USS Guam (LPH-9)
Encyclopedia
USS Guam (LPH-9), an Iwo Jima-class
amphibious assault ship
, was laid down by the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard
15 November 1962; launched 22 August 1964; sponsored by Mrs. Vaughn H. Emory Green; and commissioned
16 January 1965, Captain N. E. Thurmon in command. She was the third US Navy ship to carry the name, after the Battle of Guam
.
Decommissioned in 1998, she was the last of the Iwo Jima class in service.
21 April 1965 and sailed for Norfolk
, her homeport. Arriving Hampton Roads
the next day for training off the Virginia Capes
, she departed Hampton Roads for underway training out of Guantanamo Bay, Cuba
.
Guam returned to Norfolk 5 July 1965 for intensive amphibious training. She sailed from Hampton Roads 29 November 1965 to participate in amphibious and anti-submarine warfare exercises en route to the Caribbean
. On 10 December 1965 Guam joined the Amphibious Ready Squadron in the Caribbean as flagship for Amphibious Squadron 12. There she operated at peak readiness to protect the peace and security of the Caribbean and Central America
.
From 16 February to 28 February 1966, Guam patrolled south of the Dominican Republic
ready to land forces on the volatile island of Hispanola if necessary. She conducted amphibious exercises until entering Philadelphia Naval Shipyard 1 June 1966 for post shakedown availability.
She departed Philadelphia 2 August 1966 and prepared for service as the primary recovery ship for the Gemini 11
space flight. On 18 September at 0959 EDT Guam recovered Astronauts Pete Conrad
and Dick Gordon
710 miles east of Cape Kennedy. From 28 November to 12 December Guam participated in Exercise "Lantflex 66", and on the latter date became flagship of Amphibious Squadron 8 and Caribbean Amphibious Ready Group.
concept. This ship was to operate a few VSTOL fighters and some ASW helicopters in order to free up supercarriers from convoy duty during a conflict with the Soviet Union. 18 January 1972 she began extensive testing and in 1974 deployed in the Atlantic as a sea control ship with Marine Corps AV-8A Harrier VSTOL fighters and Sea King ASW helicopters. Guam completed the SCS tests and reassumed her role as an Amphibious Assault Ship on July 1, 1974.
On January 17, 1977 in Barcelona, Spain, a landing craft being used as a liberty boat by USS Trenton and USS Guam, was run over by a freighter.The Mike8 boat capsized and came to rest against the fleet landing pier. Crewmembers from both vessels were on hand to assist with rescue operations. There were over one hundred sailors and marines on board the landing craft. 49 sailors and marines were killed. A memorial is erected at the landing pier in memory.
(USA), on 19 July 1981, a Sikorsky CH-53 Sea Stallion
helicopter crashed into another CH-53 and a Bell UH-1N Twin Huey
upon landing. 4 crewmen died and 10 were injured.
Guam deployed to Beirut
in 1982 for the Lebanese civil war
as part of a multi-national peacekeeping force.
In October 1983, as the lead ship of Amphibious Squadron Four, she participated in the invasion of Grenada
.
In early 1985 the ship was drydocked at the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard
and given a massive overhaul lasting several months. Two Phalanx CIWS were added to the ship at this time.
On the subsequent cruise to the Mediterranean Sea
, the ship was damaged while sailing through a tropical storm. At least two helicopters were washed overboard and the ship stayed at port in Marseille, France for almost 3 weeks for repairs.
in August 1990 under the command of Captain Chuck Saffell to deploy to the Persian Gulf
for Operation Desert Shield and Operation Desert Storm, with less than a month's notice. When her crew received notice of the deployment the boilers were torn down for PMS (preventative maintenance).
In January 1991, Guam was sent to the coast of Somalia
for Operation Eastern Exit
. She was originally set to take the rescued personnel from the Embassy to Kenya
, but Kenya refused the Russian Ambassador. Instead, Guam took them to Muscat, Oman
before returning to the Persian Gulf.
In 1993, she won the Marjorie Sterrett Battleship Fund Award
for the Atlantic Fleet.
In 1996, the USS Guam supported the 22nd MEU in Operation Assured Response off the coast of Liberia.
Because Guam was never certified for Harrier Night-Ops, the AV-8B Harriers were not normal complement for Guam.
She was decommissioned and stricken from the Navy list on August 25, 1998
The Guam was disposed of as a target off the US east coast on October 16, 2001. The SINKEX
was conducted by the John F. Kennedy
Battle Group and the exact location was 031° 14' 22.0" North, 071° 16' 35.0" West.
Iwo Jima class amphibious assault ship
The 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 ship
Amphibious assault ship
An amphibious assault ship is a type of amphibious warfare ship employed to land and support ground forces on enemy territory by an amphibious assault...
, was laid down by the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard
Philadelphia Naval Shipyard
The 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...
15 November 1962; launched 22 August 1964; sponsored by Mrs. Vaughn H. Emory Green; and commissioned
Ship commissioning
Ship commissioning is the act or ceremony of placing a ship in active service, and may be regarded as a particular application of the general concepts and practices of project commissioning. The term is most commonly applied to the placing of a warship in active duty with its country's military...
16 January 1965, Captain N. E. Thurmon in command. She was the third US Navy ship to carry the name, after the Battle of Guam
Guam
Guam is an organized, unincorporated territory of the United States located in the western Pacific Ocean. It is one of five U.S. territories with an established civilian government. Guam is listed as one of 16 Non-Self-Governing Territories by the Special Committee on Decolonization of the United...
.
Decommissioned in 1998, she was the last of the Iwo Jima class in service.
1960s
After fitting out and builder's trials, the new amphibious assault ship joined the U.S. Atlantic FleetU.S. Atlantic Fleet
The 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...
21 April 1965 and sailed for Norfolk
Norfolk, Virginia
Norfolk is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. With a population of 242,803 as of the 2010 Census, it is Virginia's second-largest city behind neighboring Virginia Beach....
, her homeport. Arriving Hampton Roads
Hampton Roads
Hampton Roads is the name for both a body of water and the Norfolk–Virginia Beach metropolitan area which surrounds it in southeastern Virginia, United States...
the next day for training off the Virginia Capes
Virginia Capes
The Virginia Capes are the two capes, Cape Charles to the north and Cape Henry to the south, that define the entrance to Chesapeake Bay on the eastern coast of North America....
, she departed Hampton Roads for underway training out of Guantanamo Bay, Cuba
Cuba
The Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city...
.
Guam returned to Norfolk 5 July 1965 for intensive amphibious training. She sailed from Hampton Roads 29 November 1965 to participate in amphibious and anti-submarine warfare exercises en route to the Caribbean
Caribbean
The Caribbean is a crescent-shaped group of islands more than 2,000 miles long separating the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea, to the west and south, from the Atlantic Ocean, to the east and north...
. On 10 December 1965 Guam joined the Amphibious Ready Squadron in the Caribbean as flagship for Amphibious Squadron 12. There she operated at peak readiness to protect the peace and security of the Caribbean and Central America
Central America
Central America is the central geographic region of the Americas. It is the southernmost, isthmian portion of the North American continent, which connects with South America on the southeast. When considered part of the unified continental model, it is considered a subcontinent...
.
From 16 February to 28 February 1966, Guam patrolled south of the Dominican Republic
Dominican Republic
The Dominican Republic is a nation on the island of La Hispaniola, part of the Greater Antilles archipelago in the Caribbean region. The western third of the island is occupied by the nation of Haiti, making Hispaniola one of two Caribbean islands that are shared by two countries...
ready to land forces on the volatile island of Hispanola if necessary. She conducted amphibious exercises until entering Philadelphia Naval Shipyard 1 June 1966 for post shakedown availability.
She departed Philadelphia 2 August 1966 and prepared for service as the primary recovery ship for the Gemini 11
Gemini 11
Gemini 11 was the ninth manned spaceflight mission of NASA's Project Gemini, which flew from September 12 to 15, 1966. It was the 17th manned American flight and the 25th spaceflight to that time . Astronauts Charles "Pete" Conrad, Jr. and Richard F. Gordon, Jr...
space flight. On 18 September at 0959 EDT Guam recovered Astronauts Pete Conrad
Pete Conrad
Charles "Pete" Conrad, Jr. was an American naval officer, astronaut and engineer, and the third person to walk on the Moon during the Apollo 12 mission. He set an eight-day space endurance record along with command pilot Gordon Cooper on the Gemini 5 mission, and commanded the Gemini 11 mission...
and Dick Gordon
Richard F. Gordon, Jr.
Richard Francis Gordon, Jr., Captain, USN, Ret. is a retired NASA astronaut. He is one of only 24 people to have flown to the Moon.-Military and flight experience:Gordon was born in Seattle, Washington...
710 miles east of Cape Kennedy. From 28 November to 12 December Guam participated in Exercise "Lantflex 66", and on the latter date became flagship of Amphibious Squadron 8 and Caribbean Amphibious Ready Group.
1970s
In the summer of 1971 Guam was chosen as a test vessel for Admiral Elmo Zumwalts Sea Control ShipSea Control Ship
The Sea Control Ship was a small aircraft carrier developed and conceptualized by the United States Navy under Chief of Naval Operations Elmo Zumwalt during the 1970s. Currently the term refers to naval vessels that can perform similar duties. The SCS was intended as an escort vessel, providing...
concept. This ship was to operate a few VSTOL fighters and some ASW helicopters in order to free up supercarriers from convoy duty during a conflict with the Soviet Union. 18 January 1972 she began extensive testing and in 1974 deployed in the Atlantic as a sea control ship with Marine Corps AV-8A Harrier VSTOL fighters and Sea King ASW helicopters. Guam completed the SCS tests and reassumed her role as an Amphibious Assault Ship on July 1, 1974.
On January 17, 1977 in Barcelona, Spain, a landing craft being used as a liberty boat by USS Trenton and USS Guam, was run over by a freighter.The Mike8 boat capsized and came to rest against the fleet landing pier. Crewmembers from both vessels were on hand to assist with rescue operations. There were over one hundred sailors and marines on board the landing craft. 49 sailors and marines were killed. A memorial is erected at the landing pier in memory.
1980s
While operating 50 km southeast of Morehead City, North CarolinaMorehead City, North Carolina
Morehead City is a port city in Carteret County, North Carolina, United States. The population was 8,661 at the 2010 census. Morehead City celebrated the 150th anniversary of its founding on May 5, 2007...
(USA), on 19 July 1981, a Sikorsky CH-53 Sea Stallion
CH-53 Sea Stallion
The 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 into another CH-53 and a Bell UH-1N Twin Huey
UH-1N Twin Huey
The Bell UH-1N Twin Huey is a medium military helicopter that first flew in April, 1969. The UH-1N has a fifteen seat configuration, with one pilot and fourteen passengers. In cargo configuration the UH-1N has an internal capacity of 220 ft³ . An external load of 5,000 lb can be carried...
upon landing. 4 crewmen died and 10 were injured.
Guam deployed to Beirut
Beirut
Beirut is the capital and largest city of Lebanon, with a population ranging from 1 million to more than 2 million . Located on a peninsula at the midpoint of Lebanon's Mediterranean coastline, it serves as the country's largest and main seaport, and also forms the Beirut Metropolitan...
in 1982 for the Lebanese civil war
Lebanese Civil War
The Lebanese Civil War was a multifaceted civil war in Lebanon. The war lasted from 1975 to 1990 and resulted in an estimated 150,000 to 230,000 civilian fatalities. Another one million people were wounded, and today approximately 350,000 people remain displaced. There was also a mass exodus of...
as part of a multi-national peacekeeping force.
In October 1983, as the lead ship of Amphibious Squadron Four, she participated in the invasion of Grenada
Invasion of Grenada
The Invasion of Grenada, codenamed Operation Urgent Fury, was a 1983 United States-led invasion of Grenada, a Caribbean island nation with a population of about 100,000 located north of Venezuela. Triggered by a military coup which had ousted a four-year revolutionary government, the invasion...
.
In early 1985 the ship was drydocked at the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard
Philadelphia Naval Shipyard
The 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...
and given a massive overhaul lasting several months. Two Phalanx CIWS were added to the ship at this time.
On the subsequent cruise to the Mediterranean Sea
Mediterranean Sea
The 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...
, the ship was damaged while sailing through a tropical storm. At least two helicopters were washed overboard and the ship stayed at port in Marseille, France for almost 3 weeks for repairs.
1990s and fate
She departed from NorfolkNorfolk, Virginia
Norfolk is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. With a population of 242,803 as of the 2010 Census, it is Virginia's second-largest city behind neighboring Virginia Beach....
in August 1990 under the command of Captain Chuck Saffell to deploy to the Persian Gulf
Persian Gulf
The 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...
for Operation Desert Shield and Operation Desert Storm, with less than a month's notice. When her crew received notice of the deployment the boilers were torn down for PMS (preventative maintenance).
In January 1991, Guam was sent to the coast of Somalia
Somalia
Somalia , officially the Somali Republic and formerly known as the Somali Democratic Republic under Socialist rule, is a country located in the Horn of Africa. Since the outbreak of the Somali Civil War in 1991 there has been no central government control over most of the country's territory...
for Operation Eastern Exit
Operation Eastern Exit
Operation Eastern Exit was the codename given to the military evacuation of the United States embassy in Mogadishu, Somalia. On 1 January 1991, after increasing violence in Mogadishu during the Somali Civil War, James Keough Bishop, the then US ambassador to Somalia, requested military assistance...
. She was originally set to take the rescued personnel from the Embassy to Kenya
Kenya
Kenya , officially known as the Republic of Kenya, is a country in East Africa that lies on the equator, with the Indian Ocean to its south-east...
, but Kenya refused the Russian Ambassador. Instead, Guam took them to Muscat, Oman
Muscat, Oman
Muscat is the capital of Oman. It is also the seat of government and largest city in the Governorate of Muscat. As of 2008, the population of the Muscat metropolitan area was 1,090,797. The metropolitan area spans approximately and includes six provinces called wilayats...
before returning to the Persian Gulf.
In 1993, she won the Marjorie Sterrett Battleship Fund Award
Marjorie Sterrett Battleship Fund Award
The Marjorie Sterrett Battleship Fund Award is presented annually by the U.S. Navy's Chief of Naval Operations to one ship in the U.S. Atlantic Fleet and one in the U.S. Pacific Fleet...
for the Atlantic Fleet.
In 1996, the USS Guam supported the 22nd MEU in Operation Assured Response off the coast of Liberia.
Because Guam was never certified for Harrier Night-Ops, the AV-8B Harriers were not normal complement for Guam.
She was decommissioned and stricken from the Navy list on August 25, 1998
The Guam was disposed of as a target off the US east coast on October 16, 2001. The SINKEX
SINKEX
SINKEX or Sink Exercise is a US military term for the test of a weapons system usually involving a torpedo or missile attack of an unmanned target ship. The US Navy sometimes refers to this type of exercise as a HULKEX...
was conducted by the John F. Kennedy
USS John F. Kennedy (CV-67)
USS John F. Kennedy is a John F. Kennedy class aircraft carrier, the last conventionally powered carrier built for the United States Navy. The ship is named after the 35th President of the United States, John F...
Battle Group and the exact location was 031° 14' 22.0" North, 071° 16' 35.0" West.
External links
- USS Guam LPH-9
- SINKEX of USS Guam (LPH-9)@youtube.com