Owyhee River
(LSMR-515: dp. 850 (It.); l. 206-; b. 35-; dr. 10- (max.); s. 13 k.; cpl. 146; a. 1 5-, 10 rkt., 4 40mm., 8 20mm., 4 4.2-m.; cl. Elk River)
A river in southwest Idaho and southeast Oregon.
LSMR-515 was laid down by the Brown Shipbuilding Co., Houston, Tex. 21 April 1945 contemporarily with 36 vessels of her class; launched 19 May; commissioned 16 July, Lt. F. A. Lovell in command.
Following shakedown, LSMR-515 proceeded to Baltimore and berthed there until mid-summer 1946, after which she was homeported at the Naval Amphibious Base, Little Creek, Va. It was not until the fall of 1948 that she was assigned her full complement and thus was able to enter active service. From that time until assuming reserve status, however, she operated over a broad area from St. John's, Newfoundland to Caracas, Venezuela. Her rocket firing tests and other assignments were carried out most frequently off the Virginia Capes and in Chesapeake Bay but she often participated in training assaults at Onslow Beach, N.C. The ship was named Owyhee River 1 October 1955 and decommissioned 16 November. She was reclassified an inshore fire support ship, LFR-515, in January 1969 and into 1970 was berthed at Norfolk where she remained part of the Atlantic Reserve Fleet.
