USS Austin Port Call to Corpus Christi (1965)

This film captures the USS Austin making a port call in Corpus Christi on October 31, 1965. Crew members take noted visitors on a tour of the ship before joining an on-deck ceremony celebrating the newly commissioned vessel. Speakers at the ceremony include Senator Ralph Yarborough of Texas, Congressman J.J. Pickle, Austin Mayor Lester Palmer, and Captain William Shaw. The amphibious transport dock ship, named in honor of the Texas capital, was commissioned on February 6, 1965. It sailed to Corpus Christi for the ceremony before returning to its home port off the coast of Norfolk, Virginia. The USS Austin was in Naval service for more than 40 years before being decommissioned in 2006 and sold for scrapping in 2009.