USS Belmont (AGTR-4) - Her Second Deployment To South America

Her Second Deployment To South America

New Years Day 1966 found her at anchor in Callao. Two days later, she weighed anchor to return to the Panama Canal Zone. Belmont retransited the canal on 21 January and moored in Norfolk on the 28th, where she remained for almost seven weeks for upkeep and shipyard availability. On 16 March, the ship embarked upon another deployment to the western coast of South America. She transited the Panama Canal on 28 and 29 March and, for the next eight weeks, cruised along the coasts of Peru and Chile. Belmont returned to the Panama Canal Zone for a five-day visit between 23 and 28 May. On the latter day, she departed Panama and embarked upon five weeks of operations in order to spy French atomic tests in French Polynesia (12 June). The ship arrived back in the Panama Canal Zone on 13 July, transited the canal on the 14th, and reentered Norfolk on the 20th.

After seven weeks of upkeep in her homeport, Belmont stood out to sea on 7 September, bound for her third assignment in the Pacific coastal waters of South America. She transited the Panama Canal again on 19 September and, two days later, shaped a course for her zone of operations. At the conclusion of that assignment, the ship returned to the Canal Zone on 4 November. She proceeded through the canal on 8 November and then set course for Norfolk. Belmont reentered her homeport on 14 November and spent the remainder of the year in the Norfolk Naval Shipyard installing communication gear.