South America and Panama Deployment 1970
Following several months of local operations, Walworth County sailed independently on 8 July 1970 for South America. Her mission was primarily one of good will. She delivered earthquake relief supplies to Peruvian ports and carried Project Handclasp material to Ecuador. For the remainder of the deployment, Walworth County carried out many and varied missions, ranging from being a home for Smithsonian Institution scientists performing marine biology research to acting as a ferryboat for United States exhibits to a regional fair at Bocas del Toro, Panama. The scientists worked with the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, which conducts research all around Panama including the Panama Canal, Bocas del Toro Archipelago, and Laguna de ChiriquÃ. During her three-month deployment, Walworth County steamed over 9,000 nautical miles (16,668 kilometers), and she received a letter of commendation from Admiral C. D. Nace, Commander, United States Naval Forces, Southern Command and Commandant, 15th Naval District. After a final transit of the Panama Canal, Walworth County headed homeward, arriving back at Little Creek on 23 October 1970.
Read more about this topic: USS Walworth County (LST-1164)
Famous quotes containing the words south and/or america:
“History in the making is a very uncertain thing. It might be better to wait till the South American republic has got through with its twenty-fifth revolution before reading much about it. When it is over, some one whose business it is, will be sure to give you in a digested form all that it concerns you to know, and save you trouble, confusion, and time. If you will follow this plan, you will be surprised to find how new and fresh your interest in what you read will become.”
—Anna C. Brackett (1836–1911)
“In America the geography is sublime, but the men are not; the inventions are excellent, but the inventors one is sometimes ashamed of.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)