first phase of Operation "Tankex." Other ports which Union visited in connection with the operation were Kobe and Joji. In September, Union performed three weeks of duty as station ship in Hong Kong. On 1 November 1959, Union set sail for San Diego via Pearl Harbor. She arrived at San Diego on 24 November and ended the year with a leave and upkeep period for the holiday season. 1960–1965 During the first six months of 1960, Union conducted local operations and necessary upkeep and repair periods in her home port area of San Diego. In February, she participated in Operation "Swan Dive," a Marine landing at Camp Pendleton. In May, she took part in Operation "Big Top," in which Marine air and naval surface units combined to land marines on Camp Pendleton beaches with an airlift of helicopter-borne troops among the initial assault waves. On 21 June, Union deployed to WestPac via Pearl Harbor. During the first part of the deployment, the ship made stops at Guam; Okinawa; Subic Bay, Philippines; Hong Kong; and Yokosuka, Japan, conducting various cargo-personnel lifts. In September, Union embarked the Army's 1st Battle Group of the 2nd Infantry at Inchon, Korea, for a practice exercise on the beaches of Pohang Dong, Korea, and returned to Inchon. In October, Union visited the Japanese ports of Kure, Numazu, and Kobe. She carried out a people-to-people program which included an orphans' party, exchange of wardroom visits with Japanese officers, a tour of the ship by Japanese officers and petty officers, two visits for an evening meal by Japanese students from universities and colleges, a presentation of several utility items to a Numazu orphanage, and several softball games. During a second visit to Hong Kong in November, Union acted as station ship. In December, she completed her WestPac deployment and returned to San Diego. A Christmas leave period commenced on 22 December. The early weeks of 1961 were spent in leave and upkeep in anticipation of the regular overhaul commencing 15 February. Completed under four separate commercial repair contracts, the extended completion date was 26 April 1961. May, June, and July were spent in the San Diego area, where Union underwent two intensive training periods followed by leave and upkeep. Departing San Diego on 4 August, Union was chartered by the Department of Commerce to make her second and the Navy's last resupply trip to the Pribilof Islands. Cargo