to 5 May. A second special operation in the South China Sea — again with the Amphibious Ready Group, 7th Fleet — took place in late August and early September. After operating in Okinawan waters, Thomaston departed Yokosuka, Japan, on 4 November, bound for the west coast of the United States. While en route three days later, the LSD received word of a merchantman in distress. Changing course, Thomaston found SS Barbara Fritchie in heavy seas, dead in the water, having lost a propeller and suffering rudder damage. Thomaston took her in tow and headed for Pearl Harbor, transferring the tow to on 12 November. The LSD's stop at Pearl Harbor was a brief one, though, as she arrived and departed for home on the same day, 15 November, making port at San Diego on 21 November 1963 Vietnam War 1964-1965 Thomaston operated locally and trained through the early fall of 1964, when she sailed for the Philippines on 26 October to commence another WestPac deployment. Arriving at Subic Bay on 16 November, the LSD conducted special operations in the South China Sea, including a dredge lift from Saigon to Da Nang, South Vietnam, between 21 November and 16 December. Christmas of that year found Thomaston again at sea, on "special operations" in the South China Sea. She was present at the initial Marine landings at Da Nang and Chu Lai, South Vietnam. She remained deployed to WestPac until June 1965, when she returned to San Diego to conduct routine local operations off the west coast. 1966 Departing San Diego on 10 January 1966 for WestPac, Thomaston arrived in Vietnamese coastal waters on 5 February and immediately commenced operations at Chu Lai and Da Nang, serving as boat haven at the latter port. She returned to the United States in the spring and remained at San Diego from 9 April to 9 July 1966. The ship then headed back to the western Pacific and operated out of Subic Bay from 28 July through the end of the deployment. She participated in Operations Deckhouse III (phases one and two) and Deckhouse IV in August and September. In the former, Thomaston landed marines north of Vũng Tàu and served as primary control ship and boat haven during the subsequent operations. She then landed marines at a point just south of the Vietnamese Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) between North and South Vietnam. She thus