1954: A U.S. Navy Ship is Launched in Mississippi with the Smashing of a Champagne Bottle and a Rendition of “Anchors Aweigh”

February 9, 1954

A dock landing ship built for the U.S. Navy was launched along the coast of Pascagoula, Mississippi. (A dock landing ship is an amphibious vessel that serves as both a means of transport and a launchpad for helicopters as well as seagoing watercraft such as boats and barges.) This new military vessel was constructed by Ingalls Shipbuilding there in Pascagoula, and her Tuesday afternoon launch into the Pascagoula River took place at that company’s shipyard.

The christening duties for this launch ceremony were handled by Helen Gardner, the wife of Vice Admiral Matthias B. Gardner (deputy chief of operations for the U.S. Department of the Navy).  The next day’s edition of the Biloxi-based Sun Herald reported, “She broke the traditional bottle of champagne over the towering bow of the ship as [that vessel] slid down the ways as the Pascagoula High School Band played Anchors Aweigh.” The ship was named USS Thomaston (LSD-28) after a town in Maine that had achieved renown as a major port and shipbuilding center during the 19^th century. USS Thomaston was officially commissioned into the Navy on September 17, 1954.

Over the next three decades, Thomaston would be deployed across the globe for numerous support missions. One of her earliest tours of duty entailed taking part in the Arctic Supply Project, an initiative that involved transporting needed provisions to several radar stations along the coast of Alaska. Those stations formed part of the Distant Early Warning (DEW) Line, a system that covered a vast swath of territory between Alaska in the west and the Faroe Islands in the east. The DEW Line was created during the height of the Cold War in 1957 as a precaution against possible sea-and-land invasions by the Soviet Union. This system remained in place until being deactivated in 1993.

Thomaston also played a notable role during the Vietnam War. She was used in that region of Southeast Asia for a wide range of functions. These included the transport of troops and supplies; search-and-rescue operations; and training exercises. In addition, Thomaston played an extensive role towards the end of the war in 1975 in the massive evacuation of not only American personnel but also a large number of Vietnamese and Cambodian refugees.

Thomaston remained in service with the Navy until her decommissioning on September 28, 1984. She was ultimately scrapped in 2011.

Photo Credit: Public Domain

For more information on USS Thomaston (LSD-28), please check out https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Thomaston