USS ''El Paso'' (AKA-117/LKA-117) is a ''Charleston''-class amphibious cargo ship named after the city of

El Paso, Texas El Paso (; "the pass") is a city in and the county seat, seat of El Paso County, Texas, El Paso County in the western corner of the U.S. state of Texas. The 2020 population of the city from the United States Census Bureau, U.S. Census Bureau w ...

. She served as a commissioned ship for 24 years and three months.

History

She was laid down as AKA-117 at the

Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company Newport News Shipbuilding (NNS), a division of Huntington Ingalls Industries, is the largest industrial employer in Virginia, and sole designer, builder and refueler of United States Navy aircraft carriers and one of two providers of U.S. Navy ...

Newport News, Virginia Newport News () is an independent city in the U.S. state of Virginia. At the 2020 census, the population was 186,247. Located in the Hampton Roads region, it is the 5th most populous city in Virginia and 140th most populous city in the Uni ...

, on October 22, 1968. Redesignated LKA-117 on January 1, 1969, she was launched on May 17, 1969 and commissioned on January 17, 1970. ''El Paso'' was not involved in the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (also known by #Names, other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vie ...

. She was home-ported at the Naval Operating Base, Norfolk, Virginia. Her operations included embarking a Marine Amphibious Ready Group and transporting the MARG to the Mediterranean Sea for a six month deployment. In 1979 she deployed to the Mediterranean and eventually redirected to the Indian Ocean and Diego Garcia during the Iran Hostage conflict. For that she was awarded the Navy Expeditionary Medal. In 1993 she again deployed to the Indian Ocean and the

Persian Gulf The Persian Gulf ( fa, خلیج فارس, translit=xalij-e fârs, lit=Gulf of Persis, Fars, ), sometimes called the ( ar, اَلْخَلِيْجُ ٱلْعَرَبِيُّ, Al-Khalīj al-ˁArabī), is a Mediterranean sea (oceanography), me ...

to participate in

Operation Restore Hope The Unified Task Force (UNITAF) was a United States-led, United Nations-sanctioned multinational force which operated in Somalia from 5 December 1992 until 4 May 1993. A United States initiative (code-named Operation Restore Hope), U ...

Somalia Somalia, , Osmanya script: 𐒈𐒝𐒑𐒛𐒐𐒘𐒕𐒖; ar, الصومال, aṣ-Ṣūmāl officially the Federal Republic of SomaliaThe ''Federal Republic of Somalia'' is the country's name per Article 1 of thProvisional Constituti ...

. She was decommissioned on April 21, 1994, and is berthed at the

Naval Inactive Ship Maintenance Facility A Naval Inactive Ship Maintenance Facility (NISMF) is a facility owned by the United States Navy as a holding facility for decommissioned naval vessels, pending determination of their final fate. All ships in these facilities are inactive, but s ...

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. The ship earned several additional awards and campaign ribbons for her service. She has had several noteworthy commanding officers. Among them are CAPT Edward Clexton, Jr, from March 1979 thru August 1980. During his command, the crew were awarded the Navy Expeditionary Medal for the Iran Hostage Crisis. CAPT Clexton went to command USS Dwight D Eisenhower (CVN-69). VADM Clexton retired in 1993 as Deputy CINCUSNAVEUR. Also noteworthy is Roy Cash, nephew of singer

Johnny Cash John R. Cash (born J. R. Cash; February 26, 1932 – September 12, 2003) was an American country singer-songwriter. Much of Cash's music contained themes of sorrow, moral tribulation, and redemption, especially in the later stages of his ca ...

and father of

Miss America Miss America is an annual competition that is open to women from the United States between the ages of 17 and 25. Originating in 1921 as a "bathing beauty revue", the contest is now judged on competitors' talent performances and interviews. As ...

1987 winner

Kellye Cash Kellye Cash-Sheppard (born February 2, 1965) is an American musician and beauty pageant titleholder. Early life Cash was born in Memphis, Tennessee. Pageantry Cash was crowned Miss Tennessee 1986 and later Miss America 1987, capturing prelimin ...

, served as her captain from August 1985 to March 1987.

References

External links

*
51 Years of AKAs: A Brief History of the Attack Cargo Ship
{{DEFAULTSORT:El Paso (LKA-117) Charleston-class amphibious cargo ships Cold War amphibious warfare vessels of the United States USS El Paso (LKA-117) 1969 ships Ships built in Newport News, Virginia