USS Alamo (LSD-33) was a of the United States Navy. She was named for the Alamo, site of the 1836 Battle of the Alamo.
Alamo was laid down on 11 October 1954 at Pascagoula, Mississippi, by the Ingalls Shipbuilding Corp.; launched on 20 January 1956; sponsored by Mrs. Daniel V. Gallery, the wife of Rear Admiral Daniel V. Gallery: and commissioned on 24 August 1956.
1956–1960 After commissioning, the ship briefly visited Galveston, Tex. then headed for NS Norfolk, Va., to complete her outfitting and initial loading. On 13 October, the dock landing ship sailed for the West Coast. After transiting the Panama Canal, she reached NS San Diego, Calif., her home port, and joined the Amphibious Forces, Pacific Fleet. The ship held amphibious exercises and acceptance trials off San Diego in February 1957. Further training exercises occupied her until 29 May, when she got underway for the Marshall Islands. Alamo paused at Pearl Harbor from 6 to 8 June to load amphibious craft, then continued on to the Marshall Islands. She discharged the craft at Eniwetok on 14 June and for the next 10 days, provided shuttle service between Eniwetok and Bikini Atolls. Alamo put to sea from Bikini on 22 June and steamed by way of Pearl Harbor to San Diego where she loaded landing craft, tugs, and spare parts before sailing for Pearl Harbor on 23 July. There, on 6 August, she embarked Marines and their equipment and put to sea for participation in "Operation Tradewind", conducted in the area of Lahaina Roads, Maui. Alamo returned from this exercise on 15 August; then left Pearl Harbor four days later to return to San Diego.
On 24 September, Alamo began a voyage to the western Pacific (WestPac). She repeated her pattern of loading equipment at Pearl Harbor for transport to Eniwetok. Alamo then shuttled equipment between Eniwetok, Utirik, Kwajalein, and Ujelang Atolls. A voyage to Yokohama, Japan, where she arrived on 17 November, interrupted that duty. Alamo cleared that port on 21 November to resume her shuttling service in the Marshalls before returning to San Diego on 15 December.
The beginning of 1958 brought more training and upkeep. On 8 March, Alamo headed for Pearl Harbor where she joined a fast transport group for a series of amphibious force landing and salvage exercises at Kauai. The ship departed Pearl Harbor on 7 April and reached San Diego on 14 April. Ten days later, she entered the Mare Island Naval Shipyard for an overhaul and returned to her home port on 31 July to begin two and one-half months of refresher training. On 10 October, Alamo sailed for Japan. After loading landing craft at Yokosuka, Alamo headed to Kaohsiung, Taiwan. At that port, the ship conducted amphibious training with units of the Nationalist Chinese Navy until 2 December 1958. She then steamed for independent ship exercises off Okinawa and stopped at Naha to load the men and equipment of Marine Transport Squadron 163 for transportation to Yokosuka. For the next two months, Alamo shuttled various Marine Corps units between Yokosuka and Okinawa, terminating her last voyage of this duty at Naha on 11 February 1959. Three days later she pushed on to Sasebo, Japan, but again got underway for home on 23 February and paid visits to Adak and Kodiak, Alaska, and San Francisco, Calif., before reaching San Diego on 12 March.
Following a round-trip run to Astoria, Oreg., – from 17 to 25 April – to deliver a load of small craft, she took part in exercises with other units of Amphibious Squadron 3 off Coronado, followed by "Operation Twin Peaks", held off the California coast from 18 May to 5 June. Late in September, Alamo sailed for the Far East. The ship visited Kaohsiung, Taiwan; Yokosuka, Iwakuni, Kagoshima, and Shimazu, Japan, Naha, Okinawa, Hong Kong, Subic Bay in the Philippines, and Buckner Bay, Okinawa. After touching at Pearl Harbor, she arrived at San Diego on 3 May 1960. From 25 July to 1 November, the ship was overhauled at the Todd Shipyard, Seattle, Wash.; and, from 14 November to 9 December, she went through refresher training.
1961–1964 The ship began 1961 with amphibious refresher training at San Diego and devoted most of the first half of the year to training and gunnery exercises, Naval Reserve training cruises and "Operation Greenlight Phase III". On 17 June, she got underway for another WestPac deployment. Upon her arrival at Subic Bay, Alamo joined the 7th Fleet's Amphibious Ready Group (ARG) and shuttled Marine Corps units to Buckner Bay. She took part in "Operation Warm-Up" off the northwest coast of Okinawa from 13 to 20 October. A visit to Hong Kong followed before the ship returned to Subic Bay and began preparations for her voyage back to the United States. She got underway early in December and arrived at NS San Diego on 16 December.
Alamo remained there until 6 March 1962, when she got underway for San Francisco and the Todd Shipyard for her first interim overhaul. Six weeks later, she returned to San Diego. Local operations occupied her until 16 October when she got underway for the Far East with Amphibious Squadron 3. En route, several ships of the squadron were diverted to the Caribbean in response to the Cuban Missile Crisis, and Alamo was held in Hawaii on a standby basis. On 17 November, she sailed for typhoon-stricken Guam with emergency supplies. After a two-day stop in Guam to unload supplies, the vessel proceeded to Subic Bay. Local operations off San Miguel were held before the ship sailed to Hong Kong for the Christmas holidays.
The ship visited Manila during the New Year's holiday in 1963 then returned to Subic Bay. In January, she took part in Operation Jungle Drum II in Thailand and then spent two days in Bangkok. Her next assignment took her to the flood-stricken island of Mindanao in the Philippines. The month of March was taken up by Operation Silver Blade off Taiwan. After three weeks of restricted availability at Subic Bay, Alamo sailed on 20 April for Yokosuka. The ship finally reached San Diego on 11 May. Following a period of upkeep and training, she got underway for four weeks of operations in the Pacific Northwest with units of Amphibious Squadron 7 and Army Reserve units. Visits to Seattle, Washington, and Portland, Oregon, preceded her return to San Diego on 6 September. In mid-September, the ship entered the Bethlehem Steel Co. shipyard, Long Beach, California, to begin an overhaul which was completed barely in time for her to get back home for the Christmas holidays.
A period of upkeep and refresher training kept the crew busy through March 1964. In April, Alamo proceeded north to assist the earthquake-stricken region around Kodiak, Alaska. She returned to San Diego in May and took part in Operation Pine Tree. Then, after several weeks of preparations, Alamo departed San Diego on 18 June, bound for the Far East. Upon reaching Pearl Harbor, she was involved in Operation Tool Box and had a period of leave and upkeep before sailing for Okinawa on 9 July. Alamo returned to Subic Bay on the last day of July. On 5 August, she sailed with Marine Corps Battalion Landing Team 3/1 (BLT 3/1) embarked for patrol duties off the coast of South Vietnam and, through most of the autumn, alternated periods of leave and upkeep at Hong Kong and Subic Bay with Vietnamese patrol duty through 2 December. The ship arrived back in San Diego on 18 December 1964.
1965–1969 Participation in Operation Silver Lance off the coast of southern California lasted from 23 February through 10 March 1965. On 11 March, Alamo was called upon to make an unscheduled run to Yokosuka carrying men and equipment for the American military buildup in the Far East as the United States was beginning direct participation in operations in Vietnam. She returned to San Diego on 12 April. The ship made a second unscheduled deployment to WestPac on 25 May. She sailed to Okinawa, onloaded Marines, then landed them at Qui Nhon and Danang, Vietnam. Alamo touched briefly at Yokosuka, then headed back to San Diego. She took part in Operations Cleansweep and Ragweed during September, devoted most of the autumn to training exercises, and ended the year in port at NS San Diego.
In February 1966, the ship began her seventh major deployment to Westpac. Alamo spent six months operating as a part of an amphibious ready group (ARG) and shuttled troops and equipment from Subic Bay and Okinawa to various points in Vietnam. She returned to the United States in August. In September, her home port was switched to Naval Station Long Beach, California, and she was assigned to the newly formed Amphibious Squadron 7.
In early 1967, she entered drydock at the Todd Shipyard in San Pedro, California, for her third major overhaul which, with the ensuing series of refresher training exercises, accounted for most of the year. In November, the ship sailed for the Far East. There, Alamo was engaged in a series of lifts from Guam and the Philippines to Da Nang. She also again became a member of an ARG and operated along the Vietnamese coast for much of her tour. The ship also participated in four amphibious operations before returning to Long Beach in June 1968.
The ship engaged in local operations along the West Coast for the rest of 1968. On 30 January 1969, she began another WestPac deployment in which she lifted troops and equipment to Da Nang and then proceeded to Subic Bay where she joined ARG "Bravo." The ship also took part in three amphibious operations off the coast of South Vietnam. After eight months away from home Alamo returned to Long Beach on 26 September 1969. The ship then engaged in a series of training exercises and operations for the remainder of the year.
1970–1974 Alamo opened 1970 at San Pedro, California, undergoing a restricted availability during which repairs were made to damaged deck plating, cranes, and a boiler. Work was completed on 19 January, and the ship made final preparations for more service in Oriental waters. On 31 January, she sailed with to participate in Operation Keystone Bluejay, which involved the withdrawal of American troops from Vietnam. Alamo sailed into Danang harbor on 19 February and began loading Marines and equipment for transportation back to the United States. Alamo debarked the Marines at Camp Pendleton, California, on 14 March and then steamed north to Long Beach. She spent the next four and one-half months in training exercises, refresher training, and availability. On 1 August, Alamo headed out to sea on her 10th WestPac deployment. She stopped at Pearl Harbor and Guam before reaching Subic Bay on 20 August. There, she unloaded her cargo and sailed on 21 August for Danang to bring more Marines back to the United States. Alamo reached Camp Pendleton on 11 September. After 10 days of leave and upkeep she got underway for Danang. Alamo also visited Yokosuka Tokyo, and Subic Bay. She transported landing craft along the Vietnamese coast between such points as Danang, Vung Tau, Song Bo De and An Thoi. In early December, the ship took on board BLT 2/4 for participation in Exercise GRR-1 in Subic Bay. Upon finishing that exercise, she sailed to Hong Kong for Christmas. On 28 December 1970, she returned to the Danang operating area.
The vessel steamed to Mindoro, Philippines, on 5 January 1971 for amphibious operations and moved on to Subic Bay on 10 January to onload equipment to ship to Vietnam. After briefly touching back at Subic Bay, Alamo left Danang to onload Marines and vehicles as part of the general American troop withdrawal. On 1 February, she got underway to return to NS Long Beach and reached home port on 22 February. A leave and upkeep period ensued.