| From: Jack Miller
(RD3 52-54) LST 1126 1952-1953 History Marshall Islands trip This description is about one of two trips to the Marshall Islands I have heard of when the LST 1126 assisted in some of Atom Bomb Testing in that area. Another time was in the 60's. I joined the crew of LST1126 after she had made a resupply trip to Point Barrow, Alaska in the Summer of 1952 and returned to the Bremerton, Washington area. After repairs, etc. the ship moved from the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard on October 8, 1952 over to the ammunition depot at Bangor, WA. I was part of a three-man group (Leonard Winkler, ENG2, Duane Lowery, SA, and myself) who reported aboard at 1045 hours on Thursday, October 9. The ship cast off and was underway less than an hour later, at 1137. The three of us were reserves, returning to active duty. On Wednesday, October 15, the ship had arrived in San Diego and was moored at the Broadway Pier. Numerous persons joined the crew, including one draft of 29 men fresh out of boot camp. By Saturday, October 18, the ship was underway for Pearl Harbor, along with LST 854 and LST 516. At 0915 on Monday, October 27, the 1126 was moored at Berth K-3, Pearl Harbor Naval Base. Later, she was at Pier H, Berth #4. On Wednesday, November 5, 1952, the 1126 was enroute to Guam making 8-9 and sometimes 10 knots per hour. LST's 516 and 854 made up the other two ships of the trio. Arrival at the Guam Naval Base was early on Tuesday, November 18, 1952. The ship remained at Guam until departure for Eniwetok Atoll on Monday, December 1, 1952. The 854 and 516 continued on to Japan/Korea. I have a roster list of 43 enlisted crew members who were transferred from the 1126 at this time. The list indicates that 14 went to the 854 and the remainder to the Guam base (probably for further assignments). LST 1126 arrived at Eniwetok Atoll during the 8-12 watch on Saturday, December 6, 1952. She anchored in the lagoon. On Monday, December 8, she upped anchor and moored on the port side to the freight pier on Parry Island. Later that day, she moved forward 6 feet so that she would remained beached at the bow. She was loaded with cargo, and some passengers, and began her first voyage to Bikini Atoll on the 12-16 watch, Wednesday, December 10, 1952. She arrived at Bikini approximately 24 hours later (the distance is about 210 miles, as I recall). At some future time, I hope to count up the numerous trips made between Eniwetok and Bikini and the occasional longer trip to Kwajalein Atoll. In mid-July, 1953, the ship was at Kwajalein. On July 16, she again set sail for Eniwetok and arrived on Saturday, July 18. However, on Monday, July 20, 1953, LST 1126 weighed anchor and at 6:30 PM that evening departed for Pearl Harbor. She crossed the International Date Line (again) at 1519 hours on Friday, July 24th. Repairs were completed to the starboard main engine. However, power on that engine was lost again at 1231 on July 25. At about the same time, the ship crossed the International Date Line again and reverted to July 24th! By the following day, both main engines were on line and the ship's speed was over 10 knots per hour. At 2330 the night of July 25, the watch observed a total eclipse of the moon, according to the log entry of LT Richard Rohleder. LST 1126 arrived at the Pearl Harbor Naval Base on Saturday morning, August 1, 1953. By Tuesday, August 4, she moved from Pier H, Berth 2 to Dry-dock #4. She remained there for repairs some three weeks, until Wednesday, August 26. Even then, as the dry dock was being flooded, leaks in the ship were discovered and had to be repaired. However, she was out of the dry-dock and to Berth GD-2 at Pearl Harbor. On Monday, August 31, 1953, the LST 1126 left Pearl Harbor, sailed past Waikiki Beach and around Oahu Island to the Marine Base at Kaneohe Island. After loading a cargo, the ship left Kaneohe for Port Hueneme, California on Tuesday, September 1, 1953. She arrived there one week later, on Thursday, September 10th, 1953. (It was not long after this arrival to the United States that I reported aboard the LST 1126. I had been waiting on Treasure Island for her return. I was anxious to get off Mess Duty there and picking up Cigarette Butts) ccb For a description of some of the tests at Eniwetok and Bikini Atolls in the 1950s, I recommend Richard Rhodes' Dark Sun: The Making of the Hydrogen Bomb. Simon & Schuster, 1995. It won a book award and was supported by the MacArthur and Sloan foundations as a scholarly study and report. Some other books about "people factors" include For the Good of Mankind: A History of the People of Bikini and Their Islands. Jack Niedenthall. Bravo Books, 2001. You also can contact the author at bikini@mtamar.com There also are books on the WWII battles to occupy the Marshall Islands, particularly Eniwetok, which was the key to any invasion of Okinawa and other islands close to Japan. So long as the Japanese held Eniwetok and some of the other atolls, they could interdict supply lines between the U. S. and points farther east. Eniwetok had to be taken. |
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