View and download the 46 page document here: USS Calvert – Historical Research Notes – 1965.01.01 to 1965.08.22 (the document will open in a new tab).

Note: This is an updated version for the first half of 1965, first posted in early August 2024 (which ended on June 30, 1965). This new version includes details for July and August leading up to the Calvert’s final Western Pacific cruise which began on August 23, 1965. Several maps and charts are also added throughout the document: San Diego | Los Angeles | Buckner Bay, Okinawa, Japan.

Chronological highlights for this period include:

• San Diego U.S. Naval Station, and local area – January 1 to February 5
• Underway for Hawaii – February 5 – February 13
• Pearl Harbor, and local operating area – February 13 – March 12
• Underway for Okinawa, Japan – March 12 – March 26
• Okinawa, Japan – March 26 – April 1
• Underway for Yokosuka, Japan – April 1 – April 4
• Yokosuka, Japan – April 4 – April 9
• Underway to Hawaii – April 9 – April 19
• Pearl Harbor – April 19 – April 21
• Underway to San Diego – April 21 – April 28
• San Diego U.S. Naval Station, and local area – April 28 – August 22 – A period of amphibious training exercises and periods of upkeep, prior to departure on August 23rd for the Calvert’s final WestPac Cruise

Additional documents covering other periods of WWII are available here: https://www.usscalvert.com/history/1960s-vietnam-war/

Thank you for visiting the website and anything you are wiling or able to share regarding the history of the USS Calvert. Please contact me with questions, additions, or corrections.

Document version history and notes:

• First published: v2024.08.03. This first version covered the period January 1, 1965 to June 30, 1965.
• Second version published: v2024.10.27. Added detailed research notes for the period July 1 to August 22, 1965. Also added several maps and charts throughout the document.
• Third version published: v2024.11.10. Added new maps and charts for certain locations.

I found this 1974 chart of the San Diego Bay online at the NOAA historical map website. As you can see in the zoomed-in clip below, it shows beach lanes 1 to 10, and landing beaches (e.g., red 1, red 2).

Does anyone know if these beach lanes and landing beaches were organized in the same configuration and location in the 1950s and 1960s? If so I will be adding this detailed chart to the appropriate daily history research note documents between now and end of the year.

Thanks in advance for any information.

Original chart, above, showing beach lanes (light green lines), landing beaches, and mooring/anchorage locations (light green circles).

An annotated version of the same chart, highlighting the boat lanes and landing beach colors.

The full image of the chart can be accessed here: https://www.historicalcharts.noaa.gov/image.php?filename=5107-5-1974

Appreciation to Albert’s grandson, James, for providing the photographs below.

When Albert transferred off the Calvert in late-October 1945 he was rated a Coxswain, so he would have been a member of the ship’s boat crews.

Albert’s time aboard the Calvert was as follows:

• Joined the Calvert on September 16, 1943, while the ship was in San Francisco prior to departure for her first invasion in the Pacific. He was rated a Seaman Second Class, Sc2, at that time and was received aboard from the Pleasanton Naval Center, CA.
• Departed the Calvert on October 29, 1945, while the ship was in Hiro Wan, Japan. He was rated a Coxswain (Temporary), Cox (t), at that time. 
• He was also listed aboard the USS Winston (AKA-94) in mid-November, for discharge from the U.S. Navy upon return to the continental U.S.

Here are the assault landings Albert would have participated as a member of a boat crew.

• Assault landing at Makin Island, Gilberts, November 1943. Many of the boat crews also helped with boat salvage operations at nearby Tarawa after the landings at Makin. This is likely the “mop up” reference he mentioned to his family. He would have seen horrific sights at Tarawa, as did my grandfather.
• Assault landing at Roi-Namur, late-January 1944.
• Assault landing at Saipan, June 1944.
• Assault landing at Tinian, July 1944.
• Assault landings at Leyte, Philippines, October 1994
• Reinforcement at Leyte, Philippines, November 1944.
• Assault landing at Lingayen Gulf, Philippines, January 1945.
• Assault landing at Mindoro, Philippines, February 1945
• First landing of occupation troops in the Hiroshima area (Hiro Wan), Japan, in October, 1945.

The photo above likely shows either the Calvert’s 1st or 3rd deck division/boat crews.

Likely Albert’s graduating class photograph, probably at a west-coast landing craft school.

This is the second of two USS Calvert-specific cachet stamped mailing envelopes I recently purchased on EBay.

• More USS Calvert covers and cachet stamps, here
• Background on cachet stamps can be found here