USS ''Mount Vernon'' (LSD-39) was an of the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

. She was the fifth ship of the U.S. Navy to bear the name.Pike, 2005. She was built in

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett language, Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut assachusett writing systems, məhswatʃəwiːsət'' English: , ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is the most populous U.S. state, state in the New England ...

in 1972 and homeported in Southern

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

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 The ''Exxon Valdez'' oil spill occurred in Prince William Sound, Alaska, on March 24, 1989. ''Exxon Valdez'', an oil supertanker owned by Exxon Shipping Company bound for Long Beach, California struck Prince William Sound's Bligh Reef, west o ...

. In 2005, she was intentionally destroyed off the coast of

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only stat ...

as part of a training exercise.

History

''Mount Vernon'' was awarded to

General Dynamics Quincy Shipbuilding Division Fore River Shipyard was a shipyard owned by General Dynamics Corporation located on Weymouth Fore River in Braintree and Quincy, Massachusetts. It began operations in 1883 in Braintree, and moved to its final location on Quincy Point in 1901. In ...

Quincy, Massachusetts Quincy ( ) is a coastal U.S. city in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States. It is the largest city in the county and a part of Greater Boston, Metropolitan Boston as one of Boston's immediate southern suburbs. Its population in 2020 was 1 ...

, on 25 February 1966. After commissioning in

Boston Naval Shipyard The Boston Navy Yard, originally called the Charlestown Navy Yard and later Boston Naval Shipyard, was one of the oldest shipbuilding facilities in the United States Navy. It was established in 1801 as part of the recent establishment of t ...

in 1972, she was homeported in

San Diego, California San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the eighth most populous city in the United States ...

. In April 1975, ''Mount Vernon'' participated in

Operation Frequent Wind Operation Frequent Wind was the final phase in the evacuation of American civilians and "at-risk" Vietnamese from Saigon, South Vietnam, before the takeover of the city by the North Vietnamese People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN) in the Fall of Saig ...

, the evacuation of

Saigon , population_density_km2 = 4,292 , population_density_metro_km2 = 697.2 , population_demonym = Saigonese , blank_name = GRP (Nominal) , blank_info = 2019 , blank1_name = – Total , blank1_ ...

, Vietnam. ''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 Long Beach is a city in Los Angeles County, California. It is the 42nd-most populous city in the United States, with a population of 466,742 as of 2020. A charter city, Long Beach is the seventh-most populous city in California. Incorporate ...

, before returning to San Diego. In her 31 years of service, ''Mount Vernon'' completed 15 deployments in the

U.S. Seventh Fleet The Seventh Fleet is a numbered fleet of the United States Navy. It is headquartered at U.S. Fleet Activities Yokosuka, in Yokosuka, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. It is part of the United States Pacific Fleet. At present, it is the largest of th ...

in the Far East. Because of the remote location of the cleanup sites of the ''Exxon Valdez'' oil spill, there was a desperate need for floating facilities to house shoreline cleanup workers.McDonnell (1992), p. 28. In response, the Navy provided amphibious transport docks and dock landing ships (LSDs). arrived in

Alaska Alaska ( ; russian: Аляска, Alyaska; ale, Alax̂sxax̂; ; ems, Alas'kaaq; Yup'ik: ''Alaskaq''; tli, Anáaski) is a state located in the Western United States on the northwest extremity of North America. A semi-exclave of the U.S., ...

on 24 April 1989 followed by on 4 May 1989. Over the summer months the Navy replaced ''Juneau'' first with and , and then with . 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. ''Duluth'' sailed without replacement on 16 September, ending the naval ship presence in the oil spill cleanup operations. The ships functioned as floating hotels, providing medical, laundry, housing, dining, and sleeping facilities for shoreline cleanup workers. They also provided communications support and functioned as command and control platforms and helipads for the forward deployment of helicopters. They supported base operations of the landing craft, providing maintenance, fuel, and docking. Deployed with the ships were

United States Marine Corps The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for conducting expeditionary and amphibious operations through combi ...

CH-46 The Boeing Vertol CH-46 Sea Knight is a medium-lift tandem rotors, tandem-rotor transport helicopter powered by twin turboshaft aircraft engine, engines. It was designed by Piasecki Helicopter, Vertol and manufactured by Boeing Helicopters, Bo ...

helicopters and Army medical evacuation helicopters, which performed a variety of essential missions. Naval ship operations centered in

Prince William Sound Prince William Sound (Sugpiaq: ''Suungaaciq'') is a sound of the Gulf of Alaska on the south coast of the U.S. state of Alaska. It is located on the east side of the Kenai Peninsula. Its largest port is Valdez, at the southern terminus of the Tr ...

and were especially important in open sea areas because commercial berthing vessels could not operate in the rough water. 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''. Uss-mount-vernon-lcac

During her career, ''Mount Vernon'' accumulated many awards, including: *

Joint Meritorious Unit Award The Joint Meritorious Unit Award (JMUA) is a US military award that was established on June 4, 1981, by Secretary of Defense Caspar Weinberger and was implemented by Department of Defense Directive 1348.27 dated July 22, 1982. The Joint Meritori ...

,Priolo, 2005. *

Navy Meritorious Unit Commendation The Meritorious Unit Commendation (MUC; pronounced ''muck'') is a mid-level unit award of the United States Armed Forces. The U.S. Army awards units the Army MUC for exceptionally meritorious conduct in performance of outstanding achievement or s ...

, *

Navy Battle "E" Ribbon The Navy "E" Ribbon or Battle Efficiency Ribbon (informally the Battle "E" ribbon) was authorized on March 31, 1976, by Secretary of the Navy J. William Middendorf as a unit award for battle efficiency competition. The service ribbon replaced th ...

, (2), *

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 is awarded to every member of the US Armed Forces who has served during any one of four sp ...

, *

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 Kennedy. The medal is awarded to members of the U.S. Armed Forces who, after ...

, (4), *

Southwest Asia Service Medal The Southwest Asia Service Medal (SASM or SWASM) is 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 members ...

, *

Humanitarian Service Medal The Humanitarian Service Medal (HSM) is a military service medal of the United States Armed Forces which was created on January 19, 1977 by President Gerald Ford under . The medal may be awarded to members of the United States military (includi ...

, (2), * Coast Guard Special Operations Service Medal, and the *

Kuwait Liberation Medal Kuwait Liberation Medal may refer to: *Kuwait Liberation Medal (Kuwait) *Kuwait Liberation Medal (Saudi Arabia) *Medal for the Liberation of Kuwait (Bahrain), see Gulf War military awards#Medal for the Liberation of Kuwait (Bahrain) * Kuwait Liber ...

. ''Mount Vernon'' was decommissioned on 25 July 2003. Afterwards, she stayed 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 ...

, in

Pearl Harbor Pearl Harbor is an American lagoon harbor on the island of Oahu, Hawaii, west of Honolulu. It was often visited by the Naval fleet of the United States, before it was acquired from the Hawaiian Kingdom by the U.S. with the signing of the Re ...

, Hawaii. On 16 June 2005, she was sunk in a fleet training exercise for

P-3 Orion The Lockheed P-3 Orion is a four-engined, turboprop anti-submarine and maritime surveillance aircraft developed for the United States Navy and introduced in the 1960s. Lockheed based it on the L-188 Electra commercial airliner.Pike, 2006. These ships also featured the facilities necessary to provide services to small boats, including dry docking and repairs. ''Mount Vernon'' was the first West coast ship to be modified to support LCAC operations.

Notes

References

* * * * *

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mount Vernon (Lsd-39) Anchorage-class dock landing ships Cold War amphibious warfare vessels of the United States Vietnam War amphibious warfare vessels of the United States Ships sunk as targets Ships built in Quincy, Massachusetts 1971 ships