USS Austin LPD-4
1986

Updated: April 23rd, 2025


 

    This painting of Austin was a gift to me by Bruno in Naples in 1987

Chapter Outline

My Family's Move to Little Creek

Austin's Restricted Ability (SRA), Portsmouth Naval Shipyard (
Mid January through February, 1986)
 
Change in Home Port to Naval Base Little Creek (February, 1986)


Buried my mother at sea with my father aboard Austin (March, 1986)

Damage Control Training Guantanamo Bay, Cuba (June, 1986)

Port Visit to Kingston, Jamaica (July 4th, 1986)

Returned to Little Creek (early July,1986)

Surface Action Group Assignment west of Greenland (August, 1986)

NATO Exercise Northern Wedding
(COMPHIBRON Six Staff Embarked)
(August/November, 1986)

(Crossed the Arctic Circle 29 August, 1986)

My father died while we were at sea during Exercise Northern Wedding

Port Visits to Kiel, West Germany (mid October, 1986) and Dover, England (late October/early November, 1986)

Returned to little Creek (November, 1986)



My Family's Move to Little Creek

Mt wife Cathy and daughter Jessica (less than 2) stayed in Jacksonville when I was  busy training for my tour aboard Austin from February, 1985 until September1st, 1985.

Training Pipeline
 
SOSMARC Engineering Training in Idaho Falls, Idaho (Feb-June,1985)
 SOSMARC Class training at the Navy's Engineering Training Center in Glenview, Illinois
SWOSCOLCOM (Surface Warfare Officer School Command), Newport, Rhode Island (with SOSMARC Class)

Note: My Daughter, Lindsay Dean Smith was born while I was in training on 20 July, 1985.
My mother died of stomach cancer about the same time as Lindsay was born while I was in training!

Large bridge simulator training at Toledo, Ohio and at Floyd Bennett Field, Brooklyn, New York
I finished my training  at Floyd Bennett Field August 30th, 1985.
(I know this because I attended the US Open Tennis Tournament at Forrest Hills every evening that week and stayed an extra day to watch Ivan Lenyl defeat John McEnroe in the final on September 1st).

Cathy and Jessica moved from Jacksonville to Norfolk with help from her father and Annie Kiem in Jacksonville. Cathy, Jessica, and  month old Lindsay arrived in Norfolk with help from Pat Mazach the wife of my XO in VA-15 (then CO of USS Seattle AO-3).
I met up with Cathy and the girls in Norfolk when I finished my training in early September.


Two Significant Events

First, I paid a call on the Commander COMPHIBRON TWELVE (an A7 pilot). We got along well immediately and in addition to many subjects, he told me that he would approve moving Austin's home port from Naval Base Norfolk to Amphibious Base Little Creek after we completed an SRA (Ship Restricted Ability) maintenance evolution at Portsmouth.

Second, Cathy Jessica, and I moved in to base housing which for us proved to be an  adventure because our quarters were in a wing of an abandoned old hospital built in the 1940s but renovated for use as an O6 quarters. I'm not sure of the accuracy of the location of our quarters indicated on the map below but is was nearby where the Austin located when inport; indicated by the "X".
 





This is a picture of the wing of the old hospital which was renovated for our quarters.



An Amusing Story


The Commanding Officer of Iwo Jima, Captain Anthony Granuzo asked me if I would host his wife for lunch on Austin so she could watch him get underway to a nearby anchorage to offload some ammunition. In the process, he sort of got somewhat grounded. Andy was on the flight deck communicating with his Chief Engineer and two of his officers, one on the bridge and one on the stern.

Andy insisted he wasn't aground and directed the Chief engineer to use some power to get free. What he didn't count on was that he was on a COMPHIBRON Twelve common frequency so everyone including the Commodore were able to follow the evolution with amusement.

I take every opportunity these days to remind him, now RDM Granuzu Retired, of the incident.


Austin's Restricted Ability (SRA), Portsmouth Naval Shipyard


I changed the working hours for most of the crew for the SRA. Instead of the usual 0730 for the start of our day, I changed it to 0600 so that most of the crew could avoid the normal morning traffic and get off at 1530 to be able to spend more time at home or to enjoy a leisure activity of their choice.

This change also enabled each department to get some work done to prepare for the arrival of the shipyard workers most of whom traveled from Naval Station Norfolk by bus. Most of the shipyard workers departed the ship about 1530 which allowed most of the crew to depart the ship in time to avoid the heavy afternoon traffic.

Unfortunately, most of the officers and senior chief petty officers had to remain aboard later to plan for the next day.


The SRA lasted about six weeks. I was familiar with ship restricted availabilities as I was a "milestone manager" in 1974 while at COMNAVAIRLANT  for two ship overhauls. I was especially interested in Boiler feed water chemistry and the ability of machinest mates to make repairs and the capability of the machine shop to manufacture repair parts while underway. I was successful in getting five or six nuclear trained machinest mates orders to Austin who had been released at the end of their training in Orlando. I was interested in getting the "by the book" nuclear machinest mates to augment the machinest mates already aboard who had the uncanny ability to make temporary repairs while underway.


Change in Home Port to Naval Base Little Creek (February, 1986)




I think we used the piers to the left of the "X" which were designed to accommodate the larger ships.


These piers were in walking distance of my quarters and provided quick access to Chesapeake Bay.



I Buried my mother at sea with my father aboard Austin (March, 1986)

My father made a couple of trips from Nakomis, Florida to Little Creek in February and March, 1986. In his last trip, he brought my mother's cremated ashes to be buried at sea. I received permission from COMPHIBRON TWELVE to get underway for some "engineering trials" with my father on board with the understanding that we would be releasing my mother's ashes on the trip.




We got underway about 1000 with one watch section aboard. We went directly to the burial site and ballasted the ship so that the stern gate was only a few feet above the water.  There were only five of us in the well deck; me, my father, Chaplin Ramsey,  ABFCM (AW) Veneble, and a bugler on the well deck wall. ABFCM (AW) Veneble released my mother's ashes over the stern gate ingto Chesapeake Bay.

I have an excellent picture of this but haven't located it yet. When I do, I'll make an update.


Damage Control Training Guantanamo Bay, Cuba (June, 1986)

Austin's route to Guantanamo Bay, Cuba (GTMO)






 


My Our damage control training complete and our readiness certified, we were officially ready to deploy!



Lt (LDO) Pete Kemp, our new Chief Engineer, was a significant factor in our success at GTMO. The fact that LTjg (LDO) Pete Kemp was Austin's Repair Division Officer During Austin's previous deployment most likely gave him the experience to be able to provide such great leadership at GTMO!


Kingston, Jamaica (about July 4th, 1986)



We delayed our stay at GTMO for a couple of days to prepare (stock up) for our visit to Kingston.
We received priority berthing alongside as indicated in the image to the right because we were there as a favor from President Reagan to the American Consulate.

We were in Kingston from a Friday though Monday morning. We hosted the American Consulate and their guests at a reception on the flight deck on Friday evening. All hands were aboard for the reception. Half of the crew (except for the engineers) had a Saturday trip to the Sheraton Hotel in Ocho Rios. The other half spent Sunday at Ocho Rios. As we were steaming, the engineers had to remain in Kingston but were released as feasible and had a bar suite at the hotel indicated in the image as the guests of the consulate!

The Friday Evening Reception

The guests arrived aboard via an accommodation ladder from the pier to the forward portion of the flight deck. We met the guests at a reception line at the end o the accommodation ladder. The Austin officers were in "choker white" uniforms with ribbons. We had set up a tent on the flight deck which contained tables of beverages and food items.



The Supply Officer,Lt Steve Sterrett had obtained a wide variety of traditional Navy reception food items including Lumpia. But, the "coup de gras" was the Haigen Diaz ice cream that he brought from GTMO.
 
The reception was a great success. After the guests had departed, some of us changed into civilian dress and went into town. Kingston had a reputation that it was a bit dangerous out in town due to drugs and gangs. But, we had no problem finding a place to have a drink or two without any problem.
Ocho Rios

The crew members taking advantage of the trip to Ocho Rios boarded buses at the ship and traveled from Kingston across the hills of the inner island to the coast at Ocho Rios.




The destination at Ocho Rios was the Sheraton resort hotel where they could swim or relax by the pool or travel to the famous falls near the hotel.
 



Another alternative was to go shopping. Bob Marley was a significant part of Jamaican culture.





Lignum Vitae


Lignum Vitae is a variety of tree commonly found in the Caribbean area. The wood of the Lignum Vitae tree is extremely hard; so hard that it was carved in to spheres and used as cannon balls in the days of the sailing ships.




In Jamaica, in modern times, it is carved into statues of animals and human forms.
During the Austin's tours of Ocho Rios, numerous crew members purchased Lignum Vitae statues.






I made it to Ocho Rios late on Sunday morning. After a couple of "green stripes" by the pool at the hotel, I changed into my swim trunks and took the bus to the waterfall for some hiking in the falls and a swim at the pool at the bottom. After returning to the hotel to change, I did some shopping in town and purchased a Lignum Vitae similar to the one 2nd from the left in the images above. I think I paid about $40 for it. On the way back to Kingston, our bus stopped for refreshments. On the side of the road was a little man sitting on his haunches with a few Lignum Vitae statues around him. His statues were exceptionally beautiful!  I picked up the best of the lot, very similar ti the statue on the far left, carved completely from the black center of the wood. I asked him how much he wanted to sell it? He said something surprising like $20 reflecting the poverty he was enduring.  I don't remember what I paid for the statue but it was at least $50 and might have been more.

I returned to the ship about sunset pleased that the LCDR Phelps, our Executive Officer and the Chief Engineer, Lt Pete Kemp had everything "ship shape" and ready to get underway in the morning!

Note: We paid for the buses to and from Ocho Rios with the Austin's welfare and recreation funds. The use of the hotel in Ocho Rios was arranged by the consulate. Austin crew members only had to pay for what they ate and drank and for whatever shopping they did.  Thank you President Reagan and the American Consulate!



Kingston to Little Creek

We arrived back in port at Little Creek about the 10th of July. We had less than a month to prepare to get underway from Little Creek and then stop by Moorhead City to pick up our marines for a four month deployment to for a "special operation" off the coast of Greenland and on the Norway for NATO Exercise Northern Wedding


Austin's Team For Exercise Northern Wedding



Executive Officer
LCDR Norm Phelps



ABFCM (AW) Veneble
Command Master Chief
LT Goverard
Executive Assistant

LCDR Kurt Garbow, Air Department; Lt Steve Sterrett, Supply Department; and LCDR Al Maskeroni, Dental Department;
would complete Northern Wedding but get relieved prior to our MARG 3-87 deployment.






Operations Officer
LCDR Hutson
Chief Engineer
LT (LDO) Pete  Kemp
 
First Lieutenant
Lt (LDO) Jim Peed
Air Department
LCDR Kurt Garbow
(Northern Wedding)
Air Department
LT
(MARG 3-87)





Supply Department
Lt Steve Sterrett
(Northern Wedding)
Supply Department
Lt Avram
(MARG 3-87)
Medical Department
Lt Offerman
Dental Department
LCDR Al Maskeroni
Northern Wedding
Dental Department
LT Dave O'brian
MARG 3-87






Navigation Officer
LT Kimport
Navigation Chief
QMC R.Englin
OE Division
CWO4 S.Grimme

Chaplin
LCDR Ramsey
LCU-2
BMC Carlson

Department Assistants and Junior Officers





LT Van Hassent
Air Department
Flight Deck Officer
LTjg Dolasse
Supply Department
Asst. Supply Officer
ENS McDaniel
Supply Department
Asst. Supply Officer







LT Olsen
Operations Department
OE Division Officer
LT Ullman
Operations Department
OI Division Officer
CWO2 Utter
Operations Department
OE Division Officer
ENS Boone
Operations Department
OI Division Officer
LTjg Schultz
Operations Department
OC Division Officer





LT Terrel
Deck Department
Deck Dept. Officer
LTjg Patrick
Deck Department
1st Division Officer
ENS Pace
Deck Department
2nd Division Officer
LTjg Brown
Deck Department
3rd Division Officer



The USS Austin Organization Consisted of 33 Officers who Coordinated the Ship's Operations.
But most of the actual work was directed by a talented group of of dedicated Chief Petty Officers and First Class Petty Officers.
(2 Master Chief Petty Officers, 4 Senior Chief Petty Officers, 17 Chief Petty Officers and 33 First Class Petty Officers)



Surface Action Group Assignment west of Greenland (August, 1986)
NATO Exercise Northern Wedding
(COMPHIBRON Six Staff Embarked)
(August/November, 1986)


Our Surface Action Group (SAG) consisted of Austin and an LST; I think it was USS Saginaw LST-1188. We were underway from Little Creek in early August to stop by Moorhead City to pick up our marines from MSSG-24 and BLT 1/2 (Saginaw). Although the marines had no part in the Greenland operation, because we were going directly from Greenland to Norway for NATO Exercise Northern Wedding, they had yo come with us to Greenland.




USS Austin-MSSG-24 Team
MSSG-24



LTCOL Robert Buckley
MSSG-24
Commanding Officer
Major Robert McMahon
MSSG-24
Executive Officer



Surface Action Group Assignment west of Greenland (August, 1986)


USS Austin LPD-4
PHIBRON 6 was not embarked. They transited to Exercise Northern Wedding embarked in USS Guadalcanal LPH-7

USS Saginaw LST-1188

We were not briefed concerning the "special operation". Our tasking was to navigate to a specific location in the Davis Strait west of Greenland and maintain that position until released from the "special operation".  


I decided to have a little fun while we were orbiting in the Davis Strait. I had a red star painted in Austin's bridge wings and instructed Saginaw to paint a similar red star on their bridge wings.We referred to each other at Captain Smithovich and Comrad X (I forget the the Saginaw's CO's Russian handle). 



We were surprised when we were joined by A Russian Riga Class destroyer as a "tattletale". I think the Riga must have been surprised to see the red stars on our bridge wings!

The Riga was a "rust bucket" and had a tough time managing the rough seas in the Davis Strait.
I felt sorry for them so I had the XO, Norm Phelps signal them to be ready to receive some cargo by helo and sent them some ice cream!

 I forgot to relate another story that occurred in the Davis Strait 


Remember George my cook that I referred to in my first Austin chapter (1985)? He was still with me in the Davis Strait and observed the following event
 


While in the Davis Strait, I was able to leave the bridge/at sea cabin during the last "dog watch" and come down to my inport cabin for some exercise on my exercise bike and dinner. The bed in my inport cabin was oriented fore and aft and my exercise bike was oriented perpendicular to the bed. This was so that as the ship rolled, I was able to lean backward or forward to counter the ship's roll. On the occasion of this event, Austin was experiencing rolls of up to 20 degrees. Unfortunately, during one of these rolls to port, I leaned backward on my exercise bike rather than forward to counter the roll which resulted in me landing on the bed with the exercise bike on top of me and a rather loud crashing sound.


George was preparing dinner in the galley. He heard the crash and came running in to see what happened. He was unable to keep from laughing when he saw my predicament. I couldn't help but laugh myself. Fortunately, I was not injured.



We were released from the "special operation" after a few days and we proceeded south of Greenland to Norway for Northern Wedding. As we passed south of Greenland, we were treated to an amazing site; thousands of black and white porpoises from horizon to horizon.







NATO Exercise Northern Wedding

I will discuss Northern Wedding in six parts

1. Austin crossing the Arctic Circle
2. The amphibious landing
3. Navigating the Norwegian fjords
4. An interesting evening at anchorage in one of the fjords
5. Inport Kiel, Germany
6. Inport Dover, England


PHIBRON Six (Amphibious Squadron Six) and 24th MAU (Marine Amphibious Unit) staffs




Captain Andrew Fosina
PHIBRON 6 COS

Captain Jerome Murphy
Commander PHIBRON 6

Colonel Gordon Kessler
Commander MAU 24

 
The PHIPRON Six and Mau 24 staffs were not aboard when Austin crossed the Arctic Circle and for the amphibious landing but were on board for Austin's transit of the fjords after the landing.




Austin Crossing the Arctic Circle

We crossed the Arctic Circle at 11 degrees East Longitude on August 29th, 1986. I think our position off the coast of northern Norway was somewhere between the two "X" positions indicated on the map to the left below. The average temperature on August 29 at those positions is about 14 degrees Celsius/57 degrees Fahrenheit.




I was not exempt from the required crossing the Arctic Circle activities. In fact, the crew who had crossed the Arctic Circle previously took great delight in watching me crawl from the starboard capstan to the bow in my underwear to kiss the greased belly of the "creature" resting there!



That "creature" was Austin's 2nd Division chief, Master Chief Boatswains Mate (Surface Warfare) Douglas.

Master Chief Douglas was serving his final tour at sea before retiring from the Navy.

I enjoyed watching Master Chief Douglas challenge one of the junior boatswainsmate seaman in a polish a capstan contest.

There are not many Aviation Master Chief Petty Officers that elect to serve their final tour on sea duty! 



My Crossing the Arctic Circle certificate for August 29th, 1986 at 11 degrees East Longitude



One of the most beautiful scenes we were blessed with were the nightly display of the Northern Lights. They were particularly spectacular at the Arctic Circle but continued to follow us as we proceeded south along the Norwegian coast.



  The Amphibious Landing

Ships of the Amphibious Ready Group

I have used the ships which comprised the ships for our Mediterranean Amphibious Ready Group MARG 3-87 deployment. Using the same ships for Northern Wedding would seem reasonable; but it may not have been the case. For example, the USS Spiegel Grove LSD-32 was experiencing engineering problems and may not have been available. If that were so, she was most likely replaced by an LPD that would assume a similar role in the Northern Wedding amphibious landing.



USS Guadalcanal LPH-7
PHIBRON 6 and MAU 24 Embarked



USS Austin LPD-4
MSSG-24 embarked

USS Spiegel Grove LSD-32
BLT 1/2 Embarked



USS Saginaw LST-1188
BLT 1/2 and vehicles embarked
USS La Moure County LST-1194
BLT 1/2 and vehicles embarked
 
The amphibious landing was primarily a political exercise to demonstrate the ability of American seaborne forces to support Norway as a NATO ally.
 


I think that the landing
was in the vicinity of Trondheim at a beach similar to the one pictured on the right. You can see that the topography limited the use of light tanks so the LSTs probably used swimming surface vehicals to transport the BLT 2/1 marines to the shoreline.

Guadalcanal and Austin and the other LPD or the Spiegel Grove might have used helos to to transport personnel from MAU-24 and MSSG-24 and some equipment to the beach.

The high point of the exercise was the marines were met by the Queen of Norway as they landed.


Austin's primary role besides helo support was to use our LCU's to transport personnel and equipment to the beach.






Austin had two LCUs from LCU2 that operated from the well deck.


The PHIPRON Six and Mau 24 staffs were aboard for the transit of the fjords/leeds after the amphibious landing.

Navigating the Norwegian fjords



Navigating the fjords as we headed south was a beautiful experience and was not a problem.

But, some of our route involved navigating small rivers which were narrow and shallow. We ballasted Austin so she was level and gave us an average draft of about 16 feet. We were grateful for the Norwegian pilot who guided us along this rather treacherous route.


 interesting evening at anchorage in one of the fjords
weweWe spent the night at one of the fjords. Our anchorage was similar the the one in the image to the left. 



Norway fjord anchorage
Town at the end of our fjord  anchorage
 


Our superior Supply Officer, Lt Steve Sterrett, explored the fjord in one of our ship's boats and discovered a town nearby at the end of the fjord. He purchased some fresh fruits and vegetables in the town and brought them back to Austin. He also stopped by a restaurant and decided that we should return for dinner later that evening.

Later that evening, I joined Steve, our Chief Engineer, Lt (LDO) Pete Kemp, and our First Lieutenant, Lt (LDO) Jim Peed in my GIG for dinner at the restaurant in the town. While there, Steve purchased some more fresh fruits and vegetables and some ice cream. When we returned to Austin about midnight, Steve had them delivered to the PHIPBRON 6 galley. Neither Commodore Murphy or the Chief of Staff Fosina asked me how the "goodies" found their way to the PHIBRON 6 galley but I'm confident that they appreciated the gesture. 

During the exercise planning phase, we were given the opportunity to select what port we would be assigned at the end of the exercise. I knew that the aircraft carrier would be assigned Portsmouth, England for seniority and political reasons. The most desirable port was Copenhagen, Denmark but I knew that the LHA would get that choice as the CO of the Guadalcanal was senior than me and PHIBRON 6 would be embarked. So, I asked my XO, LCDR Norm Phelps to find me a deep water port that we could tie up at a dock rather than anchor out. Norm came up with two ports, Kiel, Germany and Dover, England. We would be joined in Kiel by the two LSTs and possibly the Spiegel Grove.


Our voyage from Norway south to the North Sea then east to the Skagerrak then south southeast to the Kaittegat Strait then wander our way through the western Baltic to eventually arrive at Kiel was an interesting one!


Inport Kiel, Germany

I hadn't expected to bethe Senior Officer Present the Senior Officer Presentthe Senior Officer Presentghe responsible for two or three ships in addition to Austin in Kiel.

We were docked bow to stern along a pier that had excellent access to the city.

I don't recall any formal calls made and received in Kiel but our reception was warm and enthusiastic. I do remember that a representative of thew city contacted me on our arrival and was helpful in making whatever arrangements we requested. When I say that our reception was warm and enthusiastic, it was almost like the people of Kiel declared a late "October Fest" for us!

There were thee specific events worthy of mentioning:
1. The wine tasting affair
2. My trip to Hamburg
3.The call from the Harbour Master at Dover

  The Wine Tasting Affair

One afternoon early in the port visit, the representative of the city introduced me to the owner of a German wine establishment who invited the navy and marine officers of Austin to attend his establishment to sample his wines. I accepted with the stipulation that he not only extend a similar invitation to the navy and marine officers on the other ships but that he arrange for wine tastings for the enlisted personnel of each ship if the Captain of that ship accepted the offer. As the Senior Naval Officer in the port I didn't think it necessary to get permission.
I don't know what the other Captains did about the offer but we did conduct a wine tasting for the enlisted personnel on the Austin mess deck.

My Trip to Hamburg

 
It is about 1/2 hours by train from Kiel to Hamburg. Hamburg is well known for its' architecture and fine theater entertainment.





But most of us were more interested in checking out Hamburg's "red light district similar to Amsterdam's! 



The "red light district" had rows of windows with prostitutes providing entertainment for the onlookers.
Most of the women in the windows were very young and attractive.

I and the Austin officers who went with me enjoyed the "show" but didn't participate.


Remember George my cook that I referred to in my first Austin chapter (1985)? He was still with me in Northern Wedding.

I didn't know that he made a trip to Hamburg with some of his cook friends and also found his way into Hamburg's "red light"district.

When he returned, he asked me "Captain, are those pretty girls in the windows really prostitutes? The young man from New Jersey was very naive.
 



The Call from the Harbour Master at Dover

I was sitting at my desk in my in port cabin at Kiel at about 1000 when I was surprised when the phone rang. Who could that be? Maybe Commodore Murphy was calling to give me some information about our return trip back to Little Creek! No, it was the Harbour Master at Dover calling me to express his concern about our entering port there. They were not accustomed to having large ships enter port at Dover. He informed me that he would only board Austin when we were safely in the harbor basin and dead  in the water. He did not want to be responsible for the tricky entrance from the North Sea current through the narrow inlet into the Dover harbor basin. He said that we would be docking at the "banana pier" that the Royal Yacht" normally occupied and that we would have to come up with a plan for that. I informed him that had a plan and we wanted to approach the pier at low slack tide to make handling the lines easier due to the extreme tidal range at Dover.

Our route from Kiel to Dover





Dover Harbour

Our plan for Dover Harbour had two stages:
1. Making the the turn from Dover Strait through the inlet to pick up the pilot
2. Arrival at the banana pier and setting our spring lines

We had to have plenty of way on (16kts) to control our turn from the Davis Straight through the inlet in to Dover Harbour. As soon as we safely cleared the inlet, we had to go "all back full" to stop at position X on the chart to pick up the pilot.

The issues involved with getting set up at the "banana pier" were; the tidal range of 18 feet required significant changes in the spring lines and the Austin was much longer then the Royal Yacht which resulted in the requirement to set up the aft spring lines using a boat.

We decided to conduct the operation at low tide to facilitate the spring line initial set up so the flight deck would be about even with the pier. We ballasted Austin to 14 feet forward and 18 feet aft and actually grounded the bow (LPDs are made to do this) to get the bow as close to the pier as possible.

Our The initial part of the operation went very well.
The Royal Navy provided some personnel to help Austin's boatswain mates adjust the spring lines with each tidal change and set up a platform at each accommodation ladder as the flight deck was about 20 feet higher at high tide than at low tide.
Also, Royal Marines provided security personnel at the entrance  pier which was also of great help.

Inport Dover, England









Austin's officers, sailors, and marines loved the liberty in Dover. Not only were Dover's residents enthusiastic about us being there and were exceptionally welcoming but they could catch a hover craft to France near the end of our pier and it was also relatively easy to get to Canterbury and catch a train to London!




Call Made

The Mayor of Dover invited me and LTCol Buckley (MSSG-24 CO) for a luncheon the next day after our arrival.

She was very hospitable and made the point that Autsin was the largest ship ever to come to Dover since the records were started in 1609.
Ships avoided Dover during WWII because it was in range of the V2 rockets. Our Spruance Class destroyers avoided Dover because of their sonar domes. Our cruisers, battleships, and AOR/AOE ships had too great a draft for Dover Harbour.
Because of this, the mayor declared they should celebrate the end of WWII, VE Day for our benefit.

T
hey arranged a party for the navy and marine officers that evening which included the Royal Marines "Trooping the Line" demonstration. 



In addition, they had arranged for food, a band and an open bar for us.

They even invited some women from a nearby nursing school for our entertainment and so we would have partners for dancing!


My wife Cathy Joined me in Dover

Cathy flew in to Gatwick airport in London, took the train to Canterbury and a taxi to Dover in time to check in to a hotel in Dover and arrive in time to see the Royal Marines  "Troop the Line" and enjoy the party.
She remained in the hotel the next day while I hosted the Dover mayor for lunch.

Call Returned

I invited the mayor to come to Austin and councilmen that she selected to come to Austin the next day for a luncheon.
 


George and the pastry chef prepared an incredible lunch of Dover Sole, fine pastries and dry California dry white wine which was a big hit.



Cathy's Visit

I took leave after the luncheon and Cathy and I rented a car, drove to London, spent the night in a hotel and were off the next morning to Kersey in the county of Suffolk.


Cathy's father, Captain Don Hull-Ryde USN Ret., family immigrated from Kelsey. There were two sources of his progeny; the Hulls and the Rydes. Apparently there was a hostile relationship between the two families. It was sort of like the Hatfields and McCoys or Maybe Romeo anf Julliet. Whatever, that adversarial relationship explains the hyphenated last name Hull-Ryde.

The village of Kelsey was a beautiful quaint village and we spent one night there.






I remember driving up the road to St Mary's Church. We had to stop before a low point in the road to let a family of ducks cross the road.
I thought we went to St Mary's church to look for head stones with Hull-Ryde or Hull or Ryde but Cathy says that it was unlikely that the Hulls and the Rydes would be found in the same cemetery.


There was an airfield near Kelsey where the Eighth Air Force operated their bombers that flew missions to Germany during Word War Two. I was told that the airfield they flew from (The Brits called it a disused airfield) could still be found there. We were successful and found it.


This is a picture of the airfield in 1944
This is all that remains today







I was also interested in finding the Black Swan tavern that was famous for turning around a beer mug over the bar while a mission was in progress. I don't know if we did but I like to think that we did and that is where we stayed the night before returning to Dover.

Back in Dover


The mayor of Dover had arranged for us to stay at an apartment located in front of the the White cliffs by the sea.

When we arrived there, the very nice Indian lady who ran the apartment said that she was the only one there to host us as all her girls who were normally there to help  her had been gone since the Austin had arrived in port!


We had a nice day or two there before Cathy had to return to Little Creek and we were ready for the final leg of our journey.

Crossing the Atlantic Ocean

Our Amphibious Ready Group joined up off the coast of Portsmouth and proceeded to Moorhead City to off load our marines before returning to Norfolk/Little Creek.




We arrived in  Little Creek in November to get ready for our next adventure, our deployment to the Mediterranean for MARG 3-87.


Next Chapter (MARG 3-87)

USS Austin 1987

 

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