FOR almost 400 years, people have been immigrating to Bermuda, some of their own free will and others by force, as is the case of those who came as slaves from Africa.

Others were only visiting, but had their free will negated by love and marriage in a Bermudian horse and carriage. These "immigrants by marriage" have formed a significant part of our community. Most have come to love this place as their own and, in addition to their Bermudian children, they have made many contributions to the island.

In earlier times, the unsuspecting immigrant had barely stepped off the boat when he or she was collared by a Bermudian. Many were military personnel, such as my American mother, who came to work for the US Army when it was headquartered at the Castle Harbour Hotel in 1941-2. My grandfather met a similar fate in 1905 while serving with the Royal Fusiliers at Prospect Camp, marrying my Bermudian grandmother, Agnes Matilda Whitecross.

Captain Andrew Magee Sinclair is another whose military ship entered our waters six decades ago and has remained at anchor ever since, with a few postings overseas, Bermudian family and all. Of Scottish, Canadian and American roots, Sinclair remains one of Bermuda's finest bagpipers, with a gift for music he has handed on to one of his sons.

From his early youth, one suitcase was always earmarked for the 'pipes', whether travelling to Souda Bay in Crete, or to the Maritime Museum at the northern tip of Sandys Parish, where he has volunteered for many years.

Recently, the 'Skipper' presented his Commission Pennant for LST 32 to the Museum for display in the United States Navy Room at the Commissioner's House. Each US Navy ship flies a commissioning pennant from the moment it is brought into service until it is finally decommissioned. Capt. Sinclair took command of LST 32, Alameda County, from 1956 to 1958 during the Suez crisis. Wimbledon tennis champ Lt. Gardnar Mulloy, who at 92 still meets annually with his crew from the Second World War, formerly commanded the ship.

The LST was an invention of the Second World War and stands for 'Landing Ship, Tank', that is, a ship that could land tanks. The 1940 evacuation from Dunkirk demonstrated that large ships were needed that could deliver men and war materiel to shorelines with no docking facilities. At the Argentia Conference in August 1941, Churchill and Roosevelt agreed that the Americans should make design such a vessel.

By early November 1941, John Niedermair of the US Bureau of Ships had sketched out 'an awkward looking ship' that would become the design for 1,051 LSTs that were built during the Second World War. The problem he overcame was the conflict between a deep draft for ocean sailing and a shallow one for beaching the ship for offloading on an 'unimproved shore'.

This was resolved by a large water ballast system that was filled for ocean travel and pumped out for landing the bow of the ship on the beach. The final configuration was a vessel 328 feet long, 50 feet wide in the beam, with a minimum draft of just four feet.

The LST had two bow doors and a ramp that could offload most tanks and vehicles. An elevator moved vehicles down to the ramp deck, which was well ventilated so that tanks could have their engines running as the ship hit the beach.

THE need for this type of vessel was extremely urgent and the building programme was given top priority. Twenty-three LSTs were commissioned by the end of 1942 and some 670 were then built at inland sites, the hulls being transported by road to seaports for fitting out. Construction of a single vessel was eventually cut to a mere 60 days, an outstanding example of American industrial output.

The LST proved to be a versatile vessel and many modifications were made. Some became hospital ships; LSTs took 41,000 men wounded on the Normandy beaches on D-Day back to Britain. Only 26 were lost to enemy action and 13 to the 'friendly fire' of weather, reefs and accidents. The Korean War again proved the value of the LST, as did the Suez Crisis. Like the Merchant Navy, the great contribution of the ugly LSTs to these conflicts has often been overlooked.

When Andrew Sinclair took command of the Alameda County in 1956, the ship was the oldest LST in service and was transferred to the aviation arm of the US Navy. On the beach at Souda Bay in Crete, the vessel was renumbered AVB-1, for 'advance aviation base', as the ship had been reconfigured to activate NATO airfields throughout the Mediterranean.

Upon arriving at Souda Bay, the ship was beached, bow doors swung open and over the ramp trundled refuellers, communications vans, generators, forklifts, bomb trucks, crash trucks and all the necessaries to operate an instant airfield in the middle of nowhere.

The London Daily Mail in March 1956 termed the ship 'Sinclair's Circus: "Do-It-Yourself" Air Bases'. The crew made a ditty about the Captain and his bagpipes.

When Sinclair's Circus sails away,

From far Cadiz to Souda Bay,

The tartan Sinclair's on display,

And a highland pipe shall lead the way.

From this one can imagine that Capt. Sinclair was an unusual CO, which one story illustrates. When visiting Souda Bay, the 6th Fleet Commander, Vice Admiral Charles Brown commented on how well the Alameda County was positioned on the beach. Capt. Sinclair later let slip that he used his bulldozers to bring the beach to the ship!

Dr. Edward Harris, MBE, JP, FSA, Bermudian, is the Executive Director of the Bermuda Maritime Museum.