In the News

CRMC President Chet Watson Helps Bring USS Schenectady’s Bell and Commissioning Plaque Home

The USS Schenectady’s bell and commissioning plaque has come home to its namesake thanks to the efforts of the Navy and the local Navy League. The ship, which served in the Vietnam and Persian Gulf Wars, was launched in 1969 and commissioned in 1970. While in active duty it had a crew of 14 officers and 210 enlisted Sailors and could transport 350 Marines as well. She was decommissioned in December 1993.

In 2004, Chester (Chet) A. Watson (Lt. Cdr., USN, Retired), who is currently President of the Upper Hudson Council of the Navy League and President of the Capital Region Maritime Center, discovered that the Navy had plans to use the USS Schenectady for target practice. He vowed that she would not go down taking the ship’s bell with her.

“I just couldn’t see her going down without having some remnant of her service live on in history here in Schenectady where we live,” said Watson. “She was a glorious ship who served our country well. She deserved a fitting memorial in a place where she would be appreciated.”

He contacted Lt. Cmdr. Mark Junco, the commander of the Navy Operational Support Center in Schenectady, after researching how to recover the bell and the ship’s plaque, and Lt. Cmdr. Junco went to work to try to bring the items from the only ship named for Schenectady County home. 

Thanks to their efforts, the bell and plaque have been sitting in storage waiting to be claimed since 2004.  It will now have a permanent resting place on the base in Schenectady, and will proudly stand on a base created by STS Steel.  They will be on display at the Navy Operational Support Center in Glenville, where the ceremony to welcome them home was held on Wednesday, September 14, 2011.

Lt. Cmdr. Mark Junco addressed the crowd gathered to welcome the bell and plaque at an event in honor of the occasion sponsored by the Schenectady Military Affairs Committee (SMAC) saying “it’s fitting to have a piece of naval history that deals with the county here where it belongs.” He credited Watson for his efforts and assistance acknowledging that, “You’ve got to give credit where credit is due. We couldn’t have done this without you.”

The ship was used as a moving target in Resultant Fury 05-01 and on Nov. 23 the Schenectady was sunk by a United States Air Force B-52 using a laser targeting device.

HISTORY OF THE USS SCHENECTADY

The USS Schenectady was a 523 foot-long Newport class Landing Ship Tank that was launched in 1969 and commissioned in June 1970. The 20 ships in this class were designed to unload tanks, trucks loaded with supplies and other equipment over a 40-ton bow ramp directly onto a beachhead in support of Marine landing operations.  According to a press release issued by the New York State Division of Military & Naval Affairs, it was the only ship ever named for Schenectady County or City.

In 1993, the Navy sold, transferred and decommissioned all but two of the Newport class ships following a relook at the Navy and Marine Corps amphibious assault requirements. After she was decommissioned, the Schenectady was placed in the Naval Inactive Ship Maintenance Facility at Pearl Harbor until 2004.