1969
In January 1969, Belle Grove moved to the Bethlehem Steel Shipyard, San Pedro, for an availability that lasted until the 27th. After a brief return to Long Beach, the ship steamed for Pearl Harbor on 30 January. Arriving at Oahu on 7 February, the dock landing ship moored at the naval ammunition depot where she loaded dynamite and other explosives for the Atomic Energy Commission. Underway for Johnston Island on the morning of the 9th, the ship reached her destination on the 11th and worked cargo until sailing for the Marshalls the following morning. Entering the lagoon at Bikini Atoll on the morning of the 18th, Belle Grove commenced unloading explosives and other test equipment. Departing the atoll for Guam late that afternoon, the ship put into Apra on the 23rd but departed again that same day and arrived at Subic Bay on the 28th.
For the next five months, Belle Grove shuttled men and material between Da Nang, Vung Tau, Subic Bay, and Okinawa, punctuating those lifts with short visits to Singapore, Hong Kong, and Sasebo. When in Vietnamese waters, the ship often put into effect the "exposed anchorage and antiswimmer watch" to foil any Viet Cong attempts to attach limpet mines to her hull. This sometimes included the use of an armed picket boat patrolling around the ship and tossing grenades in the water. Her only amphibious operation took place in early August, when Belle Grove helped shift marines and their equipment from Chu Lai to Da Nang.
Departing Vung Tau for the last time on 14 August, she reached Buckner Bay on the 17th, pushed on for Yokosuka the following afternoon, and moored there on the 21st. Five days later, the ship departed Japanese waters and arrived at Seal Beach, California, on 11 September. Slated for inactivation, the dock landing ship unloaded all her ammunition before shifting to Long Beach the following day. Belle Grove was decommissioned on 12 November 1969, and her name was struck from the Naval Vessel Register that same day. She was placed in the Inactive Ship Facility, San Diego, where she remained into 1970. That summer she was sold to N. W. Kennedy of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, and broken up for scrap.
Belle Grove earned six battle stars for World War II service and eight battle stars for Vietnam War service.
Read more about this topic: USS Belle Grove (LSD-2)