USS Nashville (LPD-13)

USS Nashville (LPD-13), an Austin-class amphibious transport dock, was the third ship of the United States Navy to be named for the capital city of Tennessee. Her keel was laid down on 14 March 1966 by the Lockheed Shipbuilding and Construction Company of Seattle, Washington. She was launched on 7 October 1967 sponsored by Mrs. Roy L. Johnson, and commissioned at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard, Bremerton, Washington, on 14 February 1970 with Captain Frank R. Fahland in command.

For other ships with the same name, see USS Nashville.

USS Nashville patrolling the Arabian Sea in 2006
History
United States
Name: USS Nashville
Namesake: Nashville, TN
Operator:  United States Navy
Ordered: 15 May 1964[1]
Builder: Lockheed Shipbuilding
Laid down: 14 March 1966[1]
Launched: 7 October 1967[1]
Acquired: 26 December 1969[1]
Commissioned: 14 February 1970[1]
Decommissioned: 30 September 2009[2]
Stricken: 13 November 2017
Homeport: NAVSEA Inactive Ships On-site Maintenance Office, Philadelphia, PA[1]
Status: Stricken, pending disposition
General characteristics
Class and type: Austin-class amphibious transport dock
Displacement:
  • Light: 9,784 t (9,629 long tons; 10,785 short tons)
  • Full: 17,479 t (17,203 long tons; 19,267 short tons)
  • Dead: 7,695 t (7,573 long tons; 8,482 short tons)[1]
Length:
  • Overall: 570 ft (170 m)
  • Waterline: 548 ft (167 m)[1]
Beam:
  • Extreme: 105 ft (32 m)
  • Waterline: 84 ft (26 m)[1]
Draft:
  • Limit: 23 ft (7.0 m)
  • Ballasted: 34 ft (10 m)[1][3]
Propulsion: Two boilers, two steam turbines, two shafts, 24,000 shp (18,000 kW) each[1]
Speed: 21 knots (39 km/h; 24 mph)[1]
Complement: Ship's company: 489 (59 officers, 430 enlisted); Marine detachment: 900[1]
Sensors and
processing systems:
  • SPS-40 Air Search Radar
  • SPS-60 Surface Search Radar
  • SPS-64 Navigational Radar
  • Furuno Navigational Radar[3]
Armament:
Aircraft carried: Up to six CH-46 Sea Knight helicopters[3]

History

Nashville's various assignments have included four Caribbean Amphibious Ready Groups, eight Mediterranean Groups, two Persian Gulf Groups, a Mine Countermeasure Task Group, North Atlantic Treaty Organization Operations and training assignments with Fleet Marine Force Atlantic.[2]

The ship remained in Amphibious Squadron 2 in 1977. She served as squadron flagship from 1 January through 11 March; 29 April through 21 May; and 10 August through 31 December 1977.[4] In addition, she served as flagship for Commander Combined Amphibious Task Force (Commander Task Force 401), Commander Combined Landing Force, and Commander Task Force 61 (Commander Amphibious Squadron 2) during NATO Exercise Dawn Patrol '77.

Nashville provided support during 8 June 1995 rescue of pilot Capt. Scott O'Grady,[5] who was shot down over Bosnia on 2 June 1995 by an SA-6 mobile launcher and forced to eject from his F-16C into hostile territory.

On 16 and 17 January 2006, she was the first vessel to receive the landing of an unmanned robotic RQ-8A Fire Scout helicopter.[6]

In July 2006, she was sent to Lebanon as part of the Iwo Jima Expeditionary Strike Group transporting the 24th MEU to assist with the evacuation of U.S. nationals from the country,[7] after a conflict erupted between the Israeli military and Hezbollah militants. On 20 July 2006, it landed the first Marines on Lebanese soil since 1982.[8] The Nashville is featured in an episode of the television program Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations, as it evacuated Americans (including Bourdain and his production crew) from Beirut. The episode was nominated for an Emmy Award.

The USS Nashville was decommissioned on 30 September 2009 at the Norfolk Naval Station in Norfolk, Virginia. Navy officials stated the ship was too costly to maintain and was unable to match the efficiency of newer vessels.[2] As of 2016, the vessel is moored at the Naval Inactive Ship Maintenance Facility in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.[1][9]

Possible sale to India

According to an Indian news source, the Indian Navy may bid to acquire the Nashville,[10] but as of August 2007, India had decided not to move forward with the deal.[11] The Nashville is of the same class as the USS Trenton which was previously sold to India and is now the INS Jalashwa.[12]

  • USS Nashville sails off the coast of Lebanon in December 1982
  • Crewmen from USS Nashville assist U.S. nationals evacuating from Lebanon in 2006
  • A RQ-8A Fire Scout helicopter preparing to land on USS Nashville

References
  1. "USS Nashville (LPD-13)". Naval Vessel Register. 18 September 2009. Archived from the original on 30 September 2009.
  2. Woodrow, Melanie; Rose, Derrick (30 September 2009). "USS Nashville decommissioned". WAVY.com. Archived from the original on 27 July 2011. Retrieved 8 February 2016.
  3. "LPD 4 Austin class". Federation of American Scientists. 2008. Archived from the original on 9 September 2009.
  4. "USS Nashville (LPD-13) Command History 1977" (PDF). United States Navy. 13 March 1978. Archived from the original (PDF) on 10 November 2012. Retrieved 5 December 2014.
  5. "USS Nashville (LPD-13) Command History 1995" (PDF). United States Navy. 1 April 1996. Archived from the original (PDF) on 10 November 2012. Retrieved 5 December 2014.
  6. "Autonomous Fire Scout UAV Lands on Ship". Navy.mil. Naval Air Systems Command. 18 January 2006. Archived from the original on 25 September 2012.
  7. Martinez, Luis (14 July 2006). "Evacuating Lebanon". The World Newser. Archived from the original on 16 January 2013.
  8. Panossian, Joe (14 July 2006). "Marines aid evacuation as plane lands in U.S." Houston Chronicle. Retrieved 20 July 2006.
  9. Smith, Nikki (8 October 2009). "Saying farewell to USS Nashville" (PDF). The Flagship. 17 (40).
  10. "Indian Navy May Bid To Acquire Amphibious Warship USS Nashville". India-Defence.com. 15 July 2007. Archived from the original on 30 September 2009.
  11. Luthra, Gulshan (August 2007). "India says 'Not Yet' to another assault ship from US". India Strategic. Archived from the original on 4 May 2012.
  12. Jones, Tyler (17 January 2007). "U.S. Navy Decoms Trenton, Transfers to Indian Navy". Navy.mil. Archived from the original on 4 June 2011.

This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships.

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