USS Ponce (LPD-15)

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Career
Awarded:	17 May 1965
Laid down:	31 October 1966
Launched:	20 May 1970
Commissioned:	10 July 1971
Fate:	Active, in commission
Homeport:	Norfolk, Virginia
General Characteristics
Displacement:	8883 tons light, 16591 tons full, 7708 tons dead
Length:	173.7 meters (570 feet) overall, 167 meters (548 feet) waterline
Beam:	30.4 meters (100 feet) extreme, 25.6 meters (84 feet) waterline
Draft:	6.7 meters (22 feet) maximum, 7 meters (23 feet) limit
Speed:	20 knots
Complement:	29 officers, 487 men
Armament:	eight three-inch/50 caliber guns

USS Ponce (LPD-15), a Trenton-class amphibious transport dock, was the only ship of the United States Navy to be named for the city in the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, which in turn was named after the Spanish explorer Juan Ponce de Leon, the discoverer of Florida and first governor of Puerto Rico. Her keel was laid down on 31 October 1966 by the Lockheed Shipbuilding[?] and Construction Company of Seattle, Washington. She was launched on 20 May 1970 sponsored by Mrs. John J. Hyland, and commissioned on 10 July 1971.

Need information from 1971 to 1982

On 2 February 1982 during a towing exercise while en route to Portsmouth, England, Ponce collided with USS Fort Snelling (LSD-30)[?], causing minor damage to Ponce's port side, mainly to the accommodation ladder and flight deck catwalk.

Need information from 1982 to 1984

On 14 February 1984, while attempting to move an assault craft to Radio Island, near Morehead City, North Caroline[?], Ponce suffered a major casualty when her stern gate was damaged and eventually lost. She was later repaired in Philadelphia Naval Shipyard.

Need information from 1984 to 1990

On 5 August 1990 as part of Operation Sharp Edge to remove US citizens caught in civil war in Liberia, Ponce, together with USS Saipan (LHA-2)[?], USS Sumter (LST-1188)[?], and USS Peterson (DD-969)[?], inserted a United States Marine Corps reinforced rifle company into the U.S. Embassy compound in Monrovia for increased security.

Need information from 1990 to 2001

On 29 August 2001 Ponce crewmembers boarded two derelict Italian boats, a 19-foot motorboat and a 12-foot sailboat, in the Straits of Messina[?] between Sicily and Calabria. The civilian vessels were adrift, creating a navigational hazard. A boarding party in a rigid hull inflatable boat found both derelicts unmanned, though the motorboat was well stocked. They towed both boats back to Ponce, which flooded her welldeck, brought the boats aboard, carried them into Catania, and turned them over to the Guardia Costiera Italiana[?] (Italian Coast Guard).

Need information from 2001 to 2003

On 10 January 2003 Ponce received orders to depart Norfolk, Virginia, and take on Marines from Camp Lejeune, North Carolina[?] for the 2003 invasion of Iraq. That duty kept Ponce at sea through February. At the end of February, she became the flagship of the Commander of Mine Countermeasure Squadron Three, designated as Commander, Task Group 55.4. The Task Group included a US Navy special clearance team, two explosive ordnance disposal (EOD) units, a United Kingdom unit and an Australian team. The ships involved included the mine coastal hunters USS Cardinal (MHC-60)[?] and USS Raven (MHC-61)[?], mine counter measure ships USS Ardent (MCM-12)[?] and USS Dextrous (MCM-13)[?], and dock landing ship USS Gunston Hall (LSD-44)[?].

After breaking the Squadron's pennant at her yardarm, Ponce's crew (and Gunston Hall's) enjoyed liberty ashore in Manama, Bahrain, beginning on 28 February. On 5 March, however, the amphibious ships got underway again. Humanitarian aid to the recently-liberated Iraqis was being blocked by naval mines in the Khawar Abd Allah[?] river and the port of Umm Qasr. The weeks-long minesweeping operation was directed from Ponce, the flagship of the Task Group.

The Group used a variety of methods, including MH-53E Sea Dragon[?] helicopters towing magnetic minesweeping sleds, trained marine mammals, unmanned underwater vehicles and EOD divers. On 28 March a 200-yard-wide channel was declared safe, and RFA Sir Galahad (L3005) docked at Umm Qasr and began offloading hundreds of tons of food and water for the Iraqis. Work continued for weeks after that, widening the channel.

This history has been assembled from a variety of sources, many of them "at the time" news articles. Thus, while every effort has been made to ensure it is accurate, it suffers from gaps in its coverage.