USS Anchorage (LSD-36)

USS Anchorage (LSD-36), a US Navy dock landing ship, underway off Pascagoula, Mississippi (USA), while running trials on 27 January 1969.
History
United States
Name:	Anchorage
Namesake:	City of Anchorage, Alaska
Awarded:	29 June 1965
Builder:	Ingalls Shipbuilding, Pascagoula, Mississippi
Laid down:	13 March 1967
Launched:	5 May 1968
Commissioned:	15 March 1969
Decommissioned:	1 October 2003
Struck:	8 March 2004
Identification:	Hull symbol: LSD-36 Code letters: NGRQ
Motto:	1st of its class
Honors and awards:	6 × battle stars (Vietnam service)
Fate:	Sunk as a target, 17 July 2010
Badge:
General characteristics
Class and type:	Anchorage-class dock landing ship
Tonnage:	5,570 long tons deadweight (DWT)
Displacement:	14,095 long tons (14,321 t) (full) 8,325 long tons (8,459 t) (light)
Length:	553 ft (169 m)
Beam:	84 ft (26 m)
Draft:	19 ft (5.8 m)
Installed power:	2 × steam boilers, 600 psi (4,100 kPa) 24,000 shp (18,000 kW)
Propulsion:	2 × De Laval steam turbines 2 × propellers
Speed:	20 kn (37 km/h; 23 mph)
Boats & landing craft carried:	3 × LCACs or 2 × LCUs
Troops:	320
Complement:	24 officers, 300 enlisted
Armament:	4 × twin 3 in (76 mm)/50 caliber guns (removed 1980) 2 × 20 mm (0.8 in) Phalanx CIWS mounts 2 × 25 mm (1.0 in) Mk-38 Bushmaster chain guns
Service record
Operations:	Vietnam War (1970-72) Gulf War Operation Continue Hope, Somalia (1994) Operation Enduring Freedom Operation Iraqi Freedom
Awards:	Combat Action Ribbon (retroactive) Joint Meritorious Unit Award Navy Unit Commendation (2) Navy Meritorious Unit Commendation Navy Battle "E" Ribbon (7) Navy Expeditionary Medal (Iran/Indian Ocean) National Defense Service Medal (2) Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal (5) Vietnam Service Medal (6) Southwest Asia Service Medal Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal Humanitarian Service Medal Philippine Presidential Unit Citation Republic of Vietnam Campaign Medal Kuwait Liberation Medal (Saudi Arabia) Kuwait Liberation Medal (Kuwait)

USS Anchorage (LSD-36) was the lead ship of the Anchorage-class dock landing ship of the United States Navy. In the ship's 34 years of service, she completed 19 deployments in the western Pacific and became the most decorated dock landing ship on the west coast.

Anchorage was awarded to Ingalls Shipbuilding in Pascagoula, Mississippi on 29 June 1965 and her keel was laid down on 13 March 1967. She was launched on 5 May 1968; sponsored by Mrs. Alexander S. Heyward, Jr., the wife of Vice Admiral Alexander S. Heyward; and commissioned at the Norfolk Naval Shipyard, Portsmouth, Virginia, on 15 March 1969, Captain Percy Stuart Beaman in command.

Outfitted with a large floodable stern section accessed through an enormous operable stern gate, Anchorage served as a launch platform for large landing craft, such as the LCU, as well as a "boat haven" to shelter other small craft utilized in an amphibious landing. The ship was able to provide a minimal degree of naval gunfire support through the use of two sets of twin 3 in (76 mm)/50 caliber guns mounted on the 02-level fore and aft. In later years these guns were removed to be replaced with Mk-38 machine guns and two Phalanx CIWS for missile defense. In its final decade of service with the US Navy, it functioned primarily as a platform for two LCAC hovercraft landing vehicles and embarked Marines.