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USNS UPSHUR
This page is in honor of all those officers and men of the Upshur, and the members of the 459th SIGNAL BATTALION (CA), who made the journey to Viet Nam. We honor their sacrifice and service to our country.
October 3rd 2006 marks the fortieth anniversary of the deployment of the 459th SIGNAL BATTALION (CA) to the Republic of Vietnam. After being flown to Oakland Army Terminal in California, from our home base at Fort Huachuca Arizona, we boarded the UNITED STATES NAVAL SHIP UPSHUR (T-AP-198). On the morning of October 3rd 1966 we departed for Vietnam. After a brief stop at Okinawa to refuel, we again departed on the final three-day leg of our journey. Our first stop in Vietnam was at the Port of Qui Nhon where C & D Companies disembarked from the ship. Three days later on October 24th the balance of the battalion, HHC, A and B Companies, disembarked via landing craft at the Port of Nha Trang. Prior to Vietnam, the UPSHUR carried troops and dependents to and from Europe and was involved with evacuating military dependents from Cuba during the Cuban Missile Crisis. The UPSHUR made many voyages to Vietnam and Korea during the Vietnam War. In June of 1971, the UPSHUR was used in an unsuccessful attempt to repatriate North Vietnamese prisoners of war. Following that conflict, she served as the training ship for the Maine Maritime Academy serving as the TRAINING SHIP STATE OF MAINE. Following years of service as a training ship, she was transferred to the US Coast Guard for use as a Fire Test Platform. The old UPSHUR was based at Little Sand Island in Mobile Bay Alabama.
The Training Ship State of Maine (the former USNS Upshur T-AP-198) was towed from Mobile Bay to Brownsville Texas in November 2010. The ship was sold to the International Ship Breakers Corp and was towed there by the tug "Colonel" operated by the Dann Ocean Towing Company. Before the ship could make the voyage it was sent to the Signal Ship Repair Dry Dock #1 to be made sea worthy. She served her country well and faithfully for many years. Fair winds and calm seas USNS Upshur.....
CPT. Vincent A. Nygren, Master, USNS Upshur
LTC. Kenneth R. Symmes, Commander, 459th Signal Battalion
MAJ. Kenneth W. Rawson, Voyage Troop Commander
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