From Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships,
Vol. V (1979), pp. 194
A river in southwest Idaho and southeast Oregon.
(LSMR-515: dp. 850 (lt.); 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.)
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. Loveil 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.