USS Mount McKinley
USS Mount McKinley carried General Douglas MacArthur off Inchon in September 1950. The amphibious assault she directed forced North Korean forces to retreat north.
She was the lead ship of a new class of amphibious force command ships, named for the highest peak in North America. Built as a floating command post, she carried advanced communications equipment and combat information spaces for the officers who ran large-scale landings.
For a ship named after a mountain, her service record ranged far beyond any single conflict or coastline.
What made a vessel built for wartime landings trusted to direct some of the era's largest military operations? And what took her from directing beach landings to standing watch over atomic bomb tests?
Mount McKinley began life as a transport called Cyclone, laid down on the 31st of July 1943 at North Carolina Shipbuilding Company in Wilmington. Mrs. T. L. Lainer sponsored her launch on the 27th of September. The Navy renamed her Mount McKinley three months later, on the 27th of December 1943.
She was commissioned at the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard on the 1st of May 1944, less than a year after work on her hull began.
By the 8th of June 1944, she had departed Norfolk bound for Pearl Harbor. It was the first stop on a journey across the Pacific war.
Mount McKinley reached Pearl Harbor on the 27th of June 1944. She got underway on the 20th of July, bound for Palau with the Third Amphibious Corps aboard.
On the 15th of September, the assault force arrived off Peleliu. Major General Roy S. Geiger of the Marine Corps directed the landing of the 1st Marine Division there.
On the 28th of September, Mount McKinley moved to nearby Ngesebus Island to coordinate shore bombardment. She left the area on the 14th of October, once Peleliu and the surrounding islands were secure.
After a stop at Hollandia in Dutch New Guinea, the ship sailed to San Pedro Bay in Leyte Gulf. There she supported the assault on Leyte and Ormoc. Constant air attacks threatened the force in San Pedro Bay, but Mount McKinley was never hit.
On the 15th of December, she took part in the invasion of Mindoro. She then moved to Lingayen Gulf to direct shore bombardment on the 9th of January. After directing an unopposed landing at San Narciso, near Subic Bay, the command ship returned to Leyte Gulf.
On the 21st of March 1945, Mount McKinley moved to Kerama Retto off the southern coast of Okinawa. Six days before the war's last major assault, she directed the landing of the 77th Infantry Division. For the next two months she remained anchored at Kerama Retto under constant air attack. On the 22nd of May she sailed for Saipan, Pearl Harbor, and San Francisco.
She reached San Francisco on the 23rd of June 1945, marking her return to America just before a different kind of mission awaited her.
After a two-month overhaul, Mount McKinley deployed on the 20th of August 1945 and reached Sasebo, Japan, by the 23rd of September. There she helped land occupation troops, both at Sasebo and at Kure, before returning to the United States on the 12th of February 1946.
By early summer she was headed for Bikini Atoll, serving as flagship for Operation Crossroads. Admiral William H. P. Blandy flew his flag aboard as commander of Joint Task Force One during those atomic tests in July. For the next 18 months, the ship operated out of San Diego.
In early 1948, Mount McKinley served as command ship for a further atomic bomb test at Eniwetok, then resumed coastal operations from San Diego.
In the spring of 1955, Mount McKinley served as flagship for Operation Wigwam, an underwater atomic bomb test in the central Pacific. After a yard overhaul that summer, she returned to the western Pacific in January 1956 for a three-month deployment. That April she served as press observer ship for further nuclear tests.
None of that nuclear testing work was the end of her service. A landing beach in Korea would call Mount McKinley back to war.
On the 26th of June 1950, Mount McKinley sailed from Japan to direct the landing of American reinforcements at Pohang. It came at the very outset of the Korean War.
The next assault targeted the heavily mined port of Wonsan. When the Chinese People's Volunteer Army entered the war and UN troops were pushed back to the Hungnam beachhead, Mount McKinley helped with the evacuation. In late January 1951, she helped transfer thousands of Korean refugees to Cheju Island.
She sailed again on the 27th of October 1953 for a third tour in the Korean War area, reaching Yokosuka on the 16th of November. Until her departure for the United States on the 30th of July 1954, she conducted fleet exercises off Japan, Korea, and Taiwan. After reaching San Diego on the 18th of August, she spent the rest of the year on local operations. In October she took part in a month-long training exercise off Hawaii.
Her next assignment would take her across the Atlantic, into waters far from the Pacific she had come to know.
On the 3rd of June 1956, the ship returned to San Diego, and on the 1st of September she was detached from the Pacific Fleet. She reached Norfolk on the 20th of September, having sailed there by way of the Panama Canal.
On the 9th of January 1957, the ship deployed to the Mediterranean. While in the eastern Mediterranean, Mount McKinley rescued the crew of a burning Greek fishing vessel. She put out the fire and towed the damaged boat into port. After NATO and fleet exercises there, she returned to Norfolk on the 19th of June. September and early October were spent on Operation Strikeback and other NATO exercises in the eastern Atlantic. Anchored in Portsmouth Navy Yard, Mount McKinley provided command and control for part of the mock 'Orange' opposition forces during that exercise.
In January 1958, Mount McKinley deployed to the 6th Fleet, operating with the Amphibious Ready Group in NATO and American exercises. Her scheduled return home that June was delayed by rising tensions in the Middle East. She served as an afloat headquarters for the Marine force sent into Lebanon during the crisis of July 1958. She returned to Norfolk on the 16th of August.
Her third Mediterranean cruise, running from the 20th of February to the 26th of August 1959, included seven amphibious exercises with American and NATO forces.
In February 1960, the ship sailed to Valparaíso, Chile, by way of the Panama Canal. She provided communications support for President Eisenhower's goodwill visit to Latin America. On the 19th of April, Mount McKinley deployed again to the 6th Fleet, returning to Norfolk on the 7th of December. After a yard period the following summer, she made her fifth deployment to the Mediterranean, from September 1961 to February 1962. She served as flagship for several large-scale amphibious exercises.
In October 1962, during the Cuban Missile Crisis, Mount McKinley served as flagship for ComPhibLant and ComPhibGru 4. After the Cuban quarantine, she sailed for the Mediterranean on the 10th of January 1963 to act as command flagship for the Amphibious Strike Force. She arrived back in Norfolk on the 2nd of August 1963. She then entered Norfolk Naval Shipyard for a FRAM II overhaul that ran from September to January 1964.
After refresher training and the exercise 'Quick Kick V,' she departed Norfolk on the 10th of May. She arrived in San Diego on the 26th, via the Panama Canal.
Immediately after the Tonkin Gulf Incident, the ship received new orders for Southeast Asia.
Mount McKinley sailed from San Diego on the 25th of August, reaching Luzon on the 16th of September. She relieved her sister ship at Subic Bay a week later, becoming flagship of the 7th Fleet Amphibious Strike Force. Taking station in the South China Sea with other elements of Amphibious Group 1, she stood ready for any contingency.
While steaming toward Bangkok, Mount McKinley came to the aid of the MSTS ship Herkimer, whose captain had fallen severely ill. Herkimer's captain was taken aboard for further treatment in Singapore, while the merchant ship continued on to Saigon. In early March and again in mid April, the flagship coordinated the landing of Marine reinforcements at Da Nang and Hue, in South Vietnam.
Relieved at Subic Bay in April, she reached San Diego on the 15th of May 1965. The command ship sailed again from San Diego on the 15th of March. She arrived at Subic Bay on the 17th of April, by way of Pearl Harbor. Based there, she visited ports in Japan, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Vietnam, and Okinawa, acting as flagship of ComPhibGru 1.
On the 23rd of August she sailed for home, arriving on the 19th of September 1966. Her third deployment to the western Pacific began on the 1st of July, reaching Da Nang on the 28th. There she once again became flagship of the 7th Fleet Amphibious Force. She provided communications support for search and destroy operations against Vietcong and People's Army of Vietnam forces. As in earlier deployments, that combat support came paired with civic action work to help civilians.
Relieved in mid-January, she sailed east for home, reaching San Diego on the 10th of February 1968. Her designation changed from AGC-7 to LCC-7 on the 1st of January 1969. Back in the continental United States, she trained and exercised off the west coast as flagship of ComPhibGru 3. That routine work carried into 1969.
One more year of routine duty stood between Mount McKinley and the end of her active career.
Mount McKinley was decommissioned on the 26th of March 1970. Across her career, she earned four battle stars for service in the Second World War and eight for Korean service. She also received a Vietnam Meritorious Unit Citation.
The Navy struck her name from the register on the 30th of July 1976, and she was sold for disposal that same year.
Common questions
What was USS Mount McKinley used for?
USS Mount McKinley was built as an amphibious force flagship, a floating command post with advanced communications equipment and combat information spaces for the amphibious forces commander and landing force commander during large-scale operations.
When was USS Mount McKinley commissioned?
USS Mount McKinley was commissioned at the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard on the 1st of May 1944, after being laid down as the transport Cyclone in July 1943 and renamed that December.
Who directed the Inchon landing from USS Mount McKinley?
General Douglas MacArthur was aboard USS Mount McKinley in September 1950, directing the amphibious assault at Inchon that forced North Korean forces to retreat north.
Why was USS Mount McKinley present at the Bikini Atoll atomic tests?
USS Mount McKinley served as flagship for Operation Crossroads at Bikini Atoll in July 1946, flying the flag of Admiral William H. P. Blandy, commander of Joint Task Force One during the atomic tests.
Where did USS Mount McKinley serve during the Vietnam War?
USS Mount McKinley served in Southeast Asia as flagship of the 7th Fleet Amphibious Strike Force, coordinating the landing of Marine reinforcements at Da Nang and Hue in South Vietnam.
How many battle stars did USS Mount McKinley earn?
USS Mount McKinley earned four battle stars for World War II service and eight battle stars for Korean War service, along with a Vietnam Meritorious Unit Citation.