USS Lindenwald ( LSD - 6 ) USS " Lindenwald " ( LSD - 6 ) was an of the United States Navy , named in honor of Lindenwald , the New York estate of President Martin Van Buren ( 1782 – 1862 ) . " Lindenwald " was authorized as a Mechanized Artillery Transport , APM - 6 ; reclassified LSD - 6 on 1 July 1942 ; laid down 22 February 1943 by Moore Dry Dock Co . , Oakland , California ; launched on 11 June 1943 , sponsored by Mrs . Wilbur M . Lockhart and commissioned on 9 December 1943 , Commander William W . Weaver in command . World War II . Central Pacific campaigns . After shakedown off San Francisco , the new landing ship dock departed San Diego 27 December 1943 loaded with LCT s for docking and undocking trials in Maalaea Bay , Hawaii . Following 18 days of intensive training , " Lindenwald " sortied from Pearl Harbor with the Southern Transport Group for the invasion of the Marshall Islands on 22 January 1944 with 18 tank - carrying LCM s stowed in her well deck . Arriving off Kwajalein late evening 31 January , she launched the LCMs at dawn the next mornIng . Six days later , the ship loaded 54 LVT s and sailed for the Ellice Islands en route to Guadalcanal . Anchoring off Guadalcanal on 23 February , she received calls from Admiral William F . Halsey and Maj . Gen . Roy S . Geiger , USMC . During March she made two runs from Guadalcanal carrying boats and marines for the daring invasion of Emirau Island , just 150 miles north of the Japanese stronghold at Rabaul . She spent April and May in Hawaiian waters , training with marines , then departed 30 May for Eniwetok en route to the invasion of Saipan . " Lindenwald " arrived the morning of D - Day , 15 June , and debarked LCMs preloaded with tanks and men of the 2d Marine Division . The ship then stood off Saipan while on the beaches the marines overcame tough opposition with naval gunfire and air support . " Lindenwald " departed for San Francisco 22 June and arrived 11 July , touching Pearl Harbor en route to unload boats and marine casualties . Philippine and Okinawa campaigns . Departing the West Coast only 10 days after arrival , " Lindenwald " loaded boats at Pearl Harbor and steamed for the Admiralties to make final preparations for the invasion of Leyte . She left Manus Island for Leyte on 14 October and anchored in the LSD launching area 20 October . The next day , she quickly unloaded boats and got underway for Hollandia , New Guinea , to carry General MacArthur ' s rear echelon to the new headquarters at Leyte . For the next two months , " Lindenwald " carried troops and equipment from New Guinea to Manus and Leyte . With Leyte secured , " Lindenwald " prepared for the invasion at Lingayen Gulf , about 150 miles north of Manila . as the Navy leapfrogged toward Japan . The ship departed Manus for Lingayen on 31 December . En route , January , four suicide plane s attacked the formation . One crashed the port side of escort carrier . Formation antiaircraft fire splashed or diverted the others . The action continued with increased fury the next day . As the LSDs launched boats , was crashed just 1 , 000 yards from " Lindenwald " . That afternoon an enemy bomber damaged . Nevertheless the operation was successful . On 10 January the ship steamed for Wake Island to get reinforcements and returned to Lingayen on the 27th . Departing immediately , she picked up more men and equipment from Biak Island and returned again to Lingayen 11 February . Shoving off 13 February , she arrived Guam on the 24th , then proceeded to Milne Bay , New Guinea , loaded 38 boats , and steamed for Leyte . Arriving 12 March , she reported to Task Force 51 ( TF 51 ) under Vice Admiral Richmond K . Turner and began preparations for the upcoming Okinawa campaign . " Lindenwald " sailed due north from San Pedro Bay , Leyte , for Okinawa on 26 March and arrived 1 April . She remained off Okinawa for 92 days , docking , repairing , and servicing landing craft damaged by enemy gunfire or the heavy surf . During this period , the ship repaired 452 boats . Enemy harassment twice threatened to cut short her busy career . Early morning 27 May , after suicide planes crashed two sister auxiliary ships , " Lindenwald " splashed an enemy aircraft before it could crash nearby . Two weeks later , a murderous barrage from " Lindenwald " diverted an incoming suicide plane just enough to escape disaster . It barely missed the radar mast and splashed 500 yards off the bow . With the liberation of Okinawa completed , " Lindenwald " sailed for San Francisco on 1 July and pulled in three weeks later . After a 2 - month overhaul , she made a fast run to Pearl Harbor , then sailed via the Panama Canal for Galveston , Texas , and transport duty in the Gulf of Mexico . 1946 – 1954 . She steamed from New Orleans for Bremerhaven on 24 June 1946 , touching Liberia , Casablanca , and Le Havre to debark men and supplies . Leaving northern Germany on 18 August , " Lindenwald " arrived Norfolk the 30th , stayed nine days and sailed for San Francisco , arriving 30 September . The ship decommissioned 5 April 1947 and joined the Pacific Reserve Fleet at San Francisco . " Lindenwald " recommissioned 18 February 1949 and operated off the West Coast until 26 November , then steamed to Norfolk for amphibious duty , arriving 13 December . For the next three years , she made yearly voyages to the Caribbean and north to Newfoundland , Labrador , and Thule Air Base , Greenland . On 8 September 1953 , " Lindenwald " departed Norfolk with Amphibious Group 4 ( PhibGroup 4 ) en route the Mediterranean . She arrived at Algiers on 23 September , departed a week later for Crete , and spent October conducting amphibious exercises with the U . S . 6th Fleet in the Aegean Sea . Returning to the western Mediterranean , she visited ports in France , Italy , and Spain during late 1953 , departing Oran for Norfolk 24 January 1954 . 1954 – 1958 . During the following three years , " Lindenwald " made another European voyage and spent each summer operating in the icy waters off Greenland with the Military Sea Transportation Service ( MSTS ) . Decommissioned 12 December 1956 , she was transferred to MSTS the same date and was placed in service as USNS " Lindenwald " ( T - LSD - 6 ) , and assigned to MSTS , Atlantic . As a unit of MSTS , she made supply runs to bases in northern Greenland and the Arctic until mid - October 1958 . " Lindenwald " then departed the East Coast of Greenland on one of her supply runs . En route , she ran into an Arctic storm . During the storm she lost her steering controls and lay helpless for several hours . A distress signal was sent out and picked up by USNS " Chattahoochee " ( T - AOG - 82 ) which shortly arrived on the scene and towed " Lindenwald " to a safe anchorage . With her steering controls repaired , but with a noticeable list she sailed for New York City for further repairs , upon completion of which she was placed in MSTS Ready Reserve . 1959 – 1967 . Reacquired by the Navy early the next year , she recommissioned on 1 July 1960 and was assigned to the Amphibious Force , U . S . Atlantic Fleet . Besides extensive training duties with the Amphibious Forces , the ship also played a vital peacekeeping role during the volatile 1960s . She helped stabilize the Caribbean area during the Dominican Republic revolt of November 1961 . From 14 February to 16 June 1962 , the ship again patrolled the Mediterranean with the 6th Fleet . When President John F . Kennedy ordered the quarantine of Cuba in the fall of 1962 , " Lindenwald " policed the area around Puerto Rico . After spending most of 1963 in Arctic waters , the ship displayed her combat readiness in Operation " Quick Kick " during April 1964 and again that summer with the transatlantic amphibious exercise operation " Steel Pike I . " As civil disorder rocked the Dominican Republic in May 1965 , " Lindenwald " steamed to Santo Domingo with peacekeeping forces for Operation Power Pack to help stabilize the island and make possible the establishment of a viable government . The ship departed Little Creek , Virginia for the Mediterranean in March 1966 , returning on 16 November . Until late 1968 , " Lindenwald " alternated between upkeep , overhaul , and conducting amphibious exercises and training along the eastern seaboard and in the Caribbean . " Lindenwald " decommissioned at Little Creek on 30 November 1967 and was struck from the Naval Vessel Register on 1 December 1967 . On 25 September 1968 , she was sold to Union Minerals & Alloys Corp . , for scrapping . " Lindenwald " received five battle star s for World War II service .