National Museum of the U.S. Navy

USS Carronade (ISF-1, later LFR-1), 1955-1970

USS Carronade (IFS-1), an inshore fire support ship, was commissioned on May 25, 1955, at Puget Sound Bridge and Dredging Company, Seattle, Washington.   Designed to replace the LSMR (Medium Landing Ship, Rocket), she participated in tests in the Pacific Ocean to demonstrate her effectiveness with amphibious exercises and with inshore fire.   Decommissioned in February 1960, she was recommissioned in October 1965 for service in the Vietnam War.  Becoming the flagship of Inshore Fire Support Division 93 (IFDIV 93), Carronade participated in numerous Vietnamese Counteroffensives and the Tet Counteroffensive in 1968.  Redesignated LFR-1 in January 1969, she continued her Vietnam service until January 1970.   Carronade was decommissioned that July, struck from the Naval Register in May 1973, and finally sold for scrapping in September 1994. 

A model of Carronde was on display in the America's Wars in Vietnam section at the National Museum of the Navy (Cold War Gallery), Bldg 70, until 2022.  

Image:  80-G-689754:  USS Carronade (IFS-1), port view, 1955-59.  Official U.S. Navy Photograph, now in the collections of the National Archives.