Iwo Jima-class Amphibious Assault Ships

LPH-7 USS Guadalcanal

Highlights of Ship's Service History

An aerial starboard side view of the amphibious ship USS GUADALCANAL (LPH-7) passing the Ellis Island Memorial Immigration Center as the ship arrives at New York City for Fleet Week '92.
U.S. Navy photo

Photo source: Wikipedia

21 Dec 1959

Contract awarded to the U.S. Navy Shipyard, Philadelphia, PA

1 Sep 1961

Keel laid

16 Mar 1963

Launched

20 Jul 1963

Commissioned

21 Jul 1966

Recovery ship for Gemini X

13 Mar 1969

Recovery ship for Apollo 9

24 Sep 1981

Collided with T-AO-109 USNS Waccamaw during UNREP near Italy. Minor damage, no casualties.

1987

Helicopters from Guadalcanal stopped, and Marines from Guadalcanal boarded and captured, the Iran Ajar, which was laying mines in the shipping lanes of the Persian Gulf. This was the second enemy combatant ship captured by the U.S. Navy since the War of 1812; the first was when the Guadalcanal's namesake, the escort carrier CVE-60 USS Guadalcanal, captured the German u-boat U-505 in the south Atlantic in June of 1944.

31 Aug 1994

Decommissioned

31 Aug 1994

Stricken from the Navy List

19 May 2005

Sunk during a fleet training exercise.

Sources
Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships - U. S. Naval Historical Center United States Naval Vessel Register Wikipedia NavSource: Photographic History of the U.S. Navy Haze Gray & Underway

Dedication

LPH-7 USS Guadalcanal

Highlights of Ship's Service History

Sources