USS Fort Fisher

USS Fort Fisher (LSD-40) was an Anchorage-class dock landing ship in service with the United States Navy from 1972 to 1998. She was scrapped in 2010.

History
United States
NameUSS Fort Fisher
NamesakeFort Fisher in North Carolina
Awarded2 May 1967
BuilderGeneral Dynamics, Quincy, Massachusetts
Laid down15 July 1970
Launched22 April 1972
Acquired8 November 1972
Commissioned9 December 1972
Decommissioned27 February 1998
Stricken27 February 1998
Motto"Support from sea to shore"
FateSold for scrapping, 30 September 2009
General characteristics
Class and typeAnchorage-class dock landing ship
Tonnage5,440 DWT
Displacement
  • 8,762 long tons (8,903 t) light
  • 14,202 long tons (14,430 t) full
Length
  • 553 ft (169 m) o/a
  • 540 ft (160 m) w/l
Beam84 ft (26 m)
Draft20 ft (6.1 m) (max navigational draft)
PropulsionSteam turbines, two propellers
Speed22 knots (41 km/h; 25 mph)
Boats & landing
craft carried		3 × LCAC
Troops330 Marines
Complement18 officers, 340 enlisted
Armament
Aviation facilitiesHelipad
NotesSteel hull, steel superstructure.

Service history

Fort Fisher was laid down on 15 July 1970 at General Dynamics Quincy Shipbuilding Division and launched on 22 April 1972. She was commissioned on 9 December 1972.[1]

Fort Fisher was first homeported at Long Beach, California, before moving to San Diego in August 1973. The ship made her first overseas deployment as part of Amphibious Forces, United States Seventh Fleet, in the first half of 1974, the first of ten deployments to the Western Pacific, as well as three to the Persian Gulf. Fort Fisher was refitted between September 1986 and May 1987, in order to operate the Navy's new Landing Craft Air Cushion (LCAC). In September 1992, Fort Fisher was sent to Somalia as part of the multinational Unified Task Force bringing humanitarian aid in Operation Restore Hope. She returned there on 8 February 1995, and took part in Operation United Shield, the withdrawal of troops and equipment. On her final deployment in 1997 Fort Fisher took part in joint exercises with Persian Gulf nations.[2]

Fort Fisher was decommissioned on 27 February 1998 and struck from the Naval Vessel Registry on the same day.[1] On 30 September 2009, a contract to dismantle Fort Fisher was issued to International Shipbreaking Ltd. of Brownsville, Texas. Fort Fisher departed the Suisun Bay Reserve Fleet on 5 January 2010 under tow to Brownsville.[3] Fort Fisher completed her dismantling on 14 January 2011.

References
  1. "Fort Fisher (LSD 40)". Naval Vessel Register. 2013. Retrieved 29 August 2013.
  2. "USS Fort Fisher (LSD 40) Decommissioning Pamphlet - Ship's History". united-states-navy.com. 2013. Retrieved 29 August 2013.
  3. "National Defense Reserve Fleet Inventory: For the month ending January 31, 2010" (PDF). United States Maritime Administration. 2010. Retrieved 29 August 2013.

This article includes information collected from the Naval Vessel Register, which, as a U.S. government publication, is in the public domain. The entry can be found here.

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