USS Mount Vernon (LSD-39) was an Anchorage-classdock landing ship of the United States Navy. She was the fifth ship of the U.S. Navy to bear the name.[1] She was built in Massachusetts in 1972 and homeported in Southern California for 31 years until being decommissioned on 25 July 2003. Mount Vernon acted as the control ship for the cleanup of the Exxon Valdez oil spill. In 2005, she was intentionally destroyed off the coast of Hawaii as part of a training exercise. USS Mount Vernon also appeared in the Season 7 episode 19 of The Love Boat when they visited Hong Kong.
Mount Vernon sailed on 12 November 1981 from San Diego for a Westpac/Indian Ocean deployment as part of Amphibious Ready Group Alpha/Amphibious Squadron One (USS Tripoli (LPH-11), with MAU 31st/HMM-265 'Flying Tigers' (REIN) embarked, USS Duluth (LPD-6), USS Fresno (LST-1182)) during which USS Mount Vernon and Amphibious Squadron One visited Perth/Fremantle, Western Australia for R&R from 28 January to 3 February 1982. USS Mount Vernon returned home to San Diego, CA, on 15 May 1982
Beginning 1984 through 22 July 1992, Mount Vernon was homeported in Long Beach, California, before returning to San Diego.[1]
In her 31 years of service, Mount Vernon completed 15 deployments in the U.S. Seventh Fleet in the Far East.[1]
Because of the remote location of the cleanup sites of the Exxon Valdez oil spill,[1] there was a desperate need for floating facilities to house shoreline cleanup workers.[5] In response, the Navy provided amphibious transport docks and dock landing ships (LSDs).[5]Juneau arrived in Alaska on 24 April 1989 followed by Fort McHenry on 4 May 1989.[5]
Over the summer months the Navy replaced Juneau first with Cleveland and Ogden, and then with Duluth.[5] Meanwhile, Mount Vernon relieved Fort McHenry and then left the cleanup operations on 18 July without a replacement, reducing the naval presence to one ship.[5]Duluth sailed without replacement on 16 September, ending the naval ship presence in the oil spill cleanup operations.[5]
The ships functioned as floating hotels, providing medical, laundry, housing, dining, and sleeping facilities for shoreline cleanup workers.[5] They also provided communications support and functioned as command and control platforms and helipads for the forward deployment of helicopters.[5] They supported base operations of the landing craft, providing maintenance, fuel, and docking. Deployed with the ships were United States Marine CorpsCH-46 helicopters and Army medical evacuation helicopters, which performed a variety of essential missions.[5] Naval ship operations centered in Prince William Sound and were especially important in open sea areas because commercial berthing vessels could not operate in the rough water.[5]
On 10 June 1998, Commander Maureen A. Farren became the first American woman to command a U.S. Navy surface warship when she assumed command of USS Mount Vernon.[6]
A Landing Craft Air Cushion (LCAC) carries U.S. Marines assigned to the 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit embarked aboard USS Mount Vernon.
During her career, Mount Vernon accumulated many awards, including:
Dock landing ships support amphibious operations including landings via Landing Craft Air Cushion (LCAC), conventional landing craft and helicopters, onto hostile shores.[8] The Anchorage-class combined a well-deck with a flight deck to support both small-craft and airborne operations.[9] These ships also featured the facilities necessary to provide services to small boats, including dry docking and repairs.[9]
Mount Vernon was the first West coast ship to be modified to support LCAC operations.[9]
USS Tarawa (LHA-1), the lead ship of her class, is an amphibious assault ship that served in the United States Navy from 1976 to 2009. She is the second ship to be named for the Battle of Tarawa, fought during World War II. Tarawa was decommissioned on 31 March 2009, at San Diego Naval Base.
USS Ogden (LPD-5), an Austin-class amphibious transport dock, was the second ship of the United States Navy to be named for Ogden, Utah. Ogden was laid down on 4 February 1963 by the New York Naval Shipyard. She was launched on 27 June 1964 sponsored by Mrs. Laurence J. Burton, and commissioned at New York City on 19 June 1965.
USS Duluth (LPD-6), an Austin-class amphibious transport dock, is the second ship of the United States Navy named for the city in Minnesota.
A dock landing ship is an amphibious warfare ship with a well dock to transport and launch landing craft and amphibious vehicles. Some ships with well decks, such as the Soviet Ivan Rogov class, also have bow doors to enable them to deliver vehicles directly onto a beach. Modern dock landing ships also operate helicopters.
USS Anchorage (LSD-36) was the lead ship of the Anchorage-class dock landing ship of the United States Navy. In the ship's 34 years of service, she completed 19 deployments in the western Pacific and became the most decorated dock landing ship on the west coast.
An amphibious ready group (ARG) of the United States Navy consists of a naval element—a group of warships known as an Amphibious Task Force (ATF)—and a landing force (LF) of U.S. Marines, in total about 5,000 people. Together, these elements and supporting units are trained, organized, and equipped to perform amphibious operations.
USS Whidbey Island (LSD-41) is a Whidbey Island-class dock landing ship (LSD) of the United States Navy. She was named for Whidbey Island, in Puget Sound, Washington, the location of NAS Whidbey Island; the name ultimately derives from the sailor, explorer and engineer Joseph Whidbey.
USS Fort McHenry (LSD-43) is a Whidbey Island-class dock landing ship of the United States Navy. She was named for Fort McHenry, in Baltimore, Maryland, the 1814 defense of which inspired "The Star-Spangled Banner".
USS Rushmore (LSD-47) is a Whidbey Island-class dock landing ship of the United States Navy. She was the second navy ship to be named for the Mount Rushmore National Memorial in the Black Hills of South Dakota. She is the seventh ship in her class of dock landing ships and the fourth ship in that class to serve in the United States Pacific Fleet.
USS Carter Hall (LSD-50) is a Harpers Ferry-class dock landing ship of the United States Navy. She is the second US Navy ship to be named for Carter Hall, an estate near Winchester, Virginia, built in the 1790s.
USS Pearl Harbor is a Harpers Ferry-class dock landing ship of the United States Navy. She was named for Pearl Harbor, where World War II began for the United States.
USS Cabildo (LSD-16) was a Casa Grande-class dock landing ship of the United States Navy. She was named for The Cabildo in New Orleans, the old town hall and now a historical museum, where the formal transfer of the Louisiana Territory from France to the United States took place.
The Whidbey Island-class dock landing ship is a dock landing ship of the United States Navy. Introduced to fleet service in 1985, this class of ship features a large well deck for transporting United States Marine Corps (USMC) vehicles and a large flight deck for landing helicopters or V-22 Ospreys. The well deck was designed to hold four LCAC hovercraft, five if the vehicle ramp is raised, for landing Marines. Recent deployments have used a combination of LCU(s), AAVs, tanks, LARCs and other USMC vehicles. The Whidbey Island class of ship also uniquely benefits from multiple cranes and a shallow draft that further make it ideal for participating in amphibious operations.
The Anchorage-class dock landing ships were a series of five dock landing ships (LSD) constructed and commissioned by the United States Navy between 1965 and 1972. US Navy decommissioned all five of them by 2003. They are succeeded by Whidbey Island-class LSDs and Harpers Ferry-class LSDs.
In the United States Navy, the expeditionary strike group (ESG) is a coordinated group of surface ships, aircraft, submarines, and other naval assets. In contrast to carrier strike groups (CSGs), which emphasize air power and are led by a supercarrier, ESGs are strongly suited for amphibious warfare and are led by an amphibious assault ship. The ESG concept was introduced in the early 1990s, based on the Naval Expeditionary Task Force. The U.S. Navy fields nine expeditionary strike groups.
USS Rushmore (LSD-14) was a Casa Grande-class dock landing ship of the United States Navy. She was named in honor of Mount Rushmore National Memorial in the Black Hills of South Dakota.
USS Fort Fisher (LSD-40) was an Anchorage-class dock landing ship in service with the United States Navy from 1972 to 1998. She was scrapped in 2010.
Expeditionary Strike Group SEVEN/Task Force 76 is a United States Navy task force. It is part of the United States Seventh Fleet and the USN's only permanently forward-deployed expeditionary strike group. It is based at the White Beach Naval Facility at the end of the Katsuren Peninsula in Uruma City, Okinawa, Japan.
References
Naval Sea Logistics Center Detachment Pacific (NSLC Pacific) (7 November 2005). "MOUNT VERNON (LSD 39) DOCK LANDING SHIP". Naval Vessel Register. United States Navy. Retrieved 5 April 2008.
Pike, John (21 August 2005). "LSD 39 Mount Vernon". GlobalSecurity.org. Retrieved 5 April 2008.
Pike, John (28 July 2006). "LSD-36 Anchorage class". GlobalSecurity.org. Retrieved 5 April 2008.
Priolo, Gary (8 December 2006). "LSD-39 Mount Vernon". Amphibious Photo Archive. NavSource Online. Retrieved 5 April 2008.
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