USS Austin LPD-4
1985

Last Updated
May 11th, 2025

 








The Change of Command was on
20 September, 1985

I used the Austin cruise book for most of the images and the schedule to help determine the order of events while I was CO.


Change of Command September 20th,1985




I relieved Captain Fred Olds off Capo Teulado, Sardinia on September 20th,1985












Farewell to Captain Fred Olds


Captain Olds departed Austin by marine helo
 OK, Jim, he's gone; now what?

This was what!
I gave a great deal of thought about my strengths and weak points to be an effective Commanding Officer of Austin.

First, because I had no background in amphibious operations, I decided that I would delegate the conduct of amphibious operations to Austin's Executive and Operations Officers and the Marine Corps MSSG-26 and e Battalion Landing Team (BLT) Commanders.

Second, I would concentrate my efforts to provide enthusiastic leadership, ensure the safety of the ship, improve crew morale, concentrate on defensive and power projection operations, and instill a "warrior" mentality in our operations.

Mediterranean Amphibious Ready Group (MARG 2-85)


Amphibious Operations Team Leaders




CDR Jim Adams
USS Austin Executive Officer 
LCDR Jim Jones
USS Austin Operations Officer		 LTCOL Jordan USMC
MSSG-24
Commanding Officer 		LTCOL Hagerty USMC
Commanding Officer
  BLT 3/8
Note: BLT 3/8 means Battalion Landing Team 3rd Marines 8th Battalion

It turned out that we would not conduct any amphibious operations for the remainder of the deployment!
Instead, we were directed to get underway the afternoon of the change of command to steam independently to the eastern Mediterranean to take up a position off the coast of Lebanon called Operation Lily Pad to provide a landing platform in case the embassy in Beirut had to be evacuated.



The transit to Operation Lily Pad provided me the opportunity to conduct training and establish establish my priorities with the officers and crew of Austin.




The Austin Team

Department Heads
Front Row: Lt Johnson (Medical Officer, Lt Pash (Navigation Officer), 1st LT Rassel (Marine Detachment Officer in Charge), LCDR Mskeroni (Dental Officer), LCDR Hill (Executive Department Officer)
Back Row: LCDR Jones (Operations Officer), LCDR Garbow (Air Boss), LT Sterrett (Supply Officer), LCDR O'Leary (Chief Engineer)
Missing: LT Peed (First Lieutenant)-He is pictured in the Deck Department section

    Navigation Team


Left to Right: Lt Pash (Navigation Officer) CDR Adams (Executive Officer), CMC Hall (Navigation Chief)

Bridge Officer Watch Standers (Department not identified)


Deck Department

Ltjg Worthy (1st Div), Ltjg Osmundsen (3rd Div), ENS Patrick 4th, Div, Ltjg Oliver (2nd Div)


Deck Department Division Officer
Ltjg Allen


Operations Department Officers

Front Row: CWO4 Grimm; OE Division-Electronics and Fire Control Technicians); ENS Rivera (  ), Ltjg Kimport ; OC Division-Signalmen);
Back Row: Lt Marrin Assistant Operations Officer; Ltjg Osmundsen (moved to Deck Department 3rd Division) 

Engineering Department Officers

Front Row: Ltjg Honkomp (M Div-Machinist Mates), Ltjg Hothem (B Div-Boilers), ENS Rivera (MPA-Main Propulsion Assistant)
Back Row: Lt Dail (Assistant Engineering Officer), LCDR O'Leary-Chief Engineer)



Lt Steckel- E Division
Electrician's Mates (EM)
Interior Communications (IC)
 Ltjg Kemp- R Division
Damage Control and Repair
Hull Technicians (HT)

Note: Lt Kemp would be the Chief Engineer on our next deployment

Supply Department Officers



Left to Right: Ltjg Feeley, ENS Dolasse, Lt Sterrett (Department Head)


Ltjg Harris
S4 Division Officer
Disbursing





  Note: Lt Sterrett was awarded the Surface Warfare Officer (SWO) insignia by Capt Olds

  Air Department Officers















LCDR Garbow- Air Boss
Ltjg Van Hassent- Mini Boss

Medical Department






Lt Johnson
Medical Officer
Lt Duckett
Assistant Medical Officer

Dental Department






LCDR Mascaroni
Dental Officer

Austin's Chief Petty Officers

The Austin Officers are responsible for the performance of their departments.
But the actual work is directed on site by the chief petty officers.


Inport Cabin Dinners While Underway
I established the practice of inviting the BLT or MSSG-26 Commander their Executive Officers and three of the MSSG/BLT officers along with two of Austin's officers to dinner in my inport cabin while underway. The inport cabin had a table for twelve which was ideal for these dinners.  My Executive Officer, Jim Adams, was on the bridge during these dinners. I thought these dinners would be important for encouraging positive relations between the Marine and Austin's naval officers. BLT 3/8 was aboard Austin in 1984 when it was blown up by terrorists in Beirut. Many of the BLT officers and some of Austin's officers were aboard Austin during that difficult period. Also, I learned a great deal during these dinners!

Bridge Training
Captain Olds was a outstanding ship handler. But my impression was that rather than using a positive constructive approach to correct mistakes by bridge watch standers, he would often berate them and take the con himself. The result was that many of the bridge watch standers had little self confidence and were hesitant in executing their responsibilities.

During the transit, we conducted many Man Overboard drills and other ship handling training to create a positive environment on the bridge and instill self confidence in the watch standers.

I would initiate the training event from the starboard bridge wing and the XO, Jim Adams would observe the functioning of the bridge watch team.

Weapons Training

I decided that the transit would provide a great opportunity to conduct training of ships bridge crew and practice firing the 3" gun and 50 caliber weapons.
 
I had my cook, George, bring a basketball to the bridge wing which he threw overboard to initiate the training event.



USS Austin Weapons Capability







The Close in Weapons System (CIWS) was an automatic system and did not require crew training.

We fired the gun to make sure that it was working!


The 3" 50 dual gun was located forward of the starboard bridge wing so was in an ideal location to observe the effective operation of the loading of shells and firing of the gun!

I designed eight firing positions; 2,4, 6, and 8 on the port side forward of the bridge and 1, 3, 5, and 7 on the starboard side. This gave me the opportunity to control firing of the 50 cal guns using the IMC voice communications System from the starboard bridge wing.

I had read Patrick O'Brians's Master and Commander at Sea series which stressed the importance of exercising the ship's weapons!
This was great training for the bridge teams and the Deck Department Third Division for gunnery drills. The XO, CDR Jim Adams would would work with the bridge teams during man overboard drills. The First Lieutenant, Jim Peed would join me for gunnery drills to evaluate the progress of his Third Division
3" 50 and 50 gun crews.


The XO, working with the bridge team for man overboard maneuvering.
 The First Lieutenant with me for gunnery drills

This training proved to be significant in that this training of  bridge teams and gun crews proved to be very important for Lily Pad Operations!

The Achille Lauro Operation

VADM Kelso and Genaral Vessey

VADM Kelso
We had only been on station Lily Pad a few days when I received an urgent "Red Phone" call from Commander Sixth Fleet, VADM Frank Kelso!
His message was brief and to the point; approximate quote "Bo, you are about to receive tasking directly from the Chairman of the Joint Chief of Staff, General Vessey! I have trust in you that you will make excellent decisions as to your actions in this matter".


General Vessey

Note: I had met RADM Kelso when I played tennis with him in Norfolk I was VADM Greer's Aide in 1974.

General Vessey's tasking

The cruise ship Achille Lauro has  been highjacked  by terrorists when leaving Beirut. The Chairman of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), Yassar Arafat, has offered Achille Lauro safe haven in Larnaca, Cypress. Your tasking is to prevent Achille Lauro from entering Larnaca.




We received the tasking just after dark. After consulting with the XO, Ops Officer, Jim Peed, our First Lieutenant, and our Chief Engineer, I decided not to use our 3" 50 gun. Instead, I decided to use our 50 cal gunners and personnel with spot lights. I gave instruction to the Chief Engineer to give me as much power he could without "losing the load" and and tasked the Operations Officer to request the following rules of engagement; shoot across the bow and shoot the ruder if required! 

At 2300, we were positioned outside Larnaca blocking the harbor. We were making about 21 knots. At 2400, I had all eight 50 cal gunners. their spotters and the search light operators jammed into my at sea cabin. I instructed them to load HEI rounds in their guns and fire as I instructed them using the IMC. They were excited; their eyes were very wide. They took their positions. We spent the night identifying potential Achille Lauro contacts and used "lead pursuit Tactics" (Achille Lauro was capable of making 26 knots) to join on contacts. We instructed each contact to stop. If they didn't stop, we fired HEI across their bows. When they stopped, we used the search lights to identify each contact. None were the Achille Lauro. About 0300, an S3 Viking from USS Coral Sea that was steaming in the central Med was observed overhead! The Carrier Group Commander was RADM Jerry Breast who was the XO of VA-82 on our Vietnam deployment.

It turned out that Achille Lauro had steamed south toward Egypt and was boarded by special forces personnel taking their leader in custody who was later transported to the US. Note: Our request to shoot across the bow was not approved!
 

I want to acknowledge the outstanding performance of the Deck 3rd Division 50 cal gunners under the superb leadership of First Lieutenant Peed and the 3rd Division Officer Ltjg Osmundsen during the Achille Lauro event.





It was clear that after the Achille Lauro adventure, operations on Lily Pad may not be so routine after all. The OPS Officer, Jim Jones, and I had numerous discussions about how we should prepare the Austin for potential possible terrorist attacks on our Lily Pad position. As a result, we continued to practice training with our 3/50 gun and our 50 cal gunners. Numerous basketballs were used as targets and we made sure that our CIWS was ready for close in attacks.


USS Issac Kidd DDG 993



I realized that I was the designated Senior Officer Eastern Mediterranean. There was only one other US Navy ship operating in the eastern Med, the USS Issac Kid DDG 993. The USS Issac Kid was a Kid Class of the Arleigh Burke DDG Aegis guided missile destroyer. She was operating independently with the Israeli Navy off of Haifa. Although she was not in my operational control, I thought it would be good idea to contact her Commanding Officer an d set up a meeting. We did so and we met somewhere between Lily Pad and Haifa.

The USS Issac Kid was named after RADM Issac Kidd who was killed aboard the USS Arizona during the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. I had visited the USS Arizona during my tour with commander Third Fleet in 1979 to 1980. I had also visited with his son Issac Kid Jr, CINCINCLANT/CLANTFLT on numerous occasions during my tour as the Aide and Flag Lieutenant at COMNAVAIRLANT in 1975.
So, visiting USS Issac Kid DLG 993 was of particular interest to me.

Lt Jim Peed, our First Lieutenant aboard Austin had ensured that our GIG (a boat assigned for use of the Commanding Officer) was in tip top shape for my visit. I was given appropriate honors as I boarded the USS Kid and was given an excellent tour of the ship and enjoyed meeting with her outstanding Commanding Officer.

The remainder of our first trip to Lily Pad was unremarkable. We held swim call, did some fishing, and took the opportunity to do some painting of the ship's hull before heading to our first liberty call in Naples.



Underway Replenishment with USS Seattle AOE 3

We were relieved on Lily Pad by
USS Seattle AOE 3.

We received fuel via underway replenishment which gave me my first opportunity to observe Deck and Engineering Departments work together.  It was a positive experience!

Steel Beach Picnic
 

Our "Steel Beach Picnic" was conducted on the forward portion of the flight deck.

Also, It was a great chance to spend some time with the crew in an informal environment. 

I was encouraged by the positive comments
I received. Of course they were coming down off a morale high point produced by the Achille Lauro operation!

Med Moor Planing

I conducted a planning meeting in my inport cabin somewhere along the route in the Ionian Sea. It was another great opportunity to use the large table as the Executive Officer (Jim Jones, the OPS Officer was on the bridge), Jim Peed, our First Lieutenant, Lt Marrin (The Sea and Anchor Team OOD), and several Chief Petty Officers responsible for executing the deployment of our anchors and providing the stern lines for the Med Moor operation were present.

I was surprised that their was a lowlvevel of experience in Med Mooring in the assembled group.I found that my experience with Sratoga inside the breakwater using the bollards was very helpful.

We came up with a plan that worked well when we actually perofrmed the Med Moor!

We had a beautiful view of Mt Etna during our transit of the Straight of Messina.



Our transit from the Straight of Messina to Naples

We had a beautiful view of the active volcano Stromboli during our transit



Our transit from the island of Capri to Naples



We were scheduled to pass by Capri about midnight. I put in my night orders for to ODD to wake me in my at sea cabin as we approached  Capri.

We were scheduled to pick up the pilot at dawn to enter the breakwater and execute the Med Moor.

Unfortunately, it didn't work out that way. For some reason the OOD did not wake me until we were steaming toward the breakwater at Naples at 12 knots. Fortunately, I had experience on two occasions aboard Saratoga entering the breakwater at Naples. As I entered the bridge, I determined that we were way too close to the breakwater and ordered the OOD to go all back full. We stopped at the pilot pick up point.

It was a close call!



We picked up the pilot as scheduled and executed the Med Moor.


We Arrived in Naples on October 14th, 1985
When I stepped off the stern on to the dock, I noticed a new Navy mine sweeper moored along side Austin. A called out to their watch stander and asked if the Captain was aboard. He was, and I got a nice tour of his vessel. While we were enjoying a up of coffee, in the small officer's mess, I noticed a ;photograph of VADM Waller's wife of her christening the mine sweeper. VADM Ed Waller was one of my Commanders during my tour with Third Fleet in Hawaii.
Alphonso Maglia's Heart Attack
Our Supply Officer, LT Steve Sterrett, and I had a meeting with Alphonso Maglia over lunch in my inport cabin to discuss "vendor" issues in Naples and in our next scheduled inport period in Palma. Toward the end of our meeting, Alphonso experienced shortness of breath and significant chest pain. Fortunately, our Medical Officer, Lt Johnson was aboard and arrived in a few minutes. We made Alphonso as comfortable as we could until an Italian ambulance arrived to take him to the hospital where he recovered without incident. Toward the end of our stay in Naples, Alphonso gave me a case of his family red wine as a thank you for assisting in his recovery.
Note: The wine was terrible and I tossed it overboard into the Mediterranean  for some future archeologist to find!
George and Dal Tedesco
My assistant and galley cook; George.
I took George to Dal Tedesco and introduced him to Trudy, Manuel and Roberto. I wanted to get him some training in the preparation of Italian cuisine and how to stock up our galley to produce quality Italian dinners. I thought he would enjoy the experience.
Wolfgang who runs the hotel, set up George in a nice room in the family section of Dal Tedesco (no charge).
Then Trudy got to work integrating George in the kitchen where he learned by "on the job training".
She also checked out what stocks of canned stuff we had  on board Austin and determined that the stock #10 can of tomatoes would do just fine. We also found out that they used fresh frozen Spanish squid for their Calamari so we procured a supply so we could produce Calamari dishes while underway without worrying about spoilage.

Sanzia Sebastiani

Yes, I made contact with Sanzia from my time on USS Saratoga. I invited her to lunch aboard Austin. She was less than excited to see me again and made a point of telling me about her new boyfriend. The last I heard, she was living in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Circolo Canottieri Tennis Club


Yes, I found my way to the Circolo Canottieri Tennis Club for some tennis.

I hadn't had an opportunity to determine if we had any enthusiastic tennis players aboard Austin to invite to join me.

That would have to wait until Palma
 

Umberto

I invited Silvio Polidoro, my tailor friend from previous deployments to join me at Umberto for some entertainment. I don't know if our tenor friend joined us or not but I'm sure I would make an effort to include him. I don't remember if any Austin officers joined us!




Gallery Umberto


I always try to stop by Gallery Umberto when I'm in Naples to enjoy a cup of Capochino and marvel at the beautiful architecture of the forerunner of today's malls.


Our Visit to the Island of Capri

GIG
It is traditional especially for larger ships that have the capacity to carry numerous boats, that the Captain has a boat configured for his use called a GIG.

Austin's GIG was similar to this one except instead of the aft cabin, Austin's GIG had an open area that could accommodate about eight people comfortably.
As I don't have any pictures of Austin's GIG, I have used this image from Google.


I invited a couple of Austin's officers along with a couple of USO ladies to join me for a visit to Capri.




This is the route we took to Capri
 We made a brief stop at the village on the Naples side of the island to do some shopping and have a beverage.
 Then we went around to the backside of the island to the Blue Grotto.



We anchored off the entrance of the grotto and swam inside.
 It is difficult to describe how spectacularly beautiful it was inside.
There were large schools of small "silverfish" that you could swim through as the small fish reflected the light from the front of the grotto.

Our Naples visit complete, it was time to return to Lilly Pad
 


We conducted more bridge team and weapons training exercises along the route.
We were wondering what kind of operations awaited us at Lilly Pad!


USS Seattle AOR-3
About a day away from Lily Pad, I received a personal "red phone" call from Captain Dave Frost, the CO of Seattle that we should be ready to receive a group of 10 Captains, a Major Army General who would be using my inport cabin and a large group of "operators" who we would have to be berthed separately from our crew. As we were a flag configured ship, we had plenty of space for the officers and a bridge for their use but we would have to move some of our enlisted personnel for the "operators". Our XO worked with the BLT Commander to make room for the "operators" and make room  arrangements for the Captains.





This was my At Sea Cabin aboard Austin.  This is where I would spend most of my time when Austin was underway.



JSOC



Carl T. Stiner MG USA

Major General Carl Stiner US Army, Commander JSOC came aboard Austin along with the CO of Seal Team Six and his "operators", CO of Delta Force with his "operators, and  the CO of the PAVLO special helicopter unit and their crews. The majority of the "10 Captains" were doctors who set up a medical response section on our mess deck.



 USAF PAVLO helicopter
Combat Search and Rescue

VADM Kelso and Genaral Vessey


VADM Kelso

The Arrival of JSOC prompted another call from VADM Kelso, Commander Sixth Fleet advising me that once again my tasking would come directly from General Vessey at the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
General Vessey

Austin's Role in JSOC Operations



Austin's tasking was straight forward.


Provide logistics support for JSOC and position Austin as directed by Major General Stiner.


I had no knowledge of the missions of Seal Team Six, Delta Force, or the PAVLO helicopters.
 

Our Operating Area for JSOC Operations




We would generally be off the coast south of Beirut for daytime Delta Force operations and farther north abeam Beirut for Seal Team Six night operations.

I was told that landing zone security was being provided by the Druze which affected the position of Austin for day time operations.

(From Wikipedia)
The Druze do not consider themselves as Muslims. The Arabic language and culture are a significant part of their identity. Christianity and Druze share a common origin in the middle east. Both are monotheistic. Christian and Druze communities share a long history of interactive dating.
In 1957, the Israeli government designated the Druze as a distinct religious community.
Note: The Druze live peacefully in Israel without the problems associated with the Palestinians.
  

The Only Occasion we Got Involved in Missions

At one point Major General Stiner was getting concerned about the quality of landing zone security for Delta.
 


LTCOL Jordan the MSSG-24 Commanding Officer and I offered to provide a landing zone security team to Lebanon in support of Delta Force operations.


On numerous occasions, we sent our Marine H-46 helos to provide landing zone security to Lebanon south of Bierut.




LDR Kurt Garbow and his Austin Air Department did a great job supporting the requirements of the BLT and JASOC helicopter operations.

When there were no flight operations, the Air Department moved all the helos forward so that Delta and Seal Team Six could conduct live firing training on the aft portion of the light flight deck. Austin personnel found safe positions forward to observe these live firing exercises.

Dinners in the Inport Cabin
One of the highlights of these operations was that Major General Carl Stiner invited me and Austin and BLT officers to participate is some of these dinners in the inport cabin. This was great for morale of all of us as we had the pleasure of spending some time with Major General Stiner and the Commanders of Delta, Seal Team Six and the USAF PAVLO unit. Major General Stiner talked about the history of special operations including the success of the special forces Vietnamese Pacification program that he participated in with as an infantry battalion and brigade operations officer with the 4th Division in Vietnam in 1967. I also learned that the CO of Seal Team Six was my neighbor at Little Creek although we never crossed paths there as we were both deployed most of the time!
General Vessey's Message to Austin

Another highlight for me and Austin's crew was It was arranged for General Vessey to address the crew on the IMC thanking and congratulating us on the great job we were doing in supporting JASOC operations.


After leaving JACOC Major General Carl Stiner was promoted to LT Genaral in 1987 and was assigned as commanding general of the 82nd Airborne Division at Fort Bragg, North Carolina. In 1988, he was assigned as commanding general of the XVIII Airborne Corps at Fort Bragg. In 1989, he was designated as commander of Joint Task Force South and served as the operational commander of all forces employed in Operation Just Cause in Panama.

In May of 1990, he was promoted to General and became commander in chief of the United States Special Operations Command headquartered at McDill Air Force Base in Tampa.

You might want to check out "Shadow Warriors" a non-fiction book he co-wrote after he retired from the Army with Tom Clancy.
General Stiner passed away at a medical facility in Knoxville, Tennessee on June 2nd, 2022 at the age of 85.
When our JASOC support tasking was complete and JASOC had moved on to another platform, we were off to Palma for some well deserved liberty.
I have no idea what the remainder of the MARG 85 ships were doing.
There  may have been some messages from the PHIPRON Commander to me but I don't remember them!



I don't recall any significant specific events that took place during the long transit. We probably had a Steel Beach Picnic or two.
 

I almost forgot. There was one rather significant event that took place probably on the transit. I flew one of the BLT 3/8 H46 helos around Austin. I did manage to hover on the port side for a few minutes but they didn't allow me to attempt a landing on deck.


We arrived at Palma on November 4th, 1985

Palma Anchorage

Palma Nova

The image on the left is from my previous tour on Saratoga. I don't think the anchorage location is accurate for Austin's visit to Palma. Although, I don't recall exactly where we anchored but I think it was closer to shore than Sara's anchorage and making the liberty boat ride shorter to fleet landing and closer to Palm Nova. I remember routinely taking my GIG directly to Palma Nova from Austin.
I won't repeat the description of Liberty in Palma given in previous chapters. I'll just cover events specific to Austin's Palma visit.
Liberty with Ernesto Polidoro

I remember visiting the mess deck to see how the "vendors: were doing. I found Ernesto and we agreed to meet at fleet landing that evening and have a night on the town with his nephew (I don't recall his name). We met as arranged and I took us to a bar I liked in Palma . Ernesto and I had a relaxing time, we were about the same age, and enjoyed watching his much younger nephew hustle the women. 

My Base of Operations When in Palma




I made arrangements with one of my friends at the Palma Nova Tennis Club to be able to dock the GIG (at no charge) nearby at their marina. THe GIG crew and I had hand held radios so that they could go ashore and I could call them when I needed them.

My Yachting Experience

I was invited to spend the day in a yacht similar to this on the left for a sail around Palma ending up with some swimming at a grotto similar to this one on the right.

After returning from the trip, we went out on the town. The GIG picked me up the next morning.

After Palma, We were on Our Way to Rota, Spain



I think I used the transit to Rota to recognize some on the crew for a job well done during an awards ceremony.

Award Ceremonies
I used the time during the transit to Rota to recognize the outstanding performance of the Austin sailors. We operators and admin types could not function without the engineers below deck making the steam to run the ship's engines or maintaining the evaporators to supply fresh water throughout the ship or the machinist mates who manufacture parts to fix things, the First Lieutenant's boatswains mates manning the anchors, tending the ship's lines, firing the ship's guns, manning and maintaining the ship's boats, and the aviation boatswains mates operating the helicopters on the flight deck. None of us could do our jobs without the Supply Department knowing what to order and ensuring these materials were received on time. I enjoyed going about the ship to thank the Austin sailors and recognize those who demonstrated especially superior performance!


Thanksgiving Dinner



In my experience, it is a tradition in the Navy to offer every traditional thanksgiving dish that any crew member would have back home.


The Thanksgiving dinner served aboard Austin after leaving Palma was no exception.

Transiting the Straits of Gibraltar 





Passing by Gibraltar on the way to Naval Station Rota






Naval Station Rota,Spain

Turnover between MARG 2-85 and MARG 1-86
December 4th, 1985
e

I'm not sure what actually happened during the turnover. There may have been some cross decking of material and B/LT personnel but the
USS Austin and the two LSTs were detached early to transit the Atlantic to Moorehead City and Norfolk.


USS Franklin D. Roosevelt CV-42
 My transit route plan was significantly affected by my remembering  the serious damage and some critical injuries experienced by USS Franklin D. Roosevelt CV-42 when the ship attempted to transit basically along 30 degrees North Latitude directly to Jacksonville from Rota in the month of December.

They experienced extremely high seas caused by the prevailing northeast surface winds with a fetch of about 1000 miles from the Iceland/UK Gap. The ship was hit by a 70 foot wave which impacted the starboard forward aircraft elevator door which collapsed damaging aircraft and causing the serious injuries injuries.



My Plan

Map of the North Atlantic Ocean Current Gyre
 My plan was to head southwest from Rota along the North African Coast to intercept the Canary Current and proceed to the North Equatorial Current at about The tropic of Cancer (23 degrees North Latitude). This would take us south of the seas where the USS Roosevelt had experienced their difficulties.

I positioned the LSTs ahead with the LST with the bridge sections on our port side so that we could monitor their progress. The LST with the bridge sections did have some difficulty so we moved even further south and intercepted the northwest current along the northern coast of South America. We proceeded to the Virgin Islands where we rejoined the western portion of the North Equatorial Current which led to the Gulf Stream.

We took advantage of the 4kt Gulf Stream arriving at Moorhead City on schedule.


This provided excellent experience for our bridge teams specially during the very challenging night conditions.

Moorhead City, North Carolina



We arrived in Moorhead City as scheduled on December 18th,1985.

We offloaded our marines and onloaded our participants for the Tiger Cruise to Norfolk.

Tiger Cruise




The XO, Jim Adams ran the Tiger Cruise. He was more familiar with the Tiger Cruise participants which gave me the time to concentrate on our arrival in Norfolk!

The Tiger Cruise gave the sons of some of our crew members the opportunity to learn first hand about what their fathers had experienced during our deployment.




Homecoming in Norfolk
December 20th,1985



Somewhere in this crowd were Cathy, Jessica (almost 2), and Lindsay(5 months)


It was great to see families reunited after a five and a half deployment.
 Christmas was a theme as it was only five days away.







Also, it was great to meet my new Executive Officer, LCDR Norm Phelps, who I would be working with for the remainder of my tour in Austin!

I think he and my outgoing XO, CDR Jim Adams had a quick turnover so that Jim could spend the holidays with his family.


Next Chapter
USS Austin 1986

 
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