USS ''Guadalcanal'' (LPH-7), the third ''Iwo Jima''-class

amphibious assault ship An amphibious assault ship is a type of warship employed to land and support ground forces on enemy territory during an armed conflict. The design evolved from aircraft carriers converted for use as helicopter carriers (which, as a result, ar ...

(helicopter), was launched by the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard 16 March 1963, sponsored by Zola Shoup, wife of General Shoup, the former

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; and commissioned 20 July 1963. It was the second ship in the Navy to bear the name.

Operational history

Upon completion of sea trials and outfitting, ''Guadalcanal'' departed

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to join the Amphibious Forces, U.S. Atlantic Fleet. 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 six weeks' shakedown training at Guantanamo Bay,

Cuba Cuba, officially the Republic of Cuba, is an island country, comprising the island of Cuba (largest island), Isla de la Juventud, and List of islands of Cuba, 4,195 islands, islets and cays surrounding the main island. It is located where the ...

, ''Guadalcanal'' steamed to Onslow Beach,

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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

Panama Panama, officially the Republic of Panama, is a country in Latin America at the southern end of Central America, bordering South America. It is bordered by Costa Rica to the west, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean Sea to the north, and ...

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

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landing exercise on the beaches of southern

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. Career highlights include 21 July 1966, when she recovered the Gemini X astronauts and their spacecraft after they landed in the Atlantic east of Cape Kennedy, and 13 March 1969, when she recovered the

Apollo 9 Apollo 9 (March 3–13, 1969) was the third human spaceflight in NASA's Apollo program, which successfully tested systems and procedures critical to landing on the Moon. The three-man crew consisted of Commander James McDivitt, Command Modul ...

capsule and crew off the

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. In October 1985 the ship logged its 100,000th aircraft landing. In 1987 ''Guadalcanal'' was leading

minesweeping Minesweeping is the practice of removing explosive naval mines, usually by a specially designed ship called a minesweeper using various measures to either capture or detonate the mines, but sometimes also with an aircraft made for that purpos ...

operations in the

Persian Gulf The Persian Gulf, sometimes called the Arabian Gulf, is a Mediterranean seas, mediterranean sea in West Asia. The body of water is an extension of the Arabian Sea and the larger Indian Ocean located between Iran and the Arabian Peninsula.Un ...

when she encountered '' Iran Ajr'' laying mines in the shipping lanes. Helicopters from ''Guadalcanal'' attacked the ship; troops from ''Guadalcanal'' boarded and captured the ship. (''Iran Ajr'' 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.) ''Guadalcanal'' also provided the Marines for the first wave of Operation Provide Comfort, the

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ish relief operations in Northern Iraq immediately following the

Persian Gulf War , combatant2 = , commander1 = , commander2 = , strength1 = Over 950,000 soldiers3,113 tanks1,800 aircraft2,200 artillery systems , page = https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-PEMD-96- ...

in 1991. ''Guadalcanal'' was decommissioned in 1994, and stored as part of the

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until she was used as a target and sunk in the Virginia Capes area on 19 May 2005. When the ship was being decommissioned, the

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had tried to acquire ''Guadalcanal'', berth her next to the , and use her as a floating heliport to replace the West 30th Street Heliport. The plan was abandoned in 1996 after local residents objected that ''Guadalcanal'' would block their views of the

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Other incidents

On 1 November 1966, a UH-2B Seasprite helicopter assigned to the ship crashed as it was taking off from the flight deck. ''Guadalcanal'' was in the Naval Shipyard in Portsmouth, VA to start a major overhaul at the time. Three Navy men and one civilian shipyard worker were killed and 12 others were hospitalized. Nine more sailors and civilians were treated for minor injuries. On 9 May 1968 she floated adrift off

due to a burned out bearing in the propulsion system. On 27 January 1976 she 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. On 17 September 1981 near

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, a USMC CH-53D helicopter crashed while attempting to land aboard the ship during training exercises killing all five crewmen. On 24 September 1981 ''Guadalcanal'' and the , collided during underway replenishment south of Sardinia, Italy, causing minor damage but no injuries. On 25 May 1993 ''Guadalcanal'' and the USS ''Monongahela'' (AO-178), collided during underway replenishment off of

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when ''Guadalcanals main

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failed. Five crew suffered minor injuries and $1.635M in damage was caused to the two ships.

Awards

* Joint Meritorious Unit Award *

Navy Unit Commendation The Navy Unit Commendation (NUC) is a United States Navy and United States Coast Guard unit award that was established by order of the Secretary of the Navy James Forrestal on 18 December 1944. History Navy A navy, naval force, military m ...

with 4 awards * Navy Meritorious Unit Commendation with 4 awards * Navy Battle "E" Ribbon with 4 awards * Navy Expeditionary Medal with 4 awards (1-Iran/Indian Ocean, 2-Lebanon, 1-Libya) *

National Defense Service Medal The National Defense Service Medal (NDSM) is a service award of the United States Armed Forces established by President Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1953. It was awarded to every member of the U.S. Armed Forces who served during any one of four s ...

2 awards *

Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal The Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal (AFEM) is a military award of the United States Armed Forces, which was first created in 1961 by Executive Order of President John F. Kennedy. The medal is awarded to members of the U.S. Armed Forces who, a ...

with 6 awards (3-Dominican Republic, 1-Lebanon, 1-Persian Gulf, 1- Op. Restore Hope, Somalia) *

Southwest Asia Service Medal The Southwest Asia Service Medal (SASM or SWASM) was a military award of the United States Armed Forces which was created by order of President George H.W. Bush on March 12, 1991. The award is intended to recognize those military service member ...

* Humanitarian Service Medal * Sea Service Deployment Ribbon - multiple

Gallery

File:USS Guadalcanal (LPH-7) at anchor in 1968.jpg, USS Guadalcanal at anchor in 1968. File:UH-34D HMM-772 on USS Guadalcanal (LPH-7) 1971.jpeg, Two UH-34D from HMM-772 on USS Guadalcanal in 1971. File:Sea Sparrow launch from USS Guadalcanal (LPH-7) in 1983.jpg, USS Guadalcanal launches a RIM-7 Sea Sparrow Missile in 1983. File:USS Guadalcanal (LPH-7) refueling USS Semmes (DDG-18) 1983.JPEG, USS Guadalcanal refueling USS Semmel (DDG-18) in 1983. File:USS Iowa (BB-61) and USS Guadalcanal (LPH-7) underway in 1987.jpg, USS Guadalcanal alongside

USS Iowa (BB-61) USS ''Iowa'' (BB-61) is a retired battleship, the lead ship of Iowa-class battleship, her class, and the fourth in the United States Navy to be named after the state of Iowa. Owing to the cancellation of the s, ''Iowa'' is the last lead ship o ...

underway in 1987. File:UH-1N landing on USS Guadalcanal (LPH-7) 1987.JPEG, An UH-1N Huey landing on USS Guadalcanal in 1987. File:AH-1T takes off from USS Guadalcanal (LPH-7) 1987.JPEG, AH-1T Cobra takes off from USS Guadalcanal in 1987. File:USS Richmond K. Turner (CG-20) steams alongside of USS Guadalcanal (LPH-7) in the Mediterranean Sea on 18 May 1991 (6477926).jpg, USS Richmond K. Turner (CG-20) steams alongside USS Guadalcanal on 18 May 1991. File:Port side view of USS Guadalcanal (LPH-7) passing Statue of Liberty Fleet Week New York 1992 DN-SC-95-00593.jpg, USS Guadalcanal passing the

Statue of Liberty The Statue of Liberty (''Liberty Enlightening the World''; ) is a colossal neoclassical sculpture on Liberty Island in New York Harbor, within New York City. The copper-clad statue, a gift to the United States from the people of French Thir ...

during Fleet Week New York 1992. File:Starboard bow view of USS Guadalcanal (LPH-7) during exercise TEAMWORK 92.jpg, USS Guadalcanal during Exercise Teamwork in 1992.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Guadalcanal (Lph-7) Iwo Jima-class amphibious assault ships Cold War amphibious warfare vessels of the United States Vietnam War amphibious warfare vessels of the United States Apollo 9 Ships built in Philadelphia 1963 ships Ships sunk as targets Space capsule recovery ships