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USS Lindenwald (LSD-6)
Encyclopedia
USS Lindenwald (LSD-6) was an of the United States Navy
, named in honor of Lindenwald, the New York
estate of President Martin Van Buren
(1782–1862).
Lindenwald was authorized as a Mechanized Artillery Transport, APM-6; reclassified LSD-6 on 1 July 1942; laid down 22 February 1943 by Moore Dry Dock Co., Oakland, California
; launched
on 11 June 1943, sponsored by Mrs. Wilbur M. Lockhart and commissioned
on 9 December 1943, Commander
William W. Weaver in command.
off San Francisco
, the new landing ship dock departed San Diego 27 December 1943 loaded with LCTs for docking and undocking trials in Maalaea Bay, Hawaii
. Following 18 days of intensive training, Lindenwald sortied from Pearl Harbor
with the Southern Transport Group for the invasion of the Marshall Islands on 22 January 1944 with 18 tank
-carrying LCM
s stowed in her well deck. Arriving off Kwajalein
late evening 31 January, she launched the LCMs at dawn the next mornIng. Six days later, the ship loaded 54 LVT
s and sailed for the Ellice Islands en route to Guadalcanal
.
Anchoring off Guadalcanal on 23 February, she received calls from Admiral William F. Halsey and Maj.Gen. Roy S. Geiger, USMC. During March she made two runs from Guadalcanal carrying boats and marines for the daring invasion of Emirau Island
, just 150 miles north of the Japanese stronghold at Rabaul
. She spent April and May in Hawaiian waters, training with marines, then departed 30 May for Eniwetok en route to the invasion of Saipan
. Lindenwald arrived the morning of D-Day
, 15 June, and debarked LCMs preloaded with tanks and men of the 2d Marine Division. The ship then stood off Saipan
while on the beaches the marines overcame tough opposition with naval gunfire and air support. Lindenwald departed for San Francisco 22 June and arrived 11 July, touching Pearl Harbor en route to unload boats and marine casualties.
to make final preparations for the invasion of Leyte
. She left Manus Island
for Leyte on 14 October and anchored in the LSD launching area 20 October. The next day, she quickly unloaded boats and got underway for Hollandia
, New Guinea
, to carry General MacArthur's
rear echelon to the new headquarters at Leyte. For the next two months, Lindenwald carried troops and equipment from New Guinea to Manus and Leyte.
With Leyte secured, Lindenwald prepared for the invasion
at Lingayen Gulf
, about 150 miles north of Manila
. as the Navy leapfrogged toward Japan. The ship departed Manus for Lingayen
on 31 December. En route, January, four suicide planes attacked the formation. One crashed the port side of escort carrier . Formation antiaircraft fire splashed or diverted the others. The action continued with increased fury the next day. As the LSDs launched boats, was crashed just 1,000 yards from Lindenwald. That afternoon an enemy bomber damaged . Nevertheless the operation was successful. On 10 January the ship steamed for Wake Island
to get reinforcements and returned to Lingayen on the 27th. Departing immediately, she picked up more men and equipment from Biak Island and returned again to Lingayen 11 February. Shoving off 13 February, she arrived Guam on the 24th, then proceeded to Milne Bay
, New Guinea, loaded 38 boats, and steamed for Leyte. Arriving 12 March, she reported to Task Force 51 (TF 51) under Vice Admiral Richmond K. Turner
and began preparations for the upcoming Okinawa campaign
.
Lindenwald sailed due north from San Pedro Bay
, Leyte, for Okinawa on 26 March and arrived 1 April. She remained off Okinawa for 92 days, docking, repairing, and servicing landing craft
damaged by enemy gunfire or the heavy surf. During this period, the ship repaired 452 boats. Enemy harassment twice threatened to cut short her busy career. Early morning 27 May, after suicide planes crashed two sister auxiliary ships, Lindenwald splashed an enemy aircraft before it could crash nearby . Two weeks later, a murderous barrage from Lindenwald diverted an incoming suicide plane just enough to escape disaster. It barely missed the radar
mast and splashed 500 yards off the bow.
With the liberation of Okinawa completed, Lindenwald sailed for San Francisco on 1 July and pulled in three weeks later. After a 2-month overhaul, she made a fast run to Pearl Harbor, then sailed via the Panama Canal
for Galveston, Texas
, and transport duty in the Gulf of Mexico
.
for Bremerhaven
on 24 June 1946, touching Liberia
, Casablanca
, and Le Havre
to debark men and supplies. Leaving northern Germany
on 18 August, Lindenwald arrived Norfolk the 30th, stayed nine days and sailed for San Francisco, arriving 30 September. The ship decommissioned 5 April 1947 and joined the Pacific Reserve Fleet at San Francisco.
Lindenwald recommissioned 18 February 1949 and operated off the West Coast until 26 November, then steamed to Norfolk
for amphibious duty, arriving 13 December. For the next three years, she made yearly voyages to the Caribbean
and north to Newfoundland, Labrador
, and Thule Air Base
, Greenland
. On 8 September 1953, Lindenwald departed Norfolk with Amphibious Group 4 (PhibGroup 4) en route the Mediterranean. She arrived at Algiers
on 23 September, departed a week later for Crete
, and spent October conducting amphibious exercises with the U.S. 6th Fleet in the Aegean Sea
. Returning to the western Mediterranean, she visited ports in France
, Italy
, and Spain
during late 1953, departing Oran
for Norfolk 24 January 1954.
As a unit of MSTS, she made supply runs to bases in northern Greenland and the Arctic
until mid-October 1958. Lindenwald then departed the East Coast of Greenland on one of her supply runs. En route, she ran into an Arctic storm. During the storm she lost her steering controls and lay helpless for several hours. A distress signal was sent out and picked up by USNS Chattahoochee
(T-AOG-82) which shortly arrived on the scene and towed Lindenwald to a safe anchorage. With her steering controls repaired, but with a noticeable list she sailed for New York City
for further repairs, upon completion of which she was placed in MSTS Ready Reserve.
. Besides extensive training duties with the Amphibious Forces, the ship also played a vital peacekeeping role during the volatile 1960s. She helped stabilize the Caribbean area during the Dominican Republic revolt of November 1961. From 14 February to 16 June 1962, the ship again patrolled the Mediterranean with the 6th Fleet. When President John F. Kennedy
ordered the quarantine of Cuba in the fall of 1962, Lindenwald policed the area around Puerto Rico
.
After spending most of 1963 in Arctic waters, the ship displayed her combat readiness in Operation "Quick Kick" during April 1964 and again that summer with the transatlantic amphibious exercise operation "Steel Pike I."
As civil disorder rocked the Dominican Republic
in May 1965, Lindenwald steamed to Santo Domingo
with peacekeeping forces for Operation Power Pack
to help stabilize the island and make possible the establishment of a viable government. The ship departed Little Creek, Virginia
for the Mediterranean in March 1966, returning on 16 November. Until late 1968, Lindenwald alternated between upkeep, overhaul, and conducting amphibious exercises and training along the eastern seaboard and in the Caribbean. Lindenwald decommissioned at Little Creek on 30 November 1967 and was struck from the Naval Vessel Register
on 1 December 1967. On 25 September 1968, she was sold to Union Minerals & Alloys Corp., for scrapping.
Lindenwald received five battle stars for World War II
service.
United States Navy
The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...
, named in honor of Lindenwald, the New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
estate of President Martin Van Buren
Martin Van Buren
Martin Van Buren was the eighth President of the United States . Before his presidency, he was the eighth Vice President and the tenth Secretary of State, under Andrew Jackson ....
(1782–1862).
Lindenwald was authorized as a Mechanized Artillery Transport, APM-6; reclassified LSD-6 on 1 July 1942; laid down 22 February 1943 by Moore Dry Dock Co., Oakland, California
Oakland, California
Oakland is a major West Coast port city on San Francisco Bay in the U.S. state of California. It is the eighth-largest city in the state with a 2010 population of 390,724...
; launched
Ship naming and launching
The ceremonies involved in naming and launching naval ships are based in traditions thousands of years old.-Methods of launch:There are three principal methods of conveying a new ship from building site to water, only two of which are called "launching." The oldest, most familiar, and most widely...
on 11 June 1943, sponsored by Mrs. Wilbur M. Lockhart and commissioned
Ship commissioning
Ship commissioning is the act or ceremony of placing a ship in active service, and may be regarded as a particular application of the general concepts and practices of project commissioning. The term is most commonly applied to the placing of a warship in active duty with its country's military...
on 9 December 1943, Commander
Commander (United States)
In the United States, commander is a military rank that is also sometimes used as a military title, depending on the branch of service. It is also used as a rank or title in some organizations outside of the military, particularly in police and law enforcement.-Naval rank:In the United States...
William W. Weaver in command.
Central Pacific campaigns
After shakedownShakedown (testing)
A shakedown is a period of testing or a trial journey undergone by a ship, aircraft or other craft and its crew before being declared operational. Statistically, a proportion of the components will fail after a relatively short period of use, and those that survive this period can be expected to...
off San Francisco
San Francisco, California
San Francisco , officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the financial, cultural, and transportation center of the San Francisco Bay Area, a region of 7.15 million people which includes San Jose and Oakland...
, the new landing ship dock departed San Diego 27 December 1943 loaded with LCTs for docking and undocking trials in Maalaea Bay, Hawaii
Hawaii
Hawaii is the newest of the 50 U.S. states , and is the only U.S. state made up entirely of islands. It is the northernmost island group in Polynesia, occupying most of an archipelago in the central Pacific Ocean, southwest of the continental United States, southeast of Japan, and northeast of...
. Following 18 days of intensive training, Lindenwald sortied from Pearl Harbor
Pearl Harbor
Pearl Harbor, known to Hawaiians as Puuloa, is a lagoon harbor on the island of Oahu, Hawaii, west of Honolulu. Much of the harbor and surrounding lands is a United States Navy deep-water naval base. It is also the headquarters of the U.S. Pacific Fleet...
with the Southern Transport Group for the invasion of the Marshall Islands on 22 January 1944 with 18 tank
Tank
A tank is a tracked, armoured fighting vehicle designed for front-line combat which combines operational mobility, tactical offensive, and defensive capabilities...
-carrying LCM
Landing Craft Mechanized
The Landing Craft Mechanized or Landing Craft Mechanical was a landing craft designed for carrying vehicles. They came to prominence during the Second World War when they were used to land troops or tanks during Allied amphibious assaults....
s stowed in her well deck. Arriving off Kwajalein
Kwajalein
Kwajalein Atoll , is part of the Republic of the Marshall Islands . The southernmost and largest island in the atoll is named Kwajalein Island. English-speaking residents of the U.S...
late evening 31 January, she launched the LCMs at dawn the next mornIng. Six days later, the ship loaded 54 LVT
Landing Vehicle Tracked
The Landing Vehicle Tracked was a class of amphibious vehicles introduced by the United States Navy, Marine Corps and Army during World War II. Originally intended solely as cargo carriers for ship to shore operations, they rapidly evolved into assault troop and fire support vehicles as well...
s and sailed for the Ellice Islands en route to Guadalcanal
Guadalcanal
Guadalcanal is a tropical island in the South-Western Pacific. The largest island in the Solomons, it was discovered by the Spanish expedition of Alvaro de Mendaña in 1568...
.
Anchoring off Guadalcanal on 23 February, she received calls from Admiral William F. Halsey and Maj.Gen. Roy S. Geiger, USMC. During March she made two runs from Guadalcanal carrying boats and marines for the daring invasion of Emirau Island
Emirau Island
Emirau Island, also called Emira, is an island in the Bismarck Archipelago located at . It is currently part of the New Ireland Province of Papua New Guinea. The local language is a dialect of the Mussau-Emira language...
, just 150 miles north of the Japanese stronghold at Rabaul
Rabaul
Rabaul is a township in East New Britain province, Papua New Guinea. The town was the provincial capital and most important settlement in the province until it was destroyed in 1994 by falling ash of a volcanic eruption. During the eruption, ash was sent thousands of metres into the air and the...
. She spent April and May in Hawaiian waters, training with marines, then departed 30 May for Eniwetok en route to the invasion of Saipan
Battle of Saipan
The Battle of Saipan was a battle of the Pacific campaign of World War II, fought on the island of Saipan in the Mariana Islands from 15 June-9 July 1944. The Allied invasion fleet embarking the expeditionary forces left Pearl Harbor on 5 June 1944, the day before Operation Overlord in Europe was...
. Lindenwald arrived the morning of D-Day
D-Day
D-Day is a term often used in military parlance to denote the day on which a combat attack or operation is to be initiated. "D-Day" often represents a variable, designating the day upon which some significant event will occur or has occurred; see Military designation of days and hours for similar...
, 15 June, and debarked LCMs preloaded with tanks and men of the 2d Marine Division. The ship then stood off Saipan
Saipan
Saipan is the largest island of the United States Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands , a chain of 15 tropical islands belonging to the Marianas archipelago in the western Pacific Ocean with a total area of . The 2000 census population was 62,392...
while on the beaches the marines overcame tough opposition with naval gunfire and air support. Lindenwald departed for San Francisco 22 June and arrived 11 July, touching Pearl Harbor en route to unload boats and marine casualties.
Philippine and Okinawa campaigns
Departing the West Coast only 10 days after arrival, Lindenwald loaded boats at Pearl Harbor and steamed for the AdmiraltiesAdmiralty Islands
The Admiralty Islands are a group of eighteen islands in the Bismarck Archipelago, to the north of New Guinea in the south Pacific Ocean. These are also sometimes called the Manus Islands, after the largest island. These rainforest-covered islands form part of Manus Province, the smallest and...
to make final preparations for the invasion of Leyte
Battle of Leyte
The Battle of Leyte in the Pacific campaign of World War II was the invasion and conquest of the island of Leyte in the Philippines by American and Filipino guerrilla forces under the command of General Douglas MacArthur, who fought against the Imperial Japanese Army in the Philippines led by...
. She left Manus Island
Manus Island
Manus Island is part of Manus Province in northern Papua New Guinea and is the largest island of the Admiralty Islands. It is the fifth largest island in Papua New Guinea with an area of 2,100 km², measuring around 100 km × 30 km. According to the 2000 census, Manus Island had a...
for Leyte on 14 October and anchored in the LSD launching area 20 October. The next day, she quickly unloaded boats and got underway for Hollandia
Jayapura
Jayapura City is the capital of Papua province, Indonesia, on the island of New Guinea. It is situated on Yos Sudarso Bay . Its approximate population in 2002 was 200,000....
, New Guinea
New Guinea
New Guinea is the world's second largest island, after Greenland, covering a land area of 786,000 km2. Located in the southwest Pacific Ocean, it lies geographically to the east of the Malay Archipelago, with which it is sometimes included as part of a greater Indo-Australian Archipelago...
, to carry General MacArthur's
Douglas MacArthur
General of the Army Douglas MacArthur was an American general and field marshal of the Philippine Army. He was a Chief of Staff of the United States Army during the 1930s and played a prominent role in the Pacific theater during World War II. He received the Medal of Honor for his service in the...
rear echelon to the new headquarters at Leyte. For the next two months, Lindenwald carried troops and equipment from New Guinea to Manus and Leyte.
With Leyte secured, Lindenwald prepared for the invasion
Battle of Luzon
The Battle of Luzon was a land battle fought as part of the Pacific Theater of Operations of World War II by the Allied forces of the U.S., its colony The Philippines, and Mexico against forces of the Empire of Japan. The battle resulted in a U.S. and Filipino victory...
at Lingayen Gulf
Lingayen Gulf
The Lingayen Gulf is an extension of the South China Sea on Luzon in the Philippines stretching . It is framed by the provinces of Pangasinan and La Union and sits between the Zambales Mountains and the Cordillera Central...
, about 150 miles north of Manila
Manila
Manila is the capital of the Philippines. It is one of the sixteen cities forming Metro Manila.Manila is located on the eastern shores of Manila Bay and is bordered by Navotas and Caloocan to the north, Quezon City to the northeast, San Juan and Mandaluyong to the east, Makati on the southeast,...
. as the Navy leapfrogged toward Japan. The ship departed Manus for Lingayen
Invasion of Lingayen Gulf
The Liberation of Lingayen Gulf was an Allied amphibious operation in the Philippines during World War II. In the early morning of 9 January 1945, an Allied force commanded by Admiral Jesse B. Oldendorf began approaching the shores of Lingayen. U.S...
on 31 December. En route, January, four suicide planes attacked the formation. One crashed the port side of escort carrier . Formation antiaircraft fire splashed or diverted the others. The action continued with increased fury the next day. As the LSDs launched boats, was crashed just 1,000 yards from Lindenwald. That afternoon an enemy bomber damaged . Nevertheless the operation was successful. On 10 January the ship steamed for Wake Island
Wake Island
Wake Island is a coral atoll having a coastline of in the North Pacific Ocean, located about two-thirds of the way from Honolulu west to Guam east. It is an unorganized, unincorporated territory of the United States, administered by the Office of Insular Affairs, U.S. Department of the Interior...
to get reinforcements and returned to Lingayen on the 27th. Departing immediately, she picked up more men and equipment from Biak Island and returned again to Lingayen 11 February. Shoving off 13 February, she arrived Guam on the 24th, then proceeded to Milne Bay
Milne Bay
Milne Bay is a large bay in Milne Bay Province, southeastern Papua New Guinea. The bay is named after Sir Alexander Milne.The area was a site of the Battle of Milne Bay in 1942....
, New Guinea, loaded 38 boats, and steamed for Leyte. Arriving 12 March, she reported to Task Force 51 (TF 51) under Vice Admiral Richmond K. Turner
Richmond K. Turner
-Footnotes:...
and began preparations for the upcoming Okinawa campaign
Battle of Okinawa
The Battle of Okinawa, codenamed Operation Iceberg, was fought on the Ryukyu Islands of Okinawa and was the largest amphibious assault in the Pacific War of World War II. The 82-day-long battle lasted from early April until mid-June 1945...
.
Lindenwald sailed due north from San Pedro Bay
San Pedro Bay (Philippines)
San Pedro Bay is a bay in the Philippines, at the northwest end of Leyte Gulf, about 15 km east-west and 20 km north-south. The bay is bounded on the north and east by Samar and on the east by Leyte Island. It is connected by San Juanico Strait to Carigara Bay of the Samar Sea. The...
, Leyte, for Okinawa on 26 March and arrived 1 April. She remained off Okinawa for 92 days, docking, repairing, and servicing landing craft
Landing craft
Landing craft are boats and seagoing vessels used to convey a landing force from the sea to the shore during an amphibious assault. Most renowned are those used to storm the beaches of Normandy, the Mediterranean, and many Pacific islands during WWII...
damaged by enemy gunfire or the heavy surf. During this period, the ship repaired 452 boats. Enemy harassment twice threatened to cut short her busy career. Early morning 27 May, after suicide planes crashed two sister auxiliary ships, Lindenwald splashed an enemy aircraft before it could crash nearby . Two weeks later, a murderous barrage from Lindenwald diverted an incoming suicide plane just enough to escape disaster. It barely missed the radar
Radar
Radar is an object-detection system which uses radio waves to determine the range, altitude, direction, or speed of objects. It can be used to detect aircraft, ships, spacecraft, guided missiles, motor vehicles, weather formations, and terrain. The radar dish or antenna transmits pulses of radio...
mast and splashed 500 yards off the bow.
With the liberation of Okinawa completed, Lindenwald sailed for San Francisco on 1 July and pulled in three weeks later. After a 2-month overhaul, she made a fast run to Pearl Harbor, then sailed via the Panama Canal
Panama Canal
The Panama Canal is a ship canal in Panama that joins the Atlantic Ocean and the Pacific Ocean and is a key conduit for international maritime trade. Built from 1904 to 1914, the canal has seen annual traffic rise from about 1,000 ships early on to 14,702 vessels measuring a total of 309.6...
for Galveston, Texas
Galveston, Texas
Galveston is a coastal city located on Galveston Island in the U.S. state of Texas. , the city had a total population of 47,743 within an area of...
, and transport duty in the Gulf of Mexico
Gulf of Mexico
The Gulf of Mexico is a partially landlocked ocean basin largely surrounded by the North American continent and the island of Cuba. It is bounded on the northeast, north and northwest by the Gulf Coast of the United States, on the southwest and south by Mexico, and on the southeast by Cuba. In...
.
1946 – 1954
She steamed from New OrleansNew Orleans, Louisiana
New Orleans is a major United States port and the largest city and metropolitan area in the state of Louisiana. The New Orleans metropolitan area has a population of 1,235,650 as of 2009, the 46th largest in the USA. The New Orleans – Metairie – Bogalusa combined statistical area has a population...
for Bremerhaven
Bremerhaven
Bremerhaven is a city at the seaport of the free city-state of Bremen, a state of the Federal Republic of Germany. It forms an enclave in the state of Lower Saxony and is located at the mouth of the River Weser on its eastern bank, opposite the town of Nordenham...
on 24 June 1946, touching Liberia
Liberia
Liberia , officially the Republic of Liberia, is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Sierra Leone on the west, Guinea on the north and Côte d'Ivoire on the east. Liberia's coastline is composed of mostly mangrove forests while the more sparsely populated inland consists of forests that open...
, Casablanca
Casablanca
Casablanca is a city in western Morocco, located on the Atlantic Ocean. It is the capital of the Grand Casablanca region.Casablanca is Morocco's largest city as well as its chief port. It is also the biggest city in the Maghreb. The 2004 census recorded a population of 2,949,805 in the prefecture...
, and Le Havre
Le Havre
Le Havre is a city in the Seine-Maritime department of the Haute-Normandie region in France. It is situated in north-western France, on the right bank of the mouth of the river Seine on the English Channel. Le Havre is the most populous commune in the Haute-Normandie region, although the total...
to debark men and supplies. Leaving northern Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
on 18 August, Lindenwald arrived Norfolk the 30th, stayed nine days and sailed for San Francisco, arriving 30 September. The ship decommissioned 5 April 1947 and joined the Pacific Reserve Fleet at San Francisco.
Lindenwald recommissioned 18 February 1949 and operated off the West Coast until 26 November, then steamed to Norfolk
Naval Station Norfolk
Naval Station Norfolk, in Norfolk, Virginia, is a base of the United States Navy, supporting naval forces in the United States Fleet Forces Command, those operating in the Atlantic Ocean, Mediterranean Sea, and Indian Ocean...
for amphibious duty, arriving 13 December. For the next three years, she made yearly voyages to the Caribbean
Caribbean
The Caribbean is a crescent-shaped group of islands more than 2,000 miles long separating the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea, to the west and south, from the Atlantic Ocean, to the east and north...
and north to Newfoundland, Labrador
Labrador
Labrador is the distinct, northerly region of the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador. It comprises the mainland portion of the province, separated from the island of Newfoundland by the Strait of Belle Isle...
, and Thule Air Base
Thule Air Base
Thule Air Base or Thule Air Base/Pituffik Airport , is the United States Air Force's northernmost base, located north of the Arctic Circle and from the North Pole on the northwest side of the island of Greenland. It is approximately east of the North Magnetic Pole.-Overview:Thule Air Base is the...
, Greenland
Greenland
Greenland is an autonomous country within the Kingdom of Denmark, located between the Arctic and Atlantic Oceans, east of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. Though physiographically a part of the continent of North America, Greenland has been politically and culturally associated with Europe for...
. On 8 September 1953, Lindenwald departed Norfolk with Amphibious Group 4 (PhibGroup 4) en route the Mediterranean. She arrived at Algiers
Algiers
' is the capital and largest city of Algeria. According to the 1998 census, the population of the city proper was 1,519,570 and that of the urban agglomeration was 2,135,630. In 2009, the population was about 3,500,000...
on 23 September, departed a week later for Crete
Crete
Crete is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the fifth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, and one of the thirteen administrative regions of Greece. It forms a significant part of the economy and cultural heritage of Greece while retaining its own local cultural traits...
, and spent October conducting amphibious exercises with the U.S. 6th Fleet in the Aegean Sea
Aegean Sea
The Aegean Sea[p] is an elongated embayment of the Mediterranean Sea located between the southern Balkan and Anatolian peninsulas, i.e., between the mainlands of Greece and Turkey. In the north, it is connected to the Marmara Sea and Black Sea by the Dardanelles and Bosporus...
. Returning to the western Mediterranean, she visited ports in France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
, and Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
during late 1953, departing Oran
Oran
Oran is a major city on the northwestern Mediterranean coast of Algeria, and the second largest city of the country.It is the capital of the Oran Province . The city has a population of 759,645 , while the metropolitan area has a population of approximately 1,500,000, making it the second largest...
for Norfolk 24 January 1954.
1954 – 1958
During the following three years, Lindenwald made another European voyage and spent each summer operating in the icy waters off Greenland with the Military Sea Transportation Service (MSTS). Decommissioned 12 December 1956, she was transferred to MSTS the same date and was placed in service as USNS Lindenwald (T-LSD-6), and assigned to MSTS, Atlantic.As a unit of MSTS, she made supply runs to bases in northern Greenland and the Arctic
Arctic
The Arctic is a region located at the northern-most part of the Earth. The Arctic consists of the Arctic Ocean and parts of Canada, Russia, Greenland, the United States, Norway, Sweden, Finland, and Iceland. The Arctic region consists of a vast, ice-covered ocean, surrounded by treeless permafrost...
until mid-October 1958. Lindenwald then departed the East Coast of Greenland on one of her supply runs. En route, she ran into an Arctic storm. During the storm she lost her steering controls and lay helpless for several hours. A distress signal was sent out and picked up by USNS Chattahoochee
USNS Chattahoochee (T-AOG-82)
Chattahoochee was launched on 4 December 1956 by Bethlehem Steel Corp., Staten Island, and delivered to the Navy for assignment to Military Sea Transportation Service on 22 October 1957. She was taken out of service and sold to a private concern in 2006....
(T-AOG-82) which shortly arrived on the scene and towed Lindenwald to a safe anchorage. With her steering controls repaired, but with a noticeable list she sailed for New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
for further repairs, upon completion of which she was placed in MSTS Ready Reserve.
1959 – 1967
Reacquired by the Navy early the next year, she recommissioned on 1 July 1960 and was assigned to the Amphibious Force, U.S. Atlantic FleetU.S. Atlantic Fleet
The United States Fleet Forces Command is an Atlantic Ocean theater-level component command of the United States Navy that provides naval resources that are under the operational control of the United States Northern Command...
. Besides extensive training duties with the Amphibious Forces, the ship also played a vital peacekeeping role during the volatile 1960s. She helped stabilize the Caribbean area during the Dominican Republic revolt of November 1961. From 14 February to 16 June 1962, the ship again patrolled the Mediterranean with the 6th Fleet. When President John F. Kennedy
John F. Kennedy
John Fitzgerald "Jack" Kennedy , often referred to by his initials JFK, was the 35th President of the United States, serving from 1961 until his assassination in 1963....
ordered the quarantine of Cuba in the fall of 1962, Lindenwald policed the area around Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico , officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico , is an unincorporated territory of the United States, located in the northeastern Caribbean, east of the Dominican Republic and west of both the United States Virgin Islands and the British Virgin Islands.Puerto Rico comprises an...
.
After spending most of 1963 in Arctic waters, the ship displayed her combat readiness in Operation "Quick Kick" during April 1964 and again that summer with the transatlantic amphibious exercise operation "Steel Pike I."
As civil disorder rocked the Dominican Republic
Dominican Republic
The Dominican Republic is a nation on the island of La Hispaniola, part of the Greater Antilles archipelago in the Caribbean region. The western third of the island is occupied by the nation of Haiti, making Hispaniola one of two Caribbean islands that are shared by two countries...
in May 1965, Lindenwald steamed to Santo Domingo
Santo Domingo
Santo Domingo, known officially as Santo Domingo de Guzmán, is the capital and largest city in the Dominican Republic. Its metropolitan population was 2,084,852 in 2003, and estimated at 3,294,385 in 2010. The city is located on the Caribbean Sea, at the mouth of the Ozama River...
with peacekeeping forces for Operation Power Pack
Operation Power Pack
The second United States occupation of the Dominican Republic began when the United States Marines Corps entered Santo Domingo on April 28, 1965. They were later joined by most of the United States Army's 82nd Airborne Division and its parent XVIIIth Airborne Corps...
to help stabilize the island and make possible the establishment of a viable government. The ship departed Little Creek, Virginia
Naval Amphibious Base Little Creek
The Naval Amphibious Base, Little Creek is the major operating base for the Amphibious Forces in the United States Navy's Atlantic Fleet. The base comprises four locations in three states, including almost 12,000 acres of real estate. Its Little Creek location in Virginia Beach, Virginia totals...
for the Mediterranean in March 1966, returning on 16 November. Until late 1968, Lindenwald alternated between upkeep, overhaul, and conducting amphibious exercises and training along the eastern seaboard and in the Caribbean. Lindenwald decommissioned at Little Creek on 30 November 1967 and was struck from the Naval Vessel Register
Naval Vessel Register
The Naval Vessel Register is the official inventory of ships and service craft in custody of or titled by the United States Navy. It contains information on ships and service craft that make up the official inventory of the Navy from the time a vessel is authorized through its life cycle and...
on 1 December 1967. On 25 September 1968, she was sold to Union Minerals & Alloys Corp., for scrapping.
Lindenwald received five battle stars for World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
service.