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NavSource Online: Amphibious Photo Archive
Contributed by Mike Smolinski

USS Vancouver (LPD-2)

International Radio Call Sign:
November - Victor - Alpha - November
 NVAN
Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons




Precedence of awards is from top to bottom, left to right
Top Row - Joint Meritorious Unit Award - Navy Unit Commendation (2) - Navy Meritorious Unit Commendation
Second Row - Navy Battle "E" Ribbon - Navy Expeditionary Medal (1-Iran/Indian Ocean) - National Defense Service Medal
Third Row - Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal (2-Vietnam, 1 Op. Eagle Pull, 1-Op. Frequent Wind) - Vietnam Service Medal (10) - Southwest Asia Service Medal
Fourth Row - Humanitarian Service Medal (1-Eagle Pull, 1-Frequent Wind) - Republic of Vietnam Gallantry Cross Unit Citation (10) - Republic of Vietnam Campaign Medal
Raleigh Class Amphibious Transport Dock:
  • Laid down, 19 November 1960, at New York Naval Shipyard, Brooklyn, N.Y.
  • Launched, 15 September 1962
  • Commissioned USS Vancouver (LPD-2), 11 May 1963
  • During the Vietnam War USS Vancouver (LPD-2) participated in the following campaigns:
    Vietnam War Campaigns
    Campaigns and Dates Campaigns and Dates
    Vietnamese Defense
    24 to 25 August 1965    		 Vietnam Summer-Fall 1969
    26 to 28 August 1969
    9 September to 23 October 1969
    Vietnamese Counteroffensive - Phase II
    13 August to 1 September 1966
    13 to 28 September 1966
    7 October to 11 November 1966
    31 December 1966 to 17 January 1967
    13 February to 4 March 1967    		 Vietnam Winter-Spring 1970
    15 to 25 November 1969
    7 to 15 December 1969
    30 December 1969 to 10 January 1970
    9 to 12 February 1970
    10 to 13 March 1970
    Tet Counteroffensive
    22 to 24 February 1968
    1 March to 1 April 1968    		 Vietnamese Counteroffensive - Phase VII
    8 to 11 July 1970
    8 to 12 August 1970
    1 to 3 May 1971
    12 to 13 May 1971
    20 to 22 May 1971
    13 to 15 June 1971
    18 to 20 June 1971
    Vietnamese Counteroffensive - Phase IV
    2 to 15 April 1968
    1 March to 15 April 1968
    27 April to 17 June 1968    		 Consolidation I
    15 to 16 July 1971
    13 to 14 August 1971
    5 to 6 September 1971
    10 to 15 September 1971
    Vietnamese Counteroffensive - Phase V
    6 July to 20 August 1968
    1 September 1968    		 Vietnam Ceasefire
    9 to 10 July 1972

  • Decommissioned, 27 March 1992
  • Laid up in the Naval Inactive Ship Maintenance Facility (NISMF), Pearl Harbor, HI., maintenance category X
  • Struck from Naval Register, 8 April 1997
  • Custody transferred to the Maritime Administration, 29 November 2001 of lay up in the National Defense Reserve Fleet, Suisun Bay, Benecia, CA.
  • Final Disposition, fate unknown
  • USS Vancouver (LPD-2) earned ten campaign stars for Vietnam War service
    Specifications:
    Displacement 8,650 t.(lt) 14,113 t.(fl)
    Length 522 '
    Beam 100'
    Draft 23'
    Speed 20 kts.
    Complement 436
    Troop Accommodations 1,000
    Armament four 3"/50 guns
    Propulsion 2 Boilers, 2 Geared Turbines, 2 Shafts, 24,000 Shaft Horsepower
    Click On Image
    For Full Size Image    		 Size Image Description Contributed
    By
    Vancouver 132k USS Vancouver (LPD-2) with her stern gate open during amphibious operations, date and location unknown.
    US Navy photo from "All Hands" magazine, June 1964    		 Joe Radigan MACM USN Ret.
    Vancouver 98k USS Vancouver (LPD-2) arrives at San Diego, 13 August 1964.
    US Navy photo    		 Robert M. Cieri
    Vancouver 85k USS Vancouver (LPD-2) underway off the Vietnam coast near DMZ, during amphibious ops, 1969. Photo by William P Jones MD,
    ex Medical Officer USS Niagara Falls
    Vancouver 78k USS Vancouver (LPD-2) off the coast of South Vietnam, 17 October 1969.
    US Navy photo    		 Robert M. Cieri
    Vancouver 77k USS Vancouver (LPD-2) outbound from San Diego in 1974.
    US Navy photo    		 Robert M. Cieri
    Vancouver 536k USS Vancouver (LPD-2) refueling from USNS Taluga (T-AO-62) in the Gulf of Siam during Operation Eagle Pull in March 1975. Photo by Richard Spring, CMDCM (SW/AW) USN Ret.
    Vancouver 96k USS Vancouver (LPD-2) off Silver Strand at Coronado, CA., 28 April 1976.
    US Navy photo    		 Robert M. Cieri
    Vancouver 70k USS Vancouver (LPD-2) underway off San Diego, circa 1980. Bob Thomasson
    Vancouver 113k USS Vancouver (LPD-2) underway, date and location unknown.
    US Navy photo.    		 Wendell Royce McLaughlin Jr.
    Vancouver 51k USS Vancouver (LPD-2) moored pierside at San Francisco, CA. during Fleet Week, October 1982. Photo by Robert M. Cieri
    Vancouver 73k USS Vancouver (LPD-2) underway in San Francisco Bay during Fleet Week, October 1982. Photo by Robert M. Cieri
    Vancouver 2077k Port beam view of USS Vancouver (LPD-2) underway, 1 September 1989, during the combined Thai/U.S. joint exercise Thalay Thai '89.
    DVIC photo # DN-ST-90-05692 (1 September 1989) A US Navy Photo by PH1 Michael D. P. Flynn, now in the collections of the Defense Visual Information Center.    		 Robert M. Cieri
    Vancouver 55k USS Vancouver (LPD-2) moored in the stream at Hong Kong, 24 November 1989. William Chiu
    Vancouver 1550k Port beam view of USS Vancouver (LPD-2) departing Pearl Harbor through the channel, 1 June 1991. She is en route to her homeport of Naval Station San Diego following her deployment to the Persian Gulf for Operation Desert Shield/Storm.
    DVIC photo # DN-SC-92-03402 (1 June 1991) A US Navy Photo by OS2 John Bouvia, now in the collections of the Defense Visual Information Center.    		 Robert M. Cieri
    Vancouver 2874k Officers and enlisted men stand beneath the colors at the stern of USS Vancouver (LPD-2) upon her return to Naval Station San Diego, her homeport, following a deployment to the Persian Gulf region for Operation Desert Shield/Storm. Vancouver also took part in Operation Sea Angel, which provided aid to cyclone victims in Bangladesh.
    DVIC photo # DN-ST-91-12026 (30 June 1991) A US Navy Photo by PHC Bix Wallace, now in the collections of the Defense Visual Information Center.    		 Robert M. Cieri
    St Louis/Vancouver 62k Vancouver (LPD-2) and St. Louis (LKA-116) laid up at the Naval Inactive Ship Maintenance Facility (NISMF, Middle Loch, Pearl Harbor HI., circa 2000. Photo by Jim Bedient
    St Louis/Vancouver 68k Vancouver (LPD-2) laid up in the National Defense Reserve Fleet, Suisun Bay, Benecia, CA., circa October 2006. Bob Thomasson
    USS Vancouver (LPD-2) Memorabilia
    Vancouver
    Welcome Aboard pamphlet - 1971
    Contributed by Robert M. Cieri    		 Vancouver
    Welcome Aboard pamphlet - 1973
    Contributed by Robert M. Cieri    		 Vancouver
    USS Vancouver (LPD-2) pin.
    Contributed by Robert M. Cieri
    View the USS Vancouver (LPD-2)
    DANFS history entry located at the US Naval Historical Center
    Crew Contact And Reunion Information
    U.S. Navy Memorial Foundation
    Fleet Reserve Association
    Additional Resources and Web Sites of Interest
    USS Vancouver LPD-2
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    This page is created and maintained by Gary P. Priolo
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    Last Updated 2 May 2008