USS Shadwell

History
United States
Name	USS Shadwell
Namesake	Shadwell, Virginia
Builder	Newport News Shipbuilding and Drydock Co., Newport News, Virginia
Laid down	17 January 1944
Launched	24 May 1944
Commissioned	24 July 1944
Decommissioned	10 July 1947
Recommissioned	20 September 1950
Decommissioned	9 March 1970
Stricken	1 November 1976
Honors and awards	1 battle star (World War II)
Fate	Training ship from 1988 to 2017 Decommissioned and scrapped in situ, 2017
General characteristics
Class and type	Casa Grande-class dock landing ship
Displacement	4,490 long tons (4,562 t)
Length	457 ft 9 in (139.52 m)
Beam	72 ft 2 in (22.00 m)
Draft	18 ft (5.5 m)
Speed	15.4 knots (28.5 km/h; 17.7 mph)
Complement	326
Armament	1 × 5 in (130 mm) gun 10 × 40 mm guns (2×4, 1×2)

USS Shadwell (LSD-15) was a

Initially authorized under the Lend-Lease Act and named Tomahawk, then renamed Waterway upon assignment to the United Kingdom, LSD-15 was reassigned back to the United States and named Shadwell. She was laid down on 17 January 1944 by the Newport News Shipbuilding and Drydock Co., at Newport News, Virginia; launched on 24 May 1944; sponsored by Miss Mary Greenman; and commissioned on 24 July 1944.

Service history

World War II

After shakedown, Shadwell sailed from

On the evening of 24 January 1945, the task group was sailing south of Siquijor Island, in the Philippines, when it was attacked by three torpedo bombers. Two were splashed by the convoy's combat air patrol, but the third escaped into the darkness. It soon returned, swooping down from the hills on the island, and pressed home its attack. The convoy's antiaircraft guns brought the enemy down, but not before he was able to release his torpedo. The air-dropped "fish" struck Shadwell just forward of amidships on the starboard side, tearing a hole in her bottom 60 feet (18 m) wide. The landing ship was taking water badly and soon began to sink. The convoy steamed on while two destroyers stood by to evacuate her crew if necessary. Shadwell's crew worked frantically to save their sinking ship and, by morning, their efforts were rewarded. Shadwell was steaming under her own power, steering for Leyte by trick wheel. Of the more than 500 men aboard Shadwell at the time, there were no fatalities and only three casualties, all only slightly injured.

Temporary repairs were made at Leyte and, when she was deemed seaworthy, Shadwell steamed on to Manus in the Admiralty Islands. There she went into

On 20 September 1950, Shadwell was recommissioned at Orange, Texas. She operated for the next five years in the western Atlantic and Caribbean. Ranging as far north as Labrador, Greenland, and Newfoundland, Shadwell participated in several Arctic Circle expeditions and exercises including "Bluejay" and "Convex" in 1951 and "Pinetree" in 1953. The remainder of her time was spent along the eastern seaboard and in the Caribbean.

On Friday, 4 February 1955 Customs Inspector George M. Bacon was killed when he tripped and fell aboard USS Shadwell, which was docked in Hampton Roads. The vessel had just returned from a tour of the Caribbean and had requested Customs clearance. Inspector Bacon fell approximately 20 feet (6.1 m) into the interior dock-well, resulting in significant trauma to his head. He was pronounced dead on the ship.^{[citation needed]}

In 1956, after one Caribbean operation, Shadwell departed Norfolk for a tour of duty with the 6th Fleet in the Mediterranean. Thus she began a schedule of deployments, alternating Atlantic-Caribbean duty with cruises in the Mediterranean, which lasted until she was decommissioned in 1971.

Ten times, during the intervening 15 years, Shadwell cruised the "middle sea" and visited its ports of call. In 1959, Shadwell became the first helicopter-carrying dock landing ship (She had her call letters changed from LSD to LPH when she carried helicopters ). In 1961, she underwent a Fleet Rehabilitation and Modernization (FRAM) overhaul. She was in the Atlantic supporting the Cuban quarantine in October 1962. In February 1964, she participated in the amphibious exercise "Quick Kick V" on the coast of South Carolina. Seven months later, during the passage to her sixth Mediterranean deployment, Shadwell took part in Operation "Steel Pike" executed off the coast of Spain. In 1967, she won the Marjorie Sterrett Battleship Fund Award for the Atlantic Fleet. In January 1968, she was in the Caribbean engaged in Operation "Spring Board."

During August 1968, Shadwell departed the Mediterranean after a five-month deployment. She entered

In October 1968, Shadwell transported Marines to

On 8 July 1969, she was involved in a collision with USS Cambria during a night-time exercise off Malta.^[2]

On 9 March 1970, she was placed out of commission, in reserve. On 9 September, Shadwell was transferred to the James River, Virginia, group of the National Defense Reserve Fleet. Shadwell was struck from the Naval Vessel Register on 1 November 1976.

Mobile Bay

On 10 November 1988, Shadwell, decommissioned and now known as ex-USS Shadwell, was transferred to the Fire Research Detachment, Little Sand Island, Mobile Bay, Alabama. She is serving as a test and training platform in the development of fire models and other damage and control systems. Shadwell is on the stricken list and will eventually be disposed of upon the end of her use as a test and training platform.

Shadwell was grounded on Little Sand Island in Mobile Bay, Alabama, as a result of hurricanes Katrina and Rita. The ship was removed from the position of grounding in 2006. A U.S. Navy Mobile Diving and Salvage Unit (MDSU) assisted with the project.^[3][4][5]

In 2017, the ex-USS Shadwell was decommissioned as a fire test ship and later scrapped in place. All fire testing was shifted to land based facilities located at the Naval Research Laboratory's Chesapeake Bay Detachment in southern Maryland.

Awards

Shadwell earned one