USS ''Germantown'' (LSD-42) is the second in 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 is the second navy ship named after the Revolutionary War Battle of Germantown. ''Germantown'' was the first ship in the class to serve in the Pacific. The

amphibious 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. The design evolved from aircraft carriers converted for use as helicopter carriers (and, as ...

's mission is to project power ashore by transporting and launching amphibious craft and vehicles loaded with embarked

Marines Marines, or naval infantry, are typically a military force trained to operate in littoral zones in support of naval operations. Historically, tasks undertaken by marines have included helping maintain discipline and order aboard the ship (refle ...

in support of an amphibious assault. The ship was designed specifically to operate with

Landing Craft Air Cushion The Landing Craft Air Cushion (LCAC) is a class of air-cushioned landing craft (hovercraft) used by the United States Navy and the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force (JMSDF). They transport weapons systems, equipment, cargo and personnel from sh ...

(LCAC) vessels. She has the largest capacity for these landing craft (four to five) of any US Navy amphibious platform.

Construction and career

The navy ordered USS ''Germantown'' on 26 March 1982. Four years later, on 8 February 1986, the ship was commissioned. In 1990–1991, she played a significant role during

Operations Desert Shield The Gulf War was a 1990–1991 armed campaign waged by a 35-country military coalition in response to the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait. Spearheaded by the United States, the coalition's efforts against Iraq were carried out in two key phases: ...

and

Desert Storm The Gulf War was a 1990–1991 armed campaign waged by a 35-country military coalition in response to the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait. Spearheaded by the United States, the coalition's efforts against Iraq were carried out in two key phases: ...

. The ship participated in mock amphibious assaults in

Oman Oman ( ; ar, عُمَان ' ), officially the Sultanate of Oman ( ar, سلْطنةُ عُمان ), is an Arabian country located in southwestern Asia. It is situated on the southeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula, and spans the mouth of ...

after the start of the air war in preparation for a possible amphibious assault. On 16 August 2002, relieved ''Germantown'' as a forward-deployed naval unit at

Sasebo is a core city located in Nagasaki Prefecture, Japan. It is also the second largest city in Nagasaki Prefecture, after its capital, Nagasaki. On 1 June 2019, the city had an estimated population of 247,739 and a population density of 581 persons p ...

, Japan. ''Germantown'' returned to

San Diego 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 State ...

, California, where she underwent a

US$ The United States dollar (symbol: $; code: USD; also abbreviated US$ or U.S. Dollar, to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies; referred to as the dollar, U.S. dollar, American dollar, or colloquially buck) is the official ...

25 million overhaul. One year later, the ship deployed to the

Persian Gulf The Persian Gulf ( fa, خلیج فارس, translit=xalij-e fârs, lit=Gulf of Fars, ), sometimes called the ( ar, اَلْخَلِيْجُ ٱلْعَرَبِيُّ, Al-Khalīj al-ˁArabī), is a mediterranean sea in Western Asia. The bod ...

as part of Expeditionary Strike Group One. ''Germantown'' supported Operation Iraqi Freedom by landing Marines and equipment from the

13th Marine Expeditionary Unit The 13th Marine Expeditionary Unit (13th MEU) is one of seven Marine Expeditionary Units currently in existence in the United States Marine Corps. The Marine Expeditionary Unit is a Marine Air Ground Task Force with a strength of about 2,200 p ...

. In September 2003, ''Germantown'' deployed with the first ever

Expeditionary Strike Group 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 super ...

to support Operation Iraqi Freedom, providing support for Marines in

Iraq Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to the north, Iran to the east, the Persian Gulf and K ...

and

Kuwait Kuwait (; ar, الكويت ', or ), officially the State of Kuwait ( ar, دولة الكويت '), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated in the northern edge of Eastern Arabia at the tip of the Persian Gulf, bordering Iraq to the nort ...

while also patrolling the Persian Gulf. In February 2006, ''Germantown'' deployed to the

in support of Operation Enduring Freedom, carrying the

11th Marine Expeditionary Unit The 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit (11th MEU) is one of seven Marine Expeditionary Units currently in existence in the United States Marine Corps. The Marine Expeditionary Unit is a Marine Air Ground Task Force with a strength of about 2,200 ...

. She assisted

in the North Persian Gulf by responding to an oil fire on the Khwar Al Amaya Oil Terminal and by querying vessels before they entered Iraqi waters. ''Germantown'' conducted "Presence Operations" throughout the Persian Gulf before returning to

, California in August 2006. ''Germantown'' departed for the Persian Gulf on 5 November 2007 to support Operation Enduring Freedom by transporting members of the 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit to Kuwait for field exercises. She then proceeded to conduct maritime security operations throughout the Persian Gulf and was later tasked with conducting oil platform defense in the narrow Shatt-Al-Arab waterway on the Iran-Iraq border. She returned home to San Diego on 3 June 2008 and began preparations for an extended mid-life overhaul to commence in the winter of 2008. In January 2011, ''Germantown'' reversed the 2002 hull swap with ''Harpers Ferry'', to return to Sasebo, and immediately proceeded to join the Amphibious Ready Group for Cobra Gold 2011, a multinational exercise hosted annually by the Kingdom of

Thailand Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is b ...

. ''Germantown'' was one of several ships participating in disaster relief after the

2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami The occurred at 14:46 JST (05:46 UTC) on 11 March. The magnitude 9.0–9.1 (M) undersea megathrust earthquake had an epicenter in the Pacific Ocean, east of the Oshika Peninsula of the Tōhoku region, and lasted approximately six mi ...

. The ship departed Sasebo in September 2011 for a patrol of the western Pacific. Accompanying the ship were and . In November 2013, ''Germantown'' and supported relief operations in the wake of

Typhoon Haiyan Typhoon Haiyan, known in the Philippines as Super Typhoon Yolanda, was one of the most powerful tropical cyclones ever recorded. On making landfall, Haiyan devastated portions of Southeast Asia, particularly the Philippines. It is one of the ...

. In March 2014, the ship's commanding officer, Commander Jason Leach was relieved of duty by the head of the

7th 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 ...

's amphibious unit "due to a loss of confidence in his ability to command." News reports indicated that "The relief was not related to a single incident but was the result of a poor command climate on board the ship and the commanding officer's failure to use the good judgment expected of leaders in the navy and to uphold standards." In January 2015, the ship's command master chief Jesus Galura pleaded guilty to a number of charges stemming from an investigation into a prostitution procurement ring between him and four other chief petty officers on board the ship. In December 2020, the U.S. Navy's Report to Congress on the Annual Long-Range Plan for Construction of Naval Vessels stated that the ship was planned to be placed Out of Commission in Reserve in 2023. On 15 October 2021 the ''Germantown'' completed ten years of forward deployed service in Japan and completed a homeport shift to San Diego.

Notes

References

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External links

USS ''Germantown'' official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Germantown (LSD-42) Whidbey Island-class dock landing ships Cold War amphibious warfare vessels of the United States Amphibious warfare vessels of the United States Ships built in Washington (state) 1984 ships