USS Miguel Keith

[Buckshot Bear]

Got a mate that works on the wharfs in Botany Bay (Sydney) and the USS Miguel Keith is docked presently, he sent me this pic. 

 

 

 

[Subdeacon Joe]

Interesting.  Thank you.

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Miguel_Keith

 

Design and equipment

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The 240-meter vessel is designed to provide a floating helicopter landing base, and provide other support to military operations as an expeditionary sea base.[8] The craft is officially a customizable floating command-and-control base and functionally a staging base, with the ability to launch helicopters and small boats, provide living quarters for troops, and command-and-control facilities. She can accommodate a variety of other facilities in shipping containers, including berthing for special operations troops, laundry facilities, or cold storage.[7]

 

The ship has a large upper flight deck, or mission deck, suitable for a wide range of applications, including the simultaneous accommodation of four helicopters. Though the ship's deck can land and maintain the largest helicopters, it cannot accommodate F-35B Joint Strike Fighters, despite their short-takeoff and vertical-landing capabilities.[7]

 

Below is an open space for storing equipment and for launching boats; however, there is no well deck to support the launching and recovery of hovercraft or larger boats. The flight deck separates forward and aft deckhouses. The forward deckhouse is home to a crew of 100 Navy personnel, rotated on a five-month cycle. Engineering and navigation are provided by about 40 civilian mariners berthed in the aft deckhouse.[7]

 

"

The President of the United States in the name of The Congress takes pride in presenting the MEDAL OF HONOR posthumously to

LANCE CORPORAL MIGUEL KEITH
UNITED STATES MARINE CORPS

for service as set forth in the following CITATION:

For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty while serving as a machine gunner with Combined Action Platoon 1-3-2, III Marine Amphibious Force, operating in Quang Ngai Province, Republic of Vietnam. During the early morning of 8 May 1970, Lance Corporal Keith was seriously wounded when his platoon was subjected to a heavy ground attack by a greatly outnumbering enemy force. Despite his painful wounds, he ran across the fire-swept terrain to check the security of vital defensive positions, and then, while completely exposed to view, proceeded to deliver a hail of devastating machine gun fire against the enemy. Determined to stop five of the enemy approaching the command post, he rushed forward, firing as he advanced. He succeeded in disposing of three of the attackers and in dispersing the remaining two. At this point, a grenade detonated near Lance Corporal Keith, knocking him to the ground and inflicting further severe wounds. Fighting pain and weakness from loss of blood, he again braved the concentrated hostile fire to charge an estimated twenty-five enemy soldiers who were massing to attack. The vigor of his assault and his well-placed fire eliminated four of the enemy while the remainder fled for cover. During this valiant effort, he was mortally wounded by an enemy soldier. By his courageous and inspiring performance in the face of almost overwhelming odds, Lance Corporal Keith contributed in large measure to the success of his platoon in routing a numerically superior enemy force, and upheld the finest traditions of the Marine Corps and of the United States Naval Service.

/S/ RICHARD M. NIXON

 

Lance Corporal Keith was buried in Forest Lawn Cemetery, Omaha, Nebraska.^[1][2]"