USS Catamount ( LSD - 17 ) USS " Catamount " ( LSD - 17 ) was a " Casa Grande " - class dock landing ship of the United States Navy , named in honor of the Catamount Tavern in Old Bennington , which served as headquarters for Ethan Allen ' s Green Mountain Boys while making their plans against the New Yorkers and the British . The Catamount was also the meetingplace of Vermont ' s only form of government then : the Vermont Council of Safety . " Catamount " was launched on 27 January 1945 by Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Co . , Newport News , Va . , sponsored by Mrs . Dave E . Satterfield , Jr . ; commissioned on 9 April 1945 , Commander C . A . Swafford in command ; and reported to the U . S . Pacific Fleet . " Catamount " sailed out of Pearl Harbor on 16 June 1945 laden with landing craft for Guam and Eniwetok . Through the remainder of the war , she ferried landing craft , dredge s , and other equipment from Espiritu Santo to Kwajalein , Guam , and the Philippines . On 19 August she cleared Guam with special equipment to be used in the occupation of Japan , and on 26 August she stood up Tokyo Bay . Here she operated a boat pool and tended landing craft until 6 October , when she cleared on the first of two voyages to Manila to ferry troops and boats for the Japanese occupation . After a final voyage from Guam to Samar , " Catamount " cleared for San Francisco and Norfolk , where she arrived 11 February 1946 . Joining the Atlantic Fleet , " Catamount " took part in amphibious training and midshipman cruise s until the outbreak of the Korean War . Korean War . Leaving Norfolk on 15 August 1950 , " Catamount " called at San Diego en route Kobe where she embarked marines bound for the invasion of Inchon . In the landings at Wonsan , " Catamount " sailed with the important repair and salvage group . It was in November 1950 , that " Catamount " achieved a notable first , when , as part of Commander Stephen M . Archer ' s Task Element 95 . 69 , she became the first LSD to take part in minesweeping operations , at Chinnampo , port city of P ' yŏngyang . It was essential that this port be opened so that the advancing U . S . Eighth Army ashore could be supplied by sea , and all types of minesweepers were summoned for the urgent task . " Catamount " served as tanker and supply ship to this varied fleet , as well as mothering a swarm of LCVP s which were able to sweep waters too shallow for larger craft . In December 1950 , " Catamount " took part in the withdrawal of marines and soldiers from Hungnam to Pusan , then returned to Yokosuka , Japan to replenish . She returned to tend landing craft at Korean ports through April 1951 , when she began duty transporting equipment and supplies from Sasebo to Inchon and Pusan . On 31 May , she cleared Yokosuka for an overhaul at San Diego . " Catamount " had two more tours of duty in the Korean War , from 3 November 1951 to 24 July 1952 , and from 29 October 1952 to 8 April 1953 . She made her first post - war tour from 5 August 1953 to 18 April 1954 . During each of these tours , she tended small craft , and transported personnel , as well as taking part in exercises off Japan and Okinawa . From her base at San Diego , she conducted local operations , and in the summer of 1954 , made two voyages to Naknek , Alaska , with landing craft and oil barges . 1955 – 1965 . On 3 January 1955 , " Catamount " cleared for the Far East once again , arriving at Yokosuka 25 January . Almost at once she sailed for the Taiwan Straits to take part in the evacuation of the Tachen Islands early in February . She returned to San Diego 24 April . After local operations , she spent 16 January to 30 August 1956 in the central Pacific in Operation Redwing , a series of nuclear tests . In the summer of 1957 , " Catamount " sailed from Seattle on resupply missions to stations of the Distant Early Warning Line ( DEW Line ) in the Arctic . From 12 June to 8 December 1958 , she cruised in the Far East once more , returning for duty off the coast of southern California . Among her assignments was qualifying helicopter pilots in landings on ships of her type , and participating in amphibious landing exercises based on the relatively new concept of vertical envelopment . Special operations off the northwest coast of the United States and British Columbia in the spring and summer of 1959 preceded a deployment to Hawaii for amphibious training . Later in the year she was overhauled in Portland , Oreg . , returning to operations from San Diego 25 March 1960 . After a brief period of operations and supplementary overhaul in San Diego , " Catamount " sailed on 25 June on a special mission , carrying landing craft to southern Chile , devastated by the Great Chilean Earthquake . Transferred to the Chilean Navy , these landing craft provided critically needed transportation in regions where piers had been destroyed by tsunami . " Catamount " returned to San Diego on 13 August , operated on the west coast and on 22 November sailed for another tour with the U . S . 7th Fleet in the Far East . Vietnam War . " Catamount " served several tours in the Vietnam War . " Catamount " was decommissioned on 31 March 1970 , and struck from the Naval Register on 15 October 1976 . She was sold for scrapping , 4 December 1975 by the Defense Reutilization and Marketing Service ( DRMS ) for $ 178 , 148 . 15 to Max Rouse & Sons , Beverly Hills , Calif . " Catamount " received seven battle star s for Korean War service and seven campaign stars for Vietnam War service .