Going to Vietnam: The U.S.S. Washtenaw Country (LST-1166)
Author Tourte describes the ship that took him to Vietnam and the ultimate fate of this US Navy vessel.
This article by Craig Tourte was previously published in Red Clay magazine.
I had the pleasurable – sarcastic comment here – experience of sailing on this vessel from Okinawa to Vietnam sometime in the early weeks of July 1967. The U.S.S. Washtenaw Country (LST-1166) is a subject that has been covered a number of times on this board and Red Clay magazine but I continue to find the remembrance of that sail – now – humorous and interesting. Of course, when I speak of the experience my stories seem to grow a little bit each time. I’ll note just one here: I and another were way down below deck taking a nice hot long shower when some a sailor of an unknown rank – brown uniform with one of those bomber hats – appeared and started yelling at us about using up all of the water. He said, “Haven’t you ever heard of a Navy shower?” “Why no,” we responded thinking perhaps it had something to do with a couple of sailors taking a shower together – you know how they are, those long cruises and all – anyway he told us to wet down, soap down and then rinse off. “Yes Sir or something like that must have been our response. Anyway, after he leaves we continued with the last of the hot water from a pressurized shower we’d experience for a year. We did not know it at the time, but we were heading for a years long assignment to a small jungle outpost named Khe Sanh.
And to show The U.S.S. Washtenaw Country’s participation in the Vietnam War continued, here is a photo of the ship in June,1973 during Operation End Sweep, a U.S. Navy and Marine Corps operation to remove naval mines from Haiphong harbor and other coastal and inland waterways in North Vietnam (February – July 1973).
From Facebook, by Craig Tourte, Khe Sanh Veterans Association, Inc
USS Washtenaw County (LST-1166) was a Terrebonne Parish-class tank landing ship in commission in the United States Navy from 1953 to 1973. Named for Washtenaw County, Michigan, she was the only U.S. Navy vessel to bear the name. It is currently derelict. In October 2008, it was reported to be at the southeastern tip of Lord Island on the Columbia River in Rainier, Oregon at 46°07′18″ N 123°00′51″ W next to the Oregon shoreline.[1] It is listed as a derelict vessel by the interagency Derelict Vessel Task Force, and has suffered damage from vandalism and looting between 2005 and 2008. While some had hoped to restore the ship as a museum ship, there is no funding or plan to do so……Visit the beautiful Orient and see the mysterious country of (South) Vietnam on board the luxury liner “Washtenaw County). A pleasant cruise from Okinawa to Dong Ha, (South) Vietnam and a then slow truck ride up highway 9 to the garden spot of Khe Sanh Marine Corp Combat Base. Oh, your dreams Will Not come true, but you’ll remember the adventures for the rest of your life.
