USS ''Donner'' (LSD-20) was a ''Casa Grande''-class

dock landing ship A dock landing ship (also called landing ship, dock or LSD) is an amphibious warfare ship with a well dock to transport and launch landing craft and amphibious vehicles. Some ships with well decks, such as the Soviet Ivan Rogov class, also have ...

of the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

, named for the

Sierra Nevada The Sierra Nevada () is a mountain range in the Western United States, between the Central Valley of California and the Great Basin. The vast majority of the range lies in the state of California, although the Carson Range spur lies primarily ...

Donner Pass Donner Pass is a mountain pass in the northern Sierra Nevada, above Donner Lake and Donner Memorial State Park about west of Truckee, California. Like the Sierra Nevada themselves, the pass has a steep approach from the east and a gradual appro ...

, where the

Donner Party The Donner Party, sometimes called the Donner–Reed Party, was a group of American pioneers who migrated to California in a wagon train from the Midwest. Delayed by a multitude of mishaps, they spent the winter of 1846–1847 snowbound in th ...

became snowbound in the winter of 1846–47. ''Donner'' was launched on 6 April 1945 by the

Boston Navy Yard The Boston Navy Yard, originally called the Charlestown Navy Yard and later Boston Naval Shipyard, was one of the oldest shipbuilding facilities in the United States Navy. It was established in 1801 as part of the recent establishment of t ...

, sponsored by Mrs. W. V. Alexander, Jr.; and commissioned on 31 July 1945.

1945 – 1960

''Donner'' transported

landing craft Landing craft are small and medium seagoing watercraft, such as boats and barges, used to convey a landing force (infantry and vehicles) from the sea to the shore during an amphibious assault. The term excludes landing ships, which are larger. Pr ...

from

Norfolk Norfolk () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in East Anglia in England. It borders Lincolnshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the west and south-west, and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the No ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

, then operated boat pools along the east coast until 3 November 1946 when she sailed for the

Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the e ...

and similar duty. She returned to Norfolk on 24 December for duty along the coast and on voyages to

NS Argentia Naval Station Argentia is a former base of the United States Navy that operated from 1941 to 1994. It was established in the community of Argentia in what was then the Dominion of Newfoundland, which later became the tenth Provinces and territo ...

, and

Labrador , nickname = "The Big Land" , etymology = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Canada , subdivision_type1 = Province , subdivision_name1 ...

. From 31 January to 10 March 1948 she sailed in the

Caribbean The Caribbean (, ) ( es, El Caribe; french: la Caraïbe; ht, Karayib; nl, De Caraïben) is a region of the Americas that consists of the Caribbean Sea, its islands (some surrounded by the Caribbean Sea and some bordering both the Caribbean Se ...

for a large scale landing exercise by the 2nd Fleet. The ''Donner'' was placed out of commission in reserve 12 August 1949. Recommissioned 15 September 1950 after the outbreak of the

Korean War , date = {{Ubl, 25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953 (''de facto'')({{Age in years, months, weeks and days, month1=6, day1=25, year1=1950, month2=7, day2=27, year2=1953), 25 June 1950 – present (''de jure'')({{Age in years, months, weeks a ...

, ''Donner'' cruised to the Mediterranean for duty with the 6th Fleet between 5 March and 6 July 1951. Operating from Norfolk she took part in training exercises in the Caribbean and made several cruises to the waters off

Greenland Greenland ( kl, Kalaallit Nunaat, ; da, Grønland, ) is an island country in North America that is part of the Kingdom of Denmark. It is located between the Arctic and Atlantic oceans, east of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. Greenland is t ...

for replenishment and cold weather operations. From 17 July to 7 October 1956, she made two voyages from Norfolk to resupply the

DEW Line The Distant Early Warning Line, also known as the DEW Line or Early Warning Line, was a system of radar stations in the northern Arctic region of Canada, with additional stations along the north coast and Aleutian Islands of Alaska (see Proj ...

stations. ''Donner'' participated in the

International Naval Review A fleet review or naval review is an event where a gathering of ships from a particular navy is paraded and reviewed by an incumbent head of state and/or other official civilian and military dignitaries. A number of national navies continue to ...

Hampton Roads Hampton Roads is the name of both a body of water in the United States that serves as a wide channel for the James River, James, Nansemond River, Nansemond and Elizabeth River (Virginia), Elizabeth rivers between Old Point Comfort and Sewell's ...

on 12 June 1957, then sailed for the Mediterranean on 28 August for NATO landing exercises in Turkey. She returned to Norfolk on 8 February 1958 and resumed training operations there and in the Caribbean. ''Donner'' prepared for deployment to the Mediterranean during the Lebanon landings, but her orders were canceled when the crisis eased. During the summer of 1959, ''Donner'' took part in

Operation Inland Seas Operation Inland Seas (or Sea) was a United States Navy operation to celebrate the completion of the Saint Lawrence Seaway in 1959. Task Force 47 (TF 47), a 28-ship detachment of the U.S. Atlantic Fleet under the command of Rear Admiral E ...

, the historic first passage of a Navy task force into the Great Lakes through the newly dedicated Saint Lawrence Seaway. Between 7 January 1960 and 14 June, she again served in the Mediterranean with the 6th Fleet. On 18 June 1960, she entered

Norfolk Naval Shipyard The Norfolk Naval Shipyard, often called the Norfolk Navy Yard and abbreviated as NNSY, is a U.S. Navy facility in Portsmouth, Virginia, for building, remodeling and repairing the Navy's ships. It is the oldest and largest industrial facility tha ...

for overhaul and modernization which continued through December 1960.

1961 – 1970

On 31 January 1961, the ''Donner'' recovered the Mercury-Redstone 2 spacecraft. The Mercury capsule was retrieved by helicopter and lowered to the deck. When the spacecraft was opened the

chimpanzee The chimpanzee (''Pan troglodytes''), also known as simply the chimp, is a species of great ape native to the forest and savannah of tropical Africa. It has four confirmed subspecies and a fifth proposed subspecies. When its close relative th ...

astronaut An astronaut (from the Ancient Greek (), meaning 'star', and (), meaning 'sailor') is a person trained, equipped, and deployed by a human spaceflight program to serve as a commander or crew member aboard a spacecraft. Although generally r ...

Ham appeared to be in good condition and readily accepted an apple and half an orange. From 17 September to 19 December 1961, ''Donner'' served as

flagship A flagship is a vessel used by the commanding officer of a group of naval ships, characteristically a flag officer entitled by custom to fly a distinguishing flag. Used more loosely, it is the lead ship in a fleet of vessels, typically the fi ...

for Admiral Allan L. Reed, commander of the South Atlantic fleet, during Solant Amity III, a good-will tour to Cape Town and

Port Elizabeth Gqeberha (), formerly Port Elizabeth and colloquially often referred to as P.E., is a major seaport and the most populous city in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. It is the seat of the Nelson Mandela Bay Metropolitan Municipality, Sou ...

, South Africa and other ports along the African West Coast. ''Donner'' was decommissioned on 23 December 1970, and struck from the Naval Vessel Register on 1 November 1976. She was laid up in the National Defense Reserve Fleet, James River, Reserve Fleet, at Fort Eustis, Va., from October 1981 until November 2005, when she was removed for scrapping by All Star Metals of

Brownsville, Texas Brownsville () is a city in Cameron County in the U.S. state of Texas. It is on the western Gulf Coast in South Texas, adjacent to the border with Matamoros, Mexico. The city covers , and has a population of 186,738 as of the 2020 census. It ...

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Donner (LSD-20) Casa Grande-class dock landing ships of the United States Navy Ships built in Boston 1945 ships World War II amphibious warfare vessels of the United States Cold War amphibious warfare vessels of the United States Space capsule recovery ships