USS Juneau (LPD-10), an Austin-class

Austin class amphibious transport dock

The Austin class of amphibious transport dock followed theRaleigh class and was followed by the San Antonio classes. Note that some sources consider Cleveland and Trenton ships to be a part of the Austin class, but the Naval Vessel Registry lists them as a separate class.- Ships :-Cleveland...

 amphibious transport dock

Amphibious transport dock

An amphibious transport dock, also called a landing platform/dock , is an amphibious warfare ship, a warship that embarks, transports, and lands elements of a landing force for expeditionary warfare missions. Several navies currently operate this kind of ship...

, is the third ship of the United States Navy

United States Navy

The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...

 to be named for the capital of Alaska

Juneau, Alaska

The City and Borough of Juneau is a unified municipality located on the Gastineau Channel in the panhandle of the U.S. state of Alaska. It has been the capital of Alaska since 1906, when the government of the then-District of Alaska was moved from Sitka as dictated by the U.S. Congress in 1900...

. The ship entered service on 12 July 1969, and participated in the Vietnam War

Vietnam War

The Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...

, was command ship for the response to the Exxon Valdez oil spill

Exxon Valdez oil spill

The Exxon Valdez oil spill occurred in Prince William Sound, Alaska, on March 24, 1989, when the Exxon Valdez, an oil tanker bound for Long Beach, California, struck Prince William Sound's Bligh Reef and spilled of crude oil. It is considered to be one of the most devastating human-caused...

, transported troops to the Persian Gulf for Operation Desert Storm, and was part of the attempted US response to Cyclone Nargis

Cyclone Nargis

Cyclone Nargis , was a strong tropical cyclone that caused the worst natural disaster in the recorded history of Burma. The cyclone made landfall in Burma on Friday, May 2, 2008, causing catastrophic destruction and at least 138,000 fatalities...

. Juneau was decommissioned in 2008, and is part of the National Defense Reserve Fleet

National Defense Reserve Fleet

The National Defense Reserve Fleet consists of "mothballed" ships, mostly merchant vessels, that can be activated within 20 to 120 days to provide shipping for the United States of America during national emergencies, either military or non-military, such as commercial shipping crises.The NDRF is...

.

Construction and launch

Her keel was laid down by Lockheed Shipbuilding and Construction Company of Seattle, Washington

Seattle, Washington

Seattle is the county seat of King County, Washington. With 608,660 residents as of the 2010 Census, Seattle is the largest city in the Northwestern United States. The Seattle metropolitan area of about 3.4 million inhabitants is the 15th largest metropolitan area in the country...

, on 23 January 1965. She was launched on 12 February 1966 (sponsored by Mrs. William A. Egan, wife of William A. Egan, the Governor of Alaska), and commissioned on 12 July 1969.

Operational history

Throughout the 1970s, Juneau completed five deployments to the western Pacific, including eight trips into Vietnam

Vietnam

Vietnam – sometimes spelled Viet Nam , officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam – is the easternmost country on the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by China to the north, Laos to the northwest, Cambodia to the southwest, and the South China Sea –...

ese waters, earning five battle stars for its efforts in the Vietnam War

Vietnam War

The Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...

. Juneau conducted the first AV-8A Harrier landing on a Pacific Fleet LPD in February 1976. On 4 July 1976, Juneau arrived in Juneau, Alaska with a complement of Marines from 1st Battalion, 5th Marines, 1st Marine Division as part of the United States' Bicentennial celebrations.

During the 1980s Juneau completed seven deployments. In April 1989, Juneau received emergency orders to Prince William Sound

Prince William Sound

Prince William Sound is a sound off the Gulf of Alaska on the south coast of the U.S. state of Alaska. It is located on the east side of the Kenai Peninsula. Its largest port is Valdez, at the southern terminus of the Trans-Alaska Pipeline System...

 in support of the Exxon Valdez oil spill

Exxon Valdez oil spill

The Exxon Valdez oil spill occurred in Prince William Sound, Alaska, on March 24, 1989, when the Exxon Valdez, an oil tanker bound for Long Beach, California, struck Prince William Sound's Bligh Reef and spilled of crude oil. It is considered to be one of the most devastating human-caused...

 clean up. She was the first naval vessel on station, and assumed the duties of command and control ship for Joint Task Force Alaska. She provided berthing, communications, transportation (both surface and air), food, medical and laundry services for over four hundred civilian cleanup workers.

After the Iraq

Iraq

Iraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....

i invasion of Kuwait

Kuwait

The State of Kuwait is a sovereign Arab state situated in the north-east of the Arabian Peninsula in Western Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to the south at Khafji, and Iraq to the north at Basra. It lies on the north-western shore of the Persian Gulf. The name Kuwait is derived from the...

 and the initiation of Operation Desert Shield, Juneau sailed with 12 other ships of Amphibious Group Three in December 1990 to participate in Operation Desert Storm. Joining with ships from Amphibious Group Two, Juneau was a member of the largest amphibious task force since the United Nations

United Nations

The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...

 assault on Incheon

Incheon

The Incheon Metropolitan City is located in northwestern South Korea. The city was home to just 4,700 people when Jemulpo port was built in 1883. Today 2.76 million people live in the city, making it Korea’s third most populous city after Seoul and Busan Metropolitan City...

, South Korea

South Korea

The Republic of Korea , , is a sovereign state in East Asia, located on the southern portion of the Korean Peninsula. It is neighbored by the People's Republic of China to the west, Japan to the east, North Korea to the north, and the East China Sea and Republic of China to the south...

. On 24 February 1991 Juneau off-loaded her equipment and ammunition in record time and landed her embarked troops at Ras Al Mishab, Saudi Arabia

Saudi Arabia

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia , commonly known in British English as Saudi Arabia and in Arabic as as-Sa‘ūdiyyah , is the largest state in Western Asia by land area, constituting the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and the second-largest in the Arab World...

, whence they would assault Iraqi positions in southern Kuwait.

In May 1991, Juneau proceeded to Bangladesh

Bangladesh

Bangladesh , officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh is a sovereign state located in South Asia. It is bordered by India on all sides except for a small border with Burma to the far southeast and by the Bay of Bengal to the south...

 to assist in Operation Sea Angel, providing relief after a disastrous cyclone

Cyclone

In meteorology, a cyclone is an area of closed, circular fluid motion rotating in the same direction as the Earth. This is usually characterized by inward spiraling winds that rotate anticlockwise in the Northern Hemisphere and clockwise in the Southern Hemisphere of the Earth. Most large-scale...

.

During her 14th deployment, Juneau was diverted to the coast of Somalia

Somalia

Somalia , officially the Somali Republic and formerly known as the Somali Democratic Republic under Socialist rule, is a country located in the Horn of Africa. Since the outbreak of the Somali Civil War in 1991 there has been no central government control over most of the country's territory...

 in support of Operation Restore Hope. Her embarked Marines ensured the security of shipments of food supplies to the people of Somalia.

Juneau was homeported in San Diego, California

San Diego, California

San Diego is the eighth-largest city in the United States and second-largest city in California. The city is located on the coast of the Pacific Ocean in Southern California, immediately adjacent to the Mexican border. The birthplace of California, San Diego is known for its mild year-round...

 until 30 July 1999 when she relieved as part of the forward-deployed naval forces. From June to September 1999 Juneau participated in the first Ship Swap with her sister-ship Dubuque, where each ship's crew remained in their original home ports, allowing Dubuque to return to the homeport of San Diego, California. Since that date, Juneau has been homeported in Sasebo, Japan

Japan

Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

.

Juneau was deployed to East Timor

East Timor

The Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste, commonly known as East Timor , is a state in Southeast Asia. It comprises the eastern half of the island of Timor, the nearby islands of Atauro and Jaco, and Oecusse, an exclave on the northwestern side of the island, within Indonesian West Timor...

 as part of the Australian-led INTERFET

INTERFET

The International Force for East Timor was a multinational peacekeeping taskforce, mandated by the United Nations to address the humanitarian and security crisis which took place in East Timor from 1999–2000 until the arrival of United Nations peacekeepers...

 peacekeeping taskforce from 28 to 31 January 2000.

During the 2008 Myanmar Cyclone Nargis

Cyclone Nargis

Cyclone Nargis , was a strong tropical cyclone that caused the worst natural disaster in the recorded history of Burma. The cyclone made landfall in Burma on Friday, May 2, 2008, causing catastrophic destruction and at least 138,000 fatalities...

 crisis and the subsequent Operation Caring Response aid mission, the Juneau (as part of the 's amphibious group, along with the , and the ), she stood by off Burma from May 13 to June 5, waiting for the Myanmar junta government to permit US aid to its citizens.http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/asia/article3897844.ece However, in early June, with permission still not forthcoming, it was decided to put the group back on its scheduled operations.http://www.pacom.mil/news/news2008/USPACOM_PRESS_RELEASE_%20008_08.pdf

Decommissioning

Juneau swapped with her sister ship, the during the third quarter of fiscal year 2008. After the swap, the ship sailed to San Diego for decommissioning. The decommissioning took place October 30, 2008 after which the ship was moved to Hawaii and placed in the National Defense Reserve Fleet

National Defense Reserve Fleet

The National Defense Reserve Fleet consists of "mothballed" ships, mostly merchant vessels, that can be activated within 20 to 120 days to provide shipping for the United States of America during national emergencies, either military or non-military, such as commercial shipping crises.The NDRF is...

.

External Links

• USS Juneau (LPD-10) command histories – Naval History & Heritage Command