Operation Steel Pike was the largest peacetime

amphibious Amphibious means able to use either land or water. In particular it may refer to: Animals * Amphibian, a vertebrate animal of the class Amphibia (many of which live on land and breed in water) * Amphibious caterpillar * Amphibious fish, a fish ...

landing exercise in history, conducted by the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...

and

Marine Corps Marines (or naval infantry) are military personnel generally trained to operate on both land and sea, with a particular focus on amphibious warfare. Historically, the main tasks undertaken by marines have included raiding ashore (often in supp ...

and taking place on the coast of

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in October to November 1964. The operation involved 84 naval ships and 28,000 Marines of the

2nd Marine Division The 2nd Marine Division (2nd MARDIV) is a division of the United States Marine Corps, which forms the ground combat element of the II Marine Expeditionary Force (II MEF). The division is based at Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune, North Carolina a ...

, and was commanded by

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John S. McCain, Jr. and Lieutenant general James P. Berkeley. The director of control group during for exercise was Brigadier general

John C. Miller Jr. John Carroll Miller Jr. (December 25, 1912 – July 29, 2000) was a decorated officer in the United States Marine Corps with the rank of Brigadier general. A veteran of the Pacific War, he was wounded twice and received decorations for valor on ...

In the opening hour of the landing, two helicopters collided in mid-air, resulting in the deaths of nine Marines and causing injuries to 13 others. Another Marine was crushed to death by a tank while asleep in his sleeping bag. During the trip over the ships were divided into three convoys sailing under war time conditions with ASW escorts. There were many civilian ships contracted to the Navy to transport military personnel and cargo to the landing area. Once the ships were anchored in place the landings began. There were two or three days of landing men and equipment ashore, then one day of rest for the landing craft. After that, the task force started back loading men and equipment onto the ships. When it was finished, the ships departed for liberty to different ports: the USS Okinawa to La Pallice and La Rochelle, France, and to Plymouth, England. Additional notes by a Marine veteran of the operation: The units, including both ground and aviation conducted joint wargame exercises with NATO allies in Spain. During the deployment the Marines were visited by Commandant of the Marines Corps, General Wallace M. Greene. The Gen RM Blatchford took Marines to liberty call in the Canary Islands.

References

: Non-combat military operations involving the United States United States Marine Corps in the 20th century {{Navy-stub