USS Whetstone (LSD-27) - 1966

1966

Whetstone departed San Diego on 11 February 1966, bound, ultimately, for Vietnam with elements of the 3d Marine Division (3d MarDiv) embarked for transportation to Okinawa. She arrived at her destination on 8 March, disembarked her passengers, and sailed for Japan, touching briefly at Yokosuka before she returned to Okinawa to embark elements of the 5th MarDiv for transportation to Vietnam.

Reaching Chu Lai on 27 March, Whetstone offloaded her passengers brought from Okinawa and embarked different Marine elements for transport up the Vietnamese coast to the Huế–Phu Bai area of operations. After offloading at Huế, the dock landing ship shifted to Da Nang, where she soon commenced what was to become a six-week tour of duty as "boat haven" for Naval Support Activities (NavSuppAct), Da Nang, arriving on the last day of the month of March.

During her six-week stay, Whetstone made good use of her drydocking capability, performing major repairs on 41 small boats and craft — mostly LCM (Landing Craft Mechanized) and LCU (Landing Craft, Utility). Those craft served as the keys to keeping open the flow of logistics onto the beach from the many merchant ships at anchor in Da Nang harbor.

Leaving Da Nang in her wake on 13 May, Whetstone arrived at Subic Bay for liberty and upkeep two days later, but Typhoon Irma forced the ship to execute a change in plans: five out of her allotted ten-day period was spent riding out Irma's fury. Departing Subic Bay on the 25th, Whetstone visited Hong Kong for five days of "rest and recreation" slated to start on the 27th. Unfortunately, the proximity of yet another typhoon — Typhoon Judy — caused the dock landing ship to put to sea on the 28th and 29th to evade the storm. The ship left Hong Kong on 1 June — it had been an abbreviated port visit!

Whetstone returned to the waters of Vietnam, dropping anchor at Qui Nhơn to start two months as "boat haven" in support of the U.S. Army's Qui Nhơn Support Command. Two boat repair divisions — consisting of Whetstone sailors and Army soldiers — worked 12-hour shifts, 24 hours a day, to repair Army landing craft in Whetstone's capacious well-deck aft. The display of Army–Navy cooperation facilitated the vital offloading of ships delivering cargo to Qui Nhơn. At the end of the time spent at the port, Whetstone received a plaque, commemorating her hard work, from the U.S. Army's 1st Logistical Command.

Whetstone hauled a load of Army LCMs to Cam-ranh Bay on 31 July and then headed for Japanese waters, reaching Sasebo on 7 August for an eight-day port visit. The dock landing ship then returned briefly to Hong Kong — the weather proved more favorable that time than previously — before she sailed for Da Nang to commence the last major assignment of that WestPac tour.

Whetstone took part in the lift of elements of the combat veterans of the 5th MarDiv from Da Nang to Okinawa. For the leathernecks, most of them coming straight from action in the field to the ship, the hot meals and bunks on board Whetstone proved a welcome change from life in the field. The ship subsequently arrived at Okinawa on 6 September to offload her troops.

Reaching Yokosuka on 11 September, Whetstone underwent six days of upkeep there before her departure from WestPac. She sailed for home on 17 September and reached Pearl Harbor on the 27th. Pushing on, two days later, the dock landing ship reached her home port of San Diego on 6 October — thus ending a deployment of 238 days' duration. For the remainder of 1966, Whetstone remained in port, preparing for a shipyard overhaul slated to commence in January.

• USS Whetstone Ship's Plaque

• USS Whetstone Commemorative Photo