The USS Boulder (LST-1190) was named after a county and city in Colorado

Colorado

Colorado is a U.S. state that encompasses much of the Rocky Mountains as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of the Great Plains...

. She was laid down on 6 September 1969 at San Diego, CA, by the National Steel and Shipbuilding Company

National Steel and Shipbuilding Company

National Steel and Shipbuilding Company, commonly referred to as NASSCO, is a shipyard in San Diego, California and Norfolk, Virginia and a division of General Dynamics. The shipyard specializes in constructing commercial cargo ships and auxiliary vessels for the US Navy and Military Sealift...

, launched on 22 April 1970 (sponsored by Mrs. Gordon L. Allott), and commissioned on 4 June 1971 with Commander B. A. Troutman, Jr., in command. Following commissioning at Long Beach, CA, Boulder was assigned to the Amphibious Force, Atlantic Fleet, with the home port of Little Creek, VA.

Into 1980, the tank landing ship

Tank landing ship

Landing Ship, Tank was the military designation for naval vessels created during World War II to support amphibious operations by carrying significant quantities of vehicles, cargo, and landing troops directly onto an unimproved shore....

 alternated amphibious

Amphibious warfare

Amphibious warfare is the use of naval firepower, logistics and strategy to project military power ashore. In previous eras it stood as the primary method of delivering troops to non-contiguous enemy-held terrain...

 training operations along the east coast of the United States and in the Caribbean

Caribbean

The Caribbean is a crescent-shaped group of islands more than 2,000 miles long separating the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea, to the west and south, from the Atlantic Ocean, to the east and north...

 with regular, extended deployments to the Mediterranean. Boulder was awarded the Meritorious Unit Commendation

Meritorious Unit Commendation

The Meritorious Unit Commendation is a mid-level unit award of the United States military which is awarded to any military command which displays exceptionally meritorious conduct in the performance of outstanding service, heroic deeds, or valorous actions....

 for removal and disposal of ordnance

Bomb disposal

Bomb disposal is the process by which hazardous explosive devices are rendered safe. Bomb disposal is an all encompassing term to describe the separate, but interrelated functions in the following fields:*Military:...

 from the Suez Canal

Suez Canal

The Suez Canal , also known by the nickname "The Highway to India", is an artificial sea-level waterway in Egypt, connecting the Mediterranean Sea and the Red Sea. Opened in November 1869 after 10 years of construction work, it allows water transportation between Europe and Asia without navigation...

 in 1974.

Boulder was decommissioned on 28 February 1994 and was placed in inactive reserve at the Naval Inactive Ship Maintenance Facility

Naval Inactive Ship Maintenance Facility

A Naval Inactive Ship Maintenance Facility is a facility owned by the U.S. Navy as a holding facility for decommissioned naval vessels, pending determination of their final fate...

 in Philadelphia, PA. On 1 December 2008 she was struck from the Naval Vessel Register

Naval Vessel Register

The Naval Vessel Register is the official inventory of ships and service craft in custody of or titled by the United States Navy. It contains information on ships and service craft that make up the official inventory of the Navy from the time a vessel is authorized through its life cycle and...

and, , is awaiting disposal.