SHIP NOTES, SEAPORT & MUSEUM NEWS WESCO: Lest We Forget-the Effort to Bring an LST Home by Jere A . Beery M an y stories of oursranding naval service during the co ntroversial Vietnam W ar have gone untold . T his is one such sto ry: the extraordin ary saga of a ship, her crew and their singular valor and sacrifi ce. In the thick earl y morning darkness on the M ekong D elta in Vietn am, 1 N ovember 1968, USS Westchester County (LST1167) was anchored on the M y Tho Ri ver with several other support ships of Rive r Assault Flotilla One. A Terrebonne Parish-class rank landing ship launched in 1953 and kn own as WES C O throughout the fleer, LST-1167 was actin g as a temporary base for the 9th D ivision's 3rd Banalion and provided berthing fo r some 25 0 US Army personnel, along with her own crew of 140 sailors and officers. In her belly, she carried supplies for the entire flotilla, including 350 tons of ammuniti on and explosives. She was a "sining" bomb! At 0322 hours, with only the midnight watch awake, 1167 was wracked by rwo
stared, "J usr fo r a fl eeting mo mem , I thought she might keep on going over." He wo uld later credit his fo rwa rd pump room perso nnel with stabilizing th e ship . T he dange r of flash fires igni ti ng rhe co ns of explosives on the tank deck was an ominous threa t, as the ship had become enveloped in a cl oud of aro mized diesel fue l. Any miscal cul ations at all co uld have resulted in a catastrophic explosion rhar wo uld have meant death and destruction fo r people and ships within a very large radius sur ro unding the WESCO. Barde stations remained at-the-ready fo r many h ours: ir was fea red rhis might be the beginning of a much larger arrack, with the possib ili ty th at m ore unexp loded charges were an ached to the hull. Exhausted damage control teams wo rked to co ntrol rhe flooding, while an emprs were made to free trapped crewmen. Most of those killed were crushed berween the deck and the overhead while still in their bunks, making rescue and body recovery difficult and hazardous. Rescues and repairs were hampered because it was feared that curring rorch es or welding equipm en t wo uld trigger explosions. As d am age reports made their way to the b ridge, the names of rhe dead and missing began to add up : 17 shi p 's crew dead or missing, five US Army WESCO rides at anchor near My Tho just hours before the mines went perso nn el killed, one offon 1 N ovember 1968. (US Navy photo) U S Navy rive rin e explosions. Sappers had an ached and ex- sailor killed, rwo Vietnamese mili tary perploded rwo magnetic mines ar her waterline. sonn el killed, 22 others wo unded. T he 25 In the chaos crewmen tri ed desperately me n killed rhar morn ing became the "US to find ways to their battl e stations through Navy's grea test loss of life in a single incithe dark, steam -fill ed, d iesel-soaked w reck- dent as rhe resul t of enemy ac tion during age. Five of rhe ship 's first-class perry offic- th e entire Vietnam War. " ers had bee n killed instantl y. W ithout hes iSince 14 D ecember 1942, of 1,200tation, lower-ranked personnel manned plus LSTs co mmiss ioned into service, only damage co nt ro l stations and assumed rhe three ea rned 15 Engagement Stars. In its responsibili ties of their miss ing superiors. 19 years of service, WESCO achi eved th is There was no panic. unique distin ction. The co ncern of the ship's co mmanding In 1974, LST-11 67 was turn ed over to offi cer, LC DRJohn W . Bra nin , was stabi - the T urkish Navy, where she serves today lizing the shi p, rapidly listin g to srarboard as L-402 Serdar. In 1990, a gro up offormer due to massive fl ooding below decks. Branin officers, crew and fa mily members fo unded
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th e USS Westchester Coun ty, LST- 11 67 Association. T h ro ugh their efforts, di splays a b o ut LST-11 67 can be see n in the Wes tchester Co unty (NY) O ffi ce Building and the US Navy Memorial M useum, Washingro n DC. Fo rmer crew me mbers co n tinue to do nate unique artifac ts fo r rhese rwo projects . Their most ambitious proj ect is to reacquire Serdar fro m T urkey and return USS Westchester County to the US, where she wo uld be preserved as a museum ship . Al Carson, President, USS Westchester County, LST-1167Association, 24646Shylo Lane, Pueblo CO 8 1006; 719 544-2822; e-mail: miabi@prodigy.net Jere A. Beery, historian for the USS Westchester County, LS T-1167 Association, served on WESCO and aboard a P BR during the Vietnam War. H e was awarded a Bronze Star with Combat V and three Purple H earts.
America's Brown-Water Navy f rom its inceptio n and throughout rh e more th an 200 years of its storied history, the blue-water sa ilors of the U nited States Navy have, in wa r rim e, been complemented by ru gged brown-wa ter sailors. On e foo t on land, the other in rh e water, th ese sa ilors have se rved with proficiency, pride a nd distin ction. The crew and officers of USS Westchester County, LST - 1167 are in this elite group . Indeed, Am eri ca's indomitab le brownwa ter sailors have always been th ere: creatin g a navy on th e sho res of Lake C hamplain in the Am eri can Revolution; dogged ly battling Indi ans and mosq uitoes in th e Flo rida swamps during rhe Seminole W ars (1 83542), where riverin e warfare m ade its debut; o n the C umberl and and Miss iss ippi ri vers in th e C ivil Wa r, ca using Abraham Lin coln to observe rh ar, " no r o nly on the deep sea, t he broad bay and th e rapid ri ve r, but also up th e narrow muddy bayou and wherever th e ground was a little damp, " Uncl e Sam 's web-footed sail o rs "have been th ere and made their tracks." Al l vo luntee rs, servin g in sh all ow-draft cockl e shells created fo r the uniqu e dem ands of th eir oft- forgotten campaigns, th e sa il ors of Am eri ca's littoral navy dese rve to be cited fo r "acti o ns above and beyo nd the call of du ty," not, as too often hap pe ned , ove rl ooked in a cobwebbed corner ofAmerican naval histo ry. - H ERB SAXE
SE A HISTORY 87, WINTER 1998-99