View source for USS Cabildo

{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2021}}

{|{{Infobox ship begin}}
{{Infobox ship image
|Ship image= [[Image:USS Cabildo;10121603.jpg|300px|USS Cabildo (LSD-16), early 1950s, before addition of flight deck.]]
|Ship caption=''Cabildo'', early 1950s, before addition of flight deck
}}
{{Infobox ship career
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|Ship country=United States
|Ship flag={{USN flag|1970}}
|Ship name=USS ''Cabildo''
|Ship namesake=[[The Cabildo]] in [[New Orleans]], Louisiana
|Ship ordered=
|Ship awarded=1 July 1943
|Ship builder=[[Newport News Shipbuilding|Newport News Shipbuilding and Drydock Co.]], [[Newport News, Virginia]]
|Ship laid down= 24 July 1944
|Ship launched= 22 December 1944
|Ship acquired=
|Ship commissioned= 15 March 1945
|Ship decommissioned= 31 March 1970
|Ship in service=
|Ship out of service=
|Ship struck= 15 October 1976
|Ship renamed=
|Ship reclassified=
|Ship homeport=
|Ship motto=
|Ship nickname=
|Ship honors=*2 [[battle star]]s (Korea)
*6 battle stars (Vietnam)
|Ship fate= Sunk as a target, September 1985
|Ship notes=
}}
{{Infobox ship characteristics
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|Header caption=
|Ship class= {{sclass|Casa Grande|dock landing ship}}
|Ship displacement=*{{convert|4032|LT|t|0|abbr=on}} light
*{{convert|7930|LT|t|0|abbr=on}} full load
|Ship length={{convert|457|ft|9|in|m|abbr=on}}
|Ship beam={{convert|72|ft|m|abbr=on}}
|Ship draft={{convert|18|ft|m|abbr=on}}
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|Ship decks=
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|Ship propulsion=2 steam [[turbine]]s, 2 shafts
|Ship speed= {{convert|15|kn|lk=in}}
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|Ship endurance=
|Ship boats= 3 [[Landing craft tank|LCT]]s in {{convert|392|ft|m|abbr=on}} × {{convert|44|ft|m|abbr=on}} [[Well deck]]
|Ship capacity=
|Ship troops=Accommodation for 240 combat troops
|Ship complement=326
|Ship sensors=
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|Ship armament=*1 × [[5"/38 caliber gun]]
*4 × [[Bofors 40 mm Automatic Gun L/60|40 mm]] guns (2×2)
*16 × [[Oerlikon 20 mm cannon|20 mm]] guns (16×1)
|Ship armor=
|Ship aircraft=
|Ship aircraft facilities=1 helicopter landing pad
|Ship notes=
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|}
'''USS ''Cabildo'' (LSD-16)''' was a {{sclass|Casa Grande|dock landing ship}} of the [[United States Navy]]. She was named for [[The Cabildo]] in [[New Orleans, Louisiana|New Orleans]], the old town hall and now a historical museum, where the formal transfer of the [[Louisiana Territory]] from [[France]] to the United States took place.

''Cabildo'' was laid down on 24 July 1944 by [[Newport News Shipbuilding and Drydock Co.]], [[Newport News, Virginia]]; [[Ship naming and launching|launched]] on 22 December 1944, sponsored by Miss A. B. Pendleton; and [[ship commissioning|commissioned]] on 15 March 1945.

==Service history==

===World War II, 1945&ndash;1947===
''Cabildo'' sailed from [[New York City]] on 6 May 1945 for [[Pearl Harbor]], where she arrived on 8 June. She carried out her duties of docking and repairing small craft, transporting amphibious craft, and operating boat-pools at [[Guam]] and [[Okinawa Prefecture|Okinawa]] in July. After carrying boats to the [[Philippines]] in August, ''Cabildo'' reported in [[Wakanoura Wan]], [[Honshū]], on 11 September. Here she loaded [[Java]]nese, [[Netherlands|Dutch]], and [[Australia]]ns, rescued from [[Japan]]ese prison camps, who she carried to Okinawa. Laden with men of the [[United States Army Corps of Engineers|Army Engineers]], she arrived at [[Manila]] on 3 October, then sailed for Japan, where she acted as receiving and repair ship at [[United States Fleet Activities Sasebo|Sasebo]] and [[United States Fleet Activities Yokosuka|Yokosuka]] until 19 April 1946. ''Cabildo'' returned to the west coast on 12 May 1946, and was decommissioned on 15 January 1947.

===Korea, 1950&ndash;1952===
Recommissioned at [[Naval Station San Diego|San Diego]] on 5 October 1950, she took part in [[nuclear weapon|atomic weapons]] tests in the [[Marshall Islands|Marshalls]] — "[[Operation Greenhouse]]" — in which she was one of the first ships to become [[radioactive]].  After extensive decontamination she sailed, on 21 November 1951, from San Diego for duty in [[Korea]]n waters. She lifted soldiers and [[United States Marine Corps|marines]] from Japan to Korea, and from Korea's east coast to the [[Inchon]] battle lines, and during a part of her tour served as [[flagship]] and tender to [[Mine Squadron 3]] in its dangerous operations. While with this group in April off [[Wonsan]], ''Cabildo'' received a direct hit from a shore battery, suffered a few casualties, but was able to continue her mission. The battleship Iowa later arrived to cover her.

===1952&ndash;1960===
Returning to San Diego on 2 September 1952, ''Cabildo'' prepared for another extended Far Eastern deployment from 3 July 1953 to 23 April 1954. In 1955 she was fitted with mezzanine and [[helicopter]] decks, and from that time operated extensively with Marine units in developing the vertical envelopment concept of amphibious warfare. ''Cabildo''{{'}}s west coast operations alternated with two tours of duty in the Far East from January 1956 to July 1958. Clearing San Diego on 11 February 1959, she carried craft and an [[underwater demolition team]] detachment to the [[Aleutian Islands|Aleutians]] before continuing to Japan. After duty in Japanese and [[Taiwan|Formosan]] waters, she returned to [[Long Beach, California|Long Beach]] on 5 June 1959. Amphibious exercises at [[Okinawa Island|Okinawa]] highlighted her 1960 deployment, which began on 16 February and continued through the major portion of the year.

===1963-1965===
In the spring of 1963, the ship sailed back to the West Coast and her home port of Long Beach via the Panama Canal after serving as part of the Navy's Cuban Missile Blockade.  In the fall of 1963, she was deployed to Asia and visited Pearl Harbor, Subic Bay and Japan. During this period she made six trips to Okinawa and also sailed to Guam and the Kwajalein Atoll. During her Asian tour of duty she was in a collision at sea when most of the Electronic Parts Storeroom was lost as it spilled into the ocean.

In April 1964 she headed back to her home port of Long Beach.  Several months later she went into dry dock for upgrades and spent 6 months in Portland Oregon.

During this time period, the ship had visited every major city and port on the West Coast of America's mainland.

In 1965, she and the {{USS|Galveston|CLG-3|6}} were available for naval gunfire support and [[3rd Battalion, 12th Marines]] in Van Tuong which was the artillery unit in direct support. {{USS|Vernon County|LST-1161|6}} embarked elements of the [[3rd Battalion, 3rd Marines]] (Battalion Landing Team) (BLT) 3, under Lieutenant Colonel Joseph E. Muir, USMC, at [[Chu Lai]], and sailed south along the coast to An Thuong, where she put the troops ashore in phase one of [[Operation Starlite]].

===Decommissioning and disposal===
''Cabildo''  was decommissioned on 31 March 1970 at [[Naval Station Long Beach|Long Beach]], CA, and laid up in the [[Pacific Reserve Fleet]]. She was struck from the [[Naval Register]] on 15 October 1976, and used as a fleet target, sunk by grounding at [[San Nicholas Island]] in September 1985.

''Cabildo'' received two [[battle star]]s for service in the [[Korean War]] and six battle stars for the [[Vietnam War]].

==References==
{{DANFS|http://www.history.navy.mil/danfs/c1/cabildo.htm}}

== External links ==
* {{Naval Vessel Register URL|id=LSD16|title=nvr.navy.mil: USS ''Cabildo''}}
* {{navsource|10/12/1216|USS Cabildo}}
* [http://www.hazegray.org/danfs/amphib/lsd16.htm  hazegray.org: USS ''Cabildo'']
* [http://www.usscabildo.org/  USS ''Cabildo'' (LSD-16) Association Homepage]

{{Casa Grande-class dock landing ships}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cabildo (LSD-16)}}
[[Category:Casa Grande-class dock landing ships of the United States Navy]]
[[Category:1944 ships]]
[[Category:World War II amphibious warfare vessels of the United States]]
[[Category:Cold War amphibious warfare vessels of the United States]]
[[Category:Korean War amphibious warfare vessels of the United States]]
[[Category:Vietnam War amphibious warfare vessels of the United States]]
[[Category:Ships built in Newport News, Virginia]]