USS Peoria The "P" Boat
Pen & Ink by "mother", CDR Mike Austin 1975
Lt(jg) - LT. Chief Engineer
March 1974 - September 1975
Odd, I can't seem to find any pictures of The Peoria either. On the
picture page are a few pictures aboard Peoria during the fall of Viet Nam April 30,
1975. They are of the crew throwing helo's over the side as the sides swarmed with
Vietnamese climbing out of any thing they could find to float. The Vietnamese helo's
had to be pitched overboard because there was no more space on the deck to store them.
All in all Peoria must have ended up the day with over a 1000 refugees. No
way to count them. They off-loaded that evening by boat to a ship chartered for that
purpose. That was a day I'll never forget.
Peoria was the only "new" ship I ever served on. She was a Newport class
LST and built in San Diego and commissioned February 1970. Peoria was 522 Ft LOA and
could make 20 knots with 6 Alco Diesel Propulsion engines and variable pitch
propellers. She carried a crew of 220 and 14 Officers. When deployed she
carried 430 Marines and all of their equipment. Peoria could be maneuvered up on
the beach, open her bow doors, lower a ramp, and offload Marines and their tanks, trucks
and gear directly on the beach. Bit of a puckery maneuver, but it was done.
I retired from the US Navy & Peoria in
September 1975. Peoria was de-commissioned in 1992, I believe.
She rusted away in the "Dead Fleet" at Pearl Harbor's West Loch until July 2004
when she was taken to sea and sunk as a target.
What a NEAT career it was!! If any of
you readers out there remember either me, the ships I served on or their sister ships,
please write!!
