Built as an amphibious assault ship under yard No 4105 by Ingalls Shipbuilding Corp., Pascagoula West, Miss. For the USA Navy.
12 November 1976 keel laid down.
25 November 1978 launched as the DA NANG, original to be named KHE SANH, christened by Peggy Hayward, the wife of then CNO Thomas B. Hayward. She was one of the Tarawa class of which 5 have been built.
Displacements 25,588 light, 38,761 full load, dim. 250 x 32.5m, maximum beam over flight deck36m, draught 7.9m.
Powered by two Westinghouse geared turbines 140,000 shp, twin shafts, speed 24 knots.
Armament: Two Sea Sparrow BPDMS (Mark 25) launchers, three single 5 inch/54 Mark 45 gun mounts, six single 20mm (Mark 67) mounts. She carries now 2 – RAM Launchers, 4 – 25mm MK 38 Bushmaster gun mounts, 2 – Phalanx CIWS, 5 – 0.50 cal (12.7 mm) mounts.
Aircraft: 6 – AV-8B Harrier attack planes, 4 – AH-1W Super Cobra attack helicopters, 12 – CH-46 Sea Knight helicopters, 9 – CH-53 Sea Stallion helicopters, 4 – UH-1N Huey helicopters.
Crew 90 Officers and 812 enlisted, can carry also troops, 172 Officers and 1,731 enlisted.
03 May 1980 commissioned under the name USS PELELIU (LHA-5) under command of Captain T.P. Scott. She was named after the Second World War Battle of Peleliu.
PELELIU immediately headed south, transited the Panama Canal, and then crossing the Equator on 27 May, setting a new record for time between commissioning and entrance into the Southern Hemisphere. Next, she proceeded to the port of Long Beach, California.
In June 1991, while coming back from the Persian Gulf after Operation Desert Storm, PELELIU participated in the evacuation of U.S. Naval Base Subic Bay personnel following the eruption of Mount Pinatubo in the Philippines; among the world's largest in the past 100 years, the eruption covered a large region in volcanic ash, and resulted in the destruction of much of the US naval base. The evacuation included several patients from the maternity ward, resulting in multiple births aboard ship.
PELELIU was deployed to East Timor as part of the Australian-led INTERFET peacekeeping taskforce from 26 October to 27 November 1999.
In November 2001, PELELIU delivered the first U.S. Marines to Afghanistan as part of Operation Enduring Freedom.
On 2 January 2004 a vessel was intercepted and fifteen individuals were detained and an estimated 2,800 pounds (1,300 kg) of hashish (approximately $11 million street value) were seized by U.S. and coalition maritime forces following the interception of a dhow on 1 January in the North Arabian Sea.
PELELIU deployed in support of the Pacific Partnership mission 23 May – 20 September 2007. The mission included medical, dental, construction, and other humanitarian assistance programs ashore and afloat in the Philippines, Vietnam, Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, and the Marshall Islands. Medical personnel onboard PELELIU included medical teams from the U.S. Navy and ten partner nations, and three Non-Governmental Organizations, including "Project Handclasp".
In 2008 she was deployed in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom, Enduring Freedom and maritime security operations. On 10 August 2008 she responded to a distress call from a merchant vessel, the GEM OF KILAKARI, which was being attacked by armed pirates in the Gulf of Aden north of Somalia. The attack was successfully halted with no injuries.
In August 2010, PELELIU was sent to Port of Karachi to enlist its 19 helicopters for the rescue effort during the 2010 Pakistan floods, the worst in Pakistan's history. During the deployment, Captain David Schnell, the ship's commanding officer, was relieved of command and reassigned for being "unduly familiar" with several crewmembers. Captain Mark E. Cedrun, chief of staff for Expeditionary Strike Group 3, replaced Schnell as commander of the ship.
Currently [24 Nov 2010 ] USS PELELIU has returned full circle as it is berthed in Subic Bay Free Port on it's first visit since the evacuation of the Navy Station in 1991.
31 March 2015 decommissioned at San Diego, where after she was towed later to Pearl Harbour and moored alongside her sister the USS TARAWA, in inactive reserve.
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Peleliu_(LHA-5) Warships of the US Navy by Morison and Rowe.
A lot more photographs can be seen here:
http://www.seaforces.org/usnships/lha/L ... eleliu.htm
Palau 1990 $1 sgMS391, scott258. 1994 $1 sgMS747, scott339.