USS Guadalcanal (LPH-7), the third
Iwo Jima-classThe Iwo Jima class amphibious assault ships of the United States Navy were the first amphibious assault ships designed and built as dedicated helicopter carriers, capable of operating up to 20 helicopters to carry up to 1,800 marines ashore. They were named for battles featuring the United States...
amphibious assault shipAn amphibious assault ship is a type of amphibious warfare ship employed to land and support ground forces on enemy territory by an amphibious assault...
(helicopter), was launched by the
Philadelphia Naval ShipyardThe Philadelphia Naval Business Center, formerly known as the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard and Philadelphia Navy Yard, was the first naval shipyard of the United States. The U.S. Navy reduced its activities there in the 1990s, and ended most of them on September 30, 1995...
16 March 1963, sponsored by Mrs. David Shoup, wife of
General ShoupGeneral David Monroe Shoup, Hon. DSO was a World War II Medal of Honor recipient and the twenty-second Commandant of the United States Marine Corps . After his retirement, he was a vocal critic of the Vietnam War.-Early years:David Monroe Shoup was born on December 30, 1904 in Battle Ground, Indiana...
, the former
Commandant of the Marine CorpsThe Commandant of the Marine Corps is normally the highest ranking officer in the United States Marine Corps and is a member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff...
; and commissioned 20 July 1963, Captain Dale K. Peterson in command. It was the second ship in the Navy to bear the name.
Operational History
Upon completion of sea trials and outfitting,
Guadalcanal departed Philadelphia to join the Amphibious Forces,
U.S. Atlantic FleetThe United States Fleet Forces Command is an Atlantic Ocean theater-level component command of the United States Navy that provides naval resources that are under the operational control of the United States Northern Command...
. One of a new class of ships designed from the keel up to embark, transport, and land assault marines by means of helicopters, she lent new strength and flexibility to amphibious operations. After departing
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23 October 1963 for 6 weeks shakedown training at Guantanamo Bay,
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,
Guadalcanal steamed to
Onslow BeachOnslow Beach is a 12 km stretch of undeveloped beach at Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune in Onslow County, North Carolina. It has been used at various times for practice amphibious landings by the U.S. Navy. Presently, it is used as a recreational area by the Camp Lejeune community.- External...
,
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, 6 December for practice amphibious landings. She then carried on training and readiness operations with the Atlantic Fleet, based in Norfolk until departing for
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11 February 1964. Following 2 months on station as flagship for Commander PhibRon 12 with the 12 Marine Expeditionary Unit embarked and ready to land anywhere needed.
Guadalcanal entered Philadelphia Naval Shipyard 26 May, but was deployed again 7 October as a unit of Operation "Steel Pike 1", a
NATO landing exercise on the beaches of southern
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.
Highlights of her career included 21 July 1966 when she recovered Gemini X astronauts after their spacecraft landed in the Atlantic east of Cape Kennedy, and 13 March 1969 when she recovered
Apollo 9Apollo 9, the third manned mission in the American Apollo space program, was the first flight of the Command/Service Module with the Lunar Module...
off the Bahamas. In October 1985 the ship logged its 100,000th aircraft landing. In 1987 the
Guadalcanal was leading minesweeping operations in the
Persian GulfThe Persian Gulf, in Southwest Asia, is an extension of the Indian Ocean located between Iran and the Arabian Peninsula.The Persian Gulf was the focus of the 1980–1988 Iran-Iraq War, in which each side attacked the other's oil tankers...
when it encountered the Iran Ajar laying mines in the shipping lanes. Helicopters from the Guadalcanal attacked the ship; troops from the Guadalcanal boarded and captured the ship. (Iran Ajar was the second enemy warship captured on the high seas by the U.S. Navy since 1815; the first was the captured in 1944 by the first USS
Guadalcanal, an escort carrier.) This Guadalcanal also provided the Marines for the first wave of
Operation Provide ComfortOperation Provide Comfort and Provide Comfort II were military operations by the United States and some of its Gulf War allies, starting in April 1991, to defend Kurds fleeing their homes in northern Iraq in the aftermath of the Persian Gulf War and deliver humanitarian aid to them.-Operation...
, the
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ish relief operations in Northern Iraq immediately following the
Persian Gulf WarThe Persian Gulf War , commonly referred to as simply the Gulf War, was a war waged by a U.N.-authorized coalition force from 34 nations led by the United States, against Iraq in response to Iraq's invasion and annexation of Kuwait.The war is also known under other names, such as the First Gulf...
in 1991. She was decommissioned in 1994, and stored as part of the James River Reserve Fleet until she was used as a target and sunk in the Virginia Capes area on May 19, 2005.
Incidents
On 9 May 1968 the ship floated adrift off
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due to a burned out bearing in the propulsion system. On 27 January 1976 the ship went aground in Augusta Bay,
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on a peak of coral which pushed in areas on either side of the bow, but did not crack or hole the ship. Three days later, with cargo, personnel, helicopters, and fuel off-loaded to assist the effort, the ship was refloated. Later that spring, while still in the
Mediterranean SeaThe Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean surrounded by the Mediterranean region and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Anatolia and Europe, on the south by North Africa, and on the east by the Levant...
, a
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CH-46 Sea KnightThe Boeing Vertol CH-46 Sea Knight is a medium-lift tandem rotor transport helicopter, used by the United States Marine Corps to provide all-weather, day-or-night assault transport of combat troops, supplies and equipment. Assault Support is its primary function, and the movement of supplies and...
helicopter crashed on its flight deck while attempting to return to the ship after lifting off minutes earlier. (So impactful were those incidents, that David Glunt Jr., Captain of the LPH-7 at the time, was heard to remark after returning to the United States in July 1976 that the six-month tour in the Mediterranean was the "Cruise from Hell.") On 17 September 1981 near
SardiniaSardinia is the second-largest island in the Mediterranean Sea . It is an autonomous region of Italy, and the nearest land masses are the French island of Corsica, the Italian Peninsula, Sicily, Tunisia and the Spanish Balearic Islands.The name Sardinia is from the pre-Roman noun *sard[],...
,
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, a USMC
CH-53CThe CH-53 Sea Stallion is the most common name for the Sikorsky S-65 family of heavy-lift transport helicopters. Originally developed for use by the United States Marine Corps, it is also in service with Germany, Iran, Israel, and Mexico...
helicopter crashed while attempting to land aboard the ship during training exercises killing all five crewmen. On 24 September 1981 the
Guadalcanal and the , collided during underway replenishment south of Sardinia, Italy, causing minor damage but no injuries. The ship also had an engineering incident at GTMO refresher training in 1975. While undergoing a PEB (Propulsion Examining Board) full power run the ship lost electrical loads several times in succession. This caused the generator switchboard to catch fire resulting in the ship going DIW (dead in the water) for several hours. During this examination the ship attained a record speed of 28 knots at full power
Awards, citations and campaign ribbons
During service
Guadalcanal received the Joint Meritorious Unit Award, Navy Unit Commendation, Navy Meritorious Unit Commendation, Navy Battle "E" Ribbon (4), Navy Expeditionary Medal (1-Iran/Indian Ocean, 2-Lebanon, 1-Libya), National Defense Service Medal, Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal (3-Dominican Republic, 1-Lebanon, 1-Persian Gulf, 1- Op. Restore Hope, Somalia), Southwest Asia Service Medal and Humanitarian Service Medal (1-Beirut Evacuation).