remained in the Far East through 1952 for two more Korean deployments. During the first, the landing ship provided support services at Inchon; and, in the second, she took part in the massive amphibious feint at Kojo, North Korea, from 13 to 16 October 1952, and in operations off Wonsan, supporting mine-craft in November and December. During 1953, Tortuga participated in the Korean prisoner-of-war exchange after the Panmunjom Armistice and also conducted landing exercises and maneuvers in the Far East and off the west coast of the United States. 1954-1964 Tortuga was deployed to the Western Pacific (WestPac) again in 1954. The signing of the Geneva Accords which ended the fighting between the French and Viet Minh resulted in the creation of two Vietnams — North and South. The former was to be in Communist hands; the latter was to be governed by non-Communist leaders. Diverted to Haiphong from Yokosuka, Tortuga arrived at her destination on 21 August 1954 to take part in the massive evacuation of French nationals, in "Operation Passage to Freedom", as well as the moving of Vietnamese who chose not to live in the north. The landing ship conducted four round trips from Haiphong in the north to Tourane (now Da Nang), Saigon, and Nha Trang in the south, before she returned to Yokosuka on 4 October. For the remainder of the year, she conducted minesweeper support operations in Korean waters. During the 14 years from 1955 to 1969, Tortuga would remain employed in a regular schedule of deployments to WestPac. In 1958, Tortuga conducted operations in the Marshall Islands. She was based at San Diego until 30 June 1966, when her home port was changed to Long Beach. In between deployments — which included exercises and equipment lifts and labors to help maintain the 7th Fleet's readiness — Tortuga conducted local operations put of west coast ports and underwent progressive modifications during regular availabilities. 1964-1965 As American involvement in Southeast Asia deepened during the latter half of the 1960s, Tortuga'''s deployment schedule accordingly reflected her role in the buildup of Allied strength to attempt to check communist domination of Southeast Asia. Soon after receiving word of the Gulf of Tonkin Incident, Tortuga — combat-loaded — got underway from Buckner Bay. She remained underway in the South China Sea from 6 August to 19 September before returning to Subic Bay. For the remainder of the year