| You say you want it medium well done, right ?? DON'T HOLD YOUR DAMN BREATH!! |
 |
 |
| 1954 - 1959 The Ship finally gets a name in 1955 USS SNOHOMISH COUNTY Named in honor of a county from Washington State |
| Doing a Highline exchange at sea 1958 Photo by Percy Collins 58-59 |
| Fondly called "Pappy" He was there when I reported in 1953 and there when I left in1957. He never returned my salute. (CCB) |
 |
 |
| Lt. Campbell, Commanding Officer (59-62) Read a chronical of his tour with the ship. |
 |
| Single gun mount With two capable (?) shipmates Photo by Percy Collins (58-59) |
| Lt. Smith - Go ahead punk, make my day |
 |
 |
 |
| One night at sea, there were a bunch of us gunner mates on the fantail because it was just too hot below. I think it was during the late watch. It was dark, and the wind was blowing some. The sea wasn't too rough and we were just trying to get cooled off when all of a sudden there appears this officers hat that the wind had blown down from the conning tower. It was picked up by one of the guys, and he looked at the name inside. Wow, it was C, Erickson, our XO. I said, let me see the hat, sure as heck, it was Erickson's. We just looked at each other for a moment, and then it sailed out to sea better than any frizby I ever saw. Erikson came looking for his hat, but of course we had never seen it. If he ever reads this I hope he remembers that night.
George Eagan GM2 (1954-1956 |
| C.O. LtCdr. J.F. McCarthy (1954-55) "Mustang" As I recall he had 22 years Sea Duty at the time and the minimum shore duty, usually just enough time to get his papers for the next ship. (I gave him one of my stripes, reluctantly) |
 |
| FRISBIE HAT TRICK |
| I didn't see nuttin' |
 |
| Canning EN3 Benton EM3 Canning was from Hastings, Nebraska |
 |
 |
 |
| USS Snohomish County LST 1126 2002 Reunion Las Vegas, Nevada |
 |
| There's a story about this old Cedar tree. (which is older than me) It's where I tied my horse when I rode my horse to school one day. The sixth grade teacher asked me if I would, and give the class a chance to ride her. I took a lot of breaks from class that day to go check on my horse and see that it had plenty of water. At the time the roads in Myrtle Beach, SC were mostly sandy or conquina except for the highway coming through town. That was a large show and tell. The school is gone now and has been replaced by the US Post Office (ccb) |
| Are you sure the ship is coming back ? This Snipe hunt is not fun anymore |
 |
| Amtraks and a sister LST at Inchon, Korea during war games 1956 (Photo by Gene Elliott on LST 1126 |
 |
 |
| These Subs were moored close to us in Yokosuka Japan in 1956. A shipmate of one of the subs came aboard my LST when he saw it come in and invited me over to his sub. He had been on the USS Toleda CA133 with my brother before transfering to the subs. He showed me around the sub, told me of his experiences, and it influenced me to try to get sub duty. I applied, was approved, but stumped my toe in San Diego, had a meeting with the Captain, and lost a stripe and the opportunity to serve on subs. One of the biggest regrets of my Navy tour. Even worse than enlisting in "This man's Navy" for four years when if I had I stayed in the Navy Reserves I would have only had to serve 18 to 24 months active duty. (ccb) |
| Photo by Gene Elliott LST 1126 |
 |
| Gene McCarthy and Gene Elliott - Hawaii 1956 Can you click the camera button please, I can't hold this air much longer !! |
|
 |
| TELL ME WHERE IT HURTS or what's the problem. While working as a mechanic on appliances or equipment it always helps (?) with information from the user which they willingly give. |
| BOOM - A sound like a drum roll or distant thunder BUZZ - A low pitched sound, like a Bee CHATTER - Rapidly repeating matalic sound CHIRP - High pitched, rapidly repeating sound, like a chirping bird CLICK - A light sound, like a ballpoint pen being clicked CLUNK - A metal to metal sound, like a hammer stricking steel GRIND - An abrasive sound, like a grinding stone HISS - Like air escapiong from a balloon HUM - Like a wire humming in the wind KNOCK - Like a knock on the door RATTLE - A sound like marbles rolling around in a can ROAR - Deep, prolonged sound like high winds or ocean waves RUMBLE - Low, heavy, continuous sound like thunder SQUEAK - A sound like rubbing clean windows SQUEAL - A sound like fingernails across a chalkboard TAP - A crisp, dull sound, like tapping your fingers on a table WHINE - A high pitched sound, like an electric motor or drill WHISTLE - Sharp, shrill sound like wind passing through a small opening Some of my favorites I heard when I went to work on washing machines that I had sold: It fills okay, it just won't rub!! It won't get rid of the wash water!! I don't know what's wrong, it just sits there!! It don't wring out all the water when it spins. Let me get a mop to clean up under there before you put it back. I can't move it and my husband won't help me move it. (Yeah, like they even considered it) |
| When in Rome do as the Romans - When in Hong Kong do as the Chinese do. The "No can do comment" was made by the rickshaw owner when we asked he go up a long high road to a British Mansion there. |
| Another sister ship Stuben County LST 1138 beached alongside of us at Iwo Jima. We made several ports and tours together |
 |
 |
| Here's a replica of another Large Slow Target of old. This model was made by Gene Elliott (1954-1956) Lots of work involved in this project and the one he made of the USS Snohomish County LST 1126 shown on another page. Do you think maybe he's stuck on "Slow Ships"?? |
 |
| Here's the LST 1126 coming alongside the LST 1138 in preparation for a highline transfer somewhere in the South Pacific, likely around the Marshall Islands prior to the "Operation Castle" Atomic Bomb testing. You can tell the year was before July 1955 because it has no name on the fantail. (Photo furnished by LST 1138 website http://www.LST1138.com ) |
|
I Was a Sailor Once
Sharing a glimpse of the life I so dearly loved... I liked standing on the bridge wing at sunrise with salt spray in my face and clean ocean winds whipping in from the four quarters of the globe - I liked the sounds of the Navy - the piercing trill of the boatswains pipe, the syncopated clangor of the ship's bell on the quarterdeck, harsh , and the strong language and laughter of sailors at work. I liked Navy vessels -- plodding fleet auxiliaries,--ATF 76 USS Ute-- and amphibs, sleek submarines and steady solid aircraft carriers. I liked the proud names of Navy ships: Midway, Lexington, Saratoga, Coral Sea, Antietam, Valley Forge - - memorials of great battles won and tribulations overcome. I liked the lean angular names of Navy "tin-cans" and escorts - - DD 731 USS Maddox - mementos of heroes who went before us. And the others - - San Jose, San Diego, Los Angeles, St. Paul, Chicago, Oklahoma City, named for our cities. I liked the tempo of a Navy band . I liked liberty call and the spicy scent of a foreign port. I even liked the never ending paperwork and all hands working parties as my ship filled herself with the multitude of supplies, both mundane and to cut ties to the land and carry out her mission anywhere on the globe where there was water to float her. I liked sailors, officers and enlisted men from all parts of the land, farms of the Midwest, small towns of New England, from the cities, the mountains and the prairies, from all walks of life. I trusted and depended on them as they trusted and depended on me - for professional competence, for comradeship, for strength and courage. In a word, they were "shipmates"; then and forever. I liked the surge of adventure in my heart, when the word was passed: ''Now Hear This'' "Now set the special sea and anchor detail - all hands to quarters for leaving port," and I liked the infectious thrill of sighting home again, with the waving hands of welcome from family and friends waiting pier side The work was hard and dangerous; the going rough at times; the parting from loved ones painful, but the companionship of robust Navy laughter, the "all for one and one for all" philosophy of the sea was ever present. I liked the serenity of the sea after a day of hard ship's work, as flying fish flitted across the wave tops and sunset gave way to night. I liked the feel of the Navy in darkness - the masthead and range lights, the red and green navigation lights and stern light, the pulsating phosphorescence of radar repeaters - they cut through the dusk and joined with the mirror of stars overhead. And I liked drifting off to sleep lulled by the myriad noises large and small that told me that my ship was alive and well, and that my shipmates on watch would keep me safe. I liked quiet mid-watches with the aroma of strong coffee -- the lifeblood of the Navy permeating everywhere. And I liked hectic watches when the exacting minuet of haze-gray shapes racing at flank speed kept all hands on a razor edge of alertness. I liked the sudden electricity of "General quarters, general quarters, all hands man your battle stations," followed by the hurried clamor of running feet on ladders and the resounding thump of watertight doors as the ship transformed herself in a few brief seconds from a peaceful workplace to a weapon of war -- ready for anything. And I liked the sight of space-age equipment manned by youngsters clad in dungarees and sound-powered phones that their grandfathers would still recognize I liked the traditions of the Navy and the men and women who made them. I liked the proud names of Navy heroes: Halsey, Nimitz, Perry, Farragut, John Paul Jones and Burke. A sailor could find much in the Navy: comrades-in-arms, pride in self and country, mastery of the seaman's trade. An adolescent could find adulthood. In years to come, when sailors are home from the sea, AND SO WE ARE,--We still remember with fondness and respect the ocean in all its moods - the impossible shimmering mirror calm and the storm-tossed green water surging over the bow. And then there will come again a faint whiff of stack gas, a faint echo of engine and rudder orders, a vision of the bright bunting of signal flags snapping at the yardarm, a refrain of hearty laughter in the wardroom and chief's quarters and mess decks. Gone ashore for good we grow humble about our Navy days, when the seas were a part of us and a new port of call was ever over the horizon. Remembering this, WE stand taller and say, " I WAS A SAILOR ONCE." -Unknown |
 |
| Many of us could pick at some of the items identified in this poem about things we loved about the Navy life, yet they all hold a large amount of truth ....even with the memory of some, at times, not too pleasant. (ccb) |
| 1954 LST-1126 made her fourth trip to the Western Pacific and on 25 March 1954, LT. MEHUS was finally relieved as Commanding Officer by LCDR. J. F. McCARTHY, USN. LT. MEHUS had seen three complete sets of officers and had five Executive Officers prior to being relieved.
During the, summer of 1954 the ship was assigned to Landing Ship Squadron THREE which was a part of Amphibious Squadron THREE. |
1955 LST-1126 completed her tour of WestPac and returned to San Diego, California. In August of 1955, LCDR. McCarthy was relieved as Commanding Officer by LT. J. R. LANDRUM, USN. On July 1 1955, LST-1126 was recommissioned and renamed USS SNOHOMISH COUNTY (LST 1126). This was the first time that Landing Ship Tanks were given names. USS LST 1126 was named after Snohomish County in the state of Washington. |
| 1956 The SNOHOMISH COUNTY made her fifth tour to the Western Pacific under the command of LT. LANDRUM
(This was my final tour on the 1126. Just before the ship pulled out for the next tour , Feb 1957, I was discharged. ccb) |
| 1957 With the new LCDR LANDRUM as skipper, SNOHOMISH COUNTY left her home port of San Diego on 5 February 1957 and Proceeded to Yokusaka, Japan to commence her sixth tour of WestPac. USS SN0H0MISH COUNTY arrived back in San Diego on September 4, 1957. |
| 1958 SNOHOMISH COUNTY went into the shipyards at Hunter's Point, San Francisco on April 14, 1958. At this time, her old 20 MM guns were removed. On 7 May while in San Francisco, LCDR LANDRUM was relieved by LT. D. T. LAMB, USN. On 9 October 1958 the USS SNOHOMISH COUNTY departed Continental United States for a tour of duty to the Western Pacific. The ship returned to San Diego on 24 March 1959. WestPac ports that were visited are as follows: Iwakuni. Japan, Naha, Okinawa. Sasebo, Japan, Buckner Bay, Okinawa. Subic Bay, Philippines; Hong Kong: Kaochsuing, Taiwan; and Yokusaka, Japan. |
| 1959 Snohomish COUNTY returned from WestPac on 24 March and during the summer months the ship operated out of San Diego. During this time the ship participated in Operation Twin Peaks.
On 11 August, SNOHOMISH COUNTY went into the yards at San Diego, California in order to prepare for her next trip to WestPac. On 1 October, the ship left for her eighth and perhaps her last tour of the Western Pacific. The Commander of the Amphibious Force, U.S. Pacific Fleet has issued instructions that no LST's will deploy to WestPac in the future. There is now a squadron of LST's permanently home ported in Yokusaka Japan. On 18 December 1959, while the ship was in WestPac, LT. R. A. CAMPBELL became the ninth Commanding Officer of USS SNOHOMISH COUNTY. On that date he relieved LT. LAMB and LT JG, CAMPBELL guided the ship for the emainder of the tour in WestPac. Christmas and New Year's Day were spent in Kure, Japan. Other ports visited while in WestPac are as follows: Sasebo, Japan; Iwakuni, Japan; Yokusaka, Japan; Naha, Okinawa; Numazu, Japan; Subic Bay, Philippines; Hong Kong and Chin Hai, Korea. |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
New group of photos received from Gary T. Adair EN2 1954-1957 |
|
| New group of photos (54-57 I found while going through some "Stuff" from my Mother's house. (ccb) |
|