amphibious readiness duties during the later 1960s. In 1968, she served with the Carib 1-68 Caribbean Ready Group, which had been deployed from Norfolk since March. Commanded by Commander Amphibious Squadron Four, the group was intended to maintain a visible U.S. naval presence, conduct training and remain available to protect or evacuate U.S. citizens during regional crises. The formation included USS RANKIN, FORT SNELLING, USS BOXER, USS GRAHAM COUNTY (LST 1176) and USS KIRWIN (APD 90).

In May 1969, FORT SNELLING participated in DTC Test 69-10, one of the tests subsequently associated with Project SHAD, at Vieques, Puerto Rico. The purpose of the trial was to evaluate the operational effects that a persistent chemical-agent attack might have on an amphibious force during a landing. The substance released was not VX nerve agent itself but trioctyl phosphate, also known as tri(2-ethylhexyl) phosphate or TEHP, which was used as a simulant. Marine A-4 aircraft fitted with Aero 14B spray equipment first conducted trials against Marine landing forces and then sprayed FORT SNELLING while the ship simulated the off-loading phase of an amphibious assault. Investigators evaluated contamination of personnel, the ship and equipment as well as the ability of personnel wearing protective equipment to continue operating. The episode remained largely unknown publicly until information concerning the SHAD program was declassified decades later.

During the early 1970s, FORT SNELLING continued the less conspicuous but constant cycle of Atlantic Fleet amphibious training, Caribbean exercises, overseas deployments, maintenance periods and Marine embarkations that characterized most of her service. Documentary photographs place her at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, on February 20 and 21, 1971, and record a visit to Newcastle upon Tyne, England, in 1972. These deployments occurred against the broader Cold War background in which Atlantic Fleet amphibious units routinely trained both in the Caribbean and with NATO forces in European waters.

FORT SNELLING was among the U.S. Navy ships selected to participate in the International Naval Review at New York on July 4, 1976, one of the major maritime events held in connection with the United States Bicentennial. Later that year, she returned to the Mediterranean. During the 1976-77 deployment, the ship conducted the usual combination of Sixth Fleet amphibious operations, NATO training and port visits. She was at Genoa, Italy, on March 5, 1977. From March 19 through March 25, she participated in Exercise National Week XXII as part of the Blue Force amphibious group together with USS GUAM (LPH 9), USS MOUNT BAKER (AE 34), USS HARLAN COUNTY (LST 1196), USS JESSE L. BROWN (FF 1089) and USS VALDEZ (FF 1096). The exercise was followed by a post-exercise critique at Augusta Bay, Sicily, on March 26. FORT SNELLING was subsequently photographed at Barcelona, Spain, on April 6, moored with USS EL PASO (LKA 117).

On April 3, 1978, FORT SNELLING was involved in a serious collision in the Mediterranean north of Corsica. She was conducting an underway replenishment with USNS WACCAMAW (T-AO 109) when the oiler suffered a steering-control failure. The two ships collided and both sustained structural damage. The damage did not prevent either vessel from remaining under way, and both proceeded to Naples, Italy, under their own power for repairs. FORT SNELLING subsequently returned to the Atlantic Fleet's normal training and deployment cycle.

By the beginning of the 1980s, the ship was approaching three decades of service but remained operational as part of the Atlantic amphibious force. On October 7, 1981, she was at Puerto Cortes, Honduras, as U.S. and Honduran forces began Exercise Eagle View 81. The three-day search-and-interdiction exercise involved U.S. ships and aircraft together with Honduran patrol craft and aircraft and was conducted during a period of increasing tension in Central America, particularly over allegations that weapons were being moved through the region to insurgent groups. The naval exercise was coordinated from FORT SNELLING.

Another accident occurred on February 2, 1982, while FORT SNELLING was crossing the Atlantic en route to Portsmouth, England. During a towing exercise, she collided with USS PONCE (LPD 15). The collision caused relatively minor damage, principally to USS PONCE's port-side accommodation ladder and flight-deck catwalk, and did not prevent the ships from continuing their operations.

FORT SNELLING began one of the most operationally significant deployments of her later career on August 23, 1982, when Mediterranean Amphibious Ready Group 3-82 deployed from the United States. Amphibious Squadron Six consisted of USS INCHON (LPH 12), USS SHREVEPORT (LPD 12), FORT SNELLING, USS SUMTER (LST 1181) and USS LA MOURE COUNTY (LST 1194), carrying the 24th Marine Amphibious Unit. During the first 42 days of the deployment, the group steamed more than 9,000 miles and took part in the large NATO exercises Northern Wedding, Bold Guard and Display Determination. These exercises took the force into northern European and Mediterranean waters and were intended to test NATO reinforcement, amphibious and combined-force procedures during a period of renewed Cold War tension.

The amphibious group subsequently proceeded to the eastern Mediterranean, where the situation in Lebanon had deteriorated following the Israeli invasion of June 1982, the siege of Beirut and the deployment of an international peacekeeping force. The 24th MAU assumed duties as the U.S. Marine component of the Multinational Force in Beirut on November 3, 1982. FORT SNELLING and the other amphibious ships remained offshore as the sea-based logistical, transportation and command-support element for the Marines. The 24th MAU remained assigned to the mission until February 15, 1983, when it was relieved. FORT SNELLING and the remainder of MARG 3-82 then began the return passage, completing the deployment on March 9, 1983.

Only a few months later, FORT SNELLING began what became her final overseas deployment. On October 19, 1983, Mediterranean Amphibious Ready Group 1-84 departed with the 22nd Marine Amphibious Unit embarked. Amphibious Squadron Four consisted of USS GUAM, USS TRENTON (LPD 14), FORT SNELLING, USS MANITOWOC (LST 1180) and USS BARNSTABLE COUNTY (LST 1197). The ships had originally been bound for the Mediterranean, but on October 21 they were diverted toward the Caribbean as the political situation on Grenada rapidly deteriorated following a coup and the killing of Prime Minister Maurice Bishop.

The amphibious force was committed to Operation URGENT FURY, which began on October 25, 1983. The stated missions assigned to the joint force included evacuating U.S. citizens, overcoming armed resistance and stabilizing the situation on the island. Less than two days before the operation began, the ships' commanding officers were informed of the mission, leaving little time for detailed preparation. Before H-hour, six members of SEAL Team Four departed FORT SNELLING in a SeaFox craft to reconnoiter a proposed landing beach on Grenada's eastern coast. Their reconnaissance showed that the site was unsuitable for the planned amphibious landing, contributing to the decision to insert Marines by helicopter instead. Later on October 25, FORT SNELLING and USS MANITOWOC shifted to the western side of Grenada. Amphibious craft established a beachhead in the Grand Mal Bay area, after which vehicles and heavy equipment carried by FORT SNELLING could be landed. The ships remained involved in the operation until the amphibious group departed the Grenada area by November 4 and resumed its original passage toward the Mediterranean.

The force arrived in the eastern Mediterranean during an increasingly dangerous phase of the Lebanon deployment. On October 23, shortly after FORT SNELLING had been diverted to Grenada, suicide bombers had destroyed the U.S. Marine barracks at Beirut International Airport and the French paratrooper headquarters, causing very heavy casualties. When the amphibious group reached the region, its embarked 22nd MAU became the next U.S. Marine rotation assigned to the Multinational Force and formally assumed the mission ashore on November 29. FORT SNELLING consequently spent much of her final deployment operating off Lebanon and supporting the Marines.

On November 23, 1983, shortly before dawn and approximately 35 miles southwest of Beirut, FORT SNELLING was receiving supplies from USS SYLVANIA (AFS 2) when the Lebanese-registered merchant vessel DIANA D., which was carrying a cargo of lumber toward Beirut, collided with the dock landing ship. DIANA D. subsequently sank. All five members of the merchant ship's crew were rescued and taken aboard USS SYLVANIA, where they were treated for relatively minor injuries. No U.S. Navy personnel aboard FORT SNELLING were injured. Contemporary Navy reporting characterized the damage to FORT SNELLING as superficial.

Conditions in Lebanon continued to worsen during the winter of 1983-84. The U.S. government eventually decided to withdraw the Marine force from its positions at Beirut International Airport and return it to the amphibious ships offshore. Before that withdrawal was completed, a major noncombatant evacuation became necessary. On February 10 and 11, 1984, nearly 1,000 U.S. and other foreign civilians were evacuated from the Jounieh area north of Beirut. Most were transported by helicopter to Cyprus, while a portion embarked aboard FORT SNELLING and was carried by sea to Cyprus. The evacuation formed part of the broader reduction of the American presence in Lebanon and later resulted in FORT SNELLING being credited with the Humanitarian Service Medal for the Beirut evacuation.

The phased withdrawal of the Marine contingent from positions ashore to the amphibious ships had been announced on February 7 and was conducted between February 18 and February 26, 1984. FORT SNELLING remained with the amphibious force off Lebanon while the Marines shifted from their exposed shore positions to the ships. The move effectively ended the permanent U.S. Marine ground presence at Beirut International Airport, although U.S. naval forces remained in the eastern Mediterranean. FORT SNELLING continued with Amphibious Ready Group 1-84 until the force completed its extended deployment on May 2, 1984.

After returning to the United States, FORT SNELLING had only a short period of active service remaining. Commander Richard J. McCarthy, who had assumed command on March 19 during the final deployment, became the ship's last commanding officer. After almost 30 years of service, USS FORT SNELLING was decommissioned on September 5, 1984. Following decommissioning, FORT SNELLING remained in inactive status. Custody of the ship was transferred to the Maritime Administration on September 7, 1989, and she was laid up in the National Defense Reserve Fleet at the James River anchorage in Virginia. Her name was formally struck from the Naval Vessel Register on February 24, 1992. She was temporarily withdrawn from the James River fleet on June 15, 1994, for stripping and preparation for disposal and was subsequently returned to the reserve fleet. The ship was sold for scrapping to Peck Recycling of Richmond, Virginia, in 1995 and was finally withdrawn from the James River Reserve Fleet for disposal on May 6, 1996.

USS FORT SNELLING's recorded awards include four Navy Unit Commendations, two Navy Battle "E" ribbons, the Navy Expeditionary Medal, the National Defense Service Medal, Armed Forces Expeditionary Medals for several contingency operations and the Humanitarian Service Medal associated with the evacuation from Lebanon.

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USS FORT SNELLING Image Gallery:

The photo below was taken by Michael Winter and shows the FORT SNELLING laid-up at Norfolk, Va., on August 21, 1994.

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