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NavSource Online: Amphibious Photo Archive

USS Denver (LPD-9)

International Radio Call Sign:
November - Alpha - Yankee - Romeo
 NAYR
Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons




Precedence of awards is from top to bottom, left to right
Top Row - Combat Action Ribbon (24MAY72)- Joint Meritorious Unit Award - Navy Unit Commendation (5 stars)
Second Row - Navy Battle "E" Ribbon (4 stars) - Navy Expeditionary Medal (1-Iran/Indian Ocean) - National Defense Service Medal (2 stars)
Third Row - Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal (5 stars) - Vietnam Service Medal (6 stars) - Southwest Asia Service Medal
Fourth Row - Humanitarian Service Medal (1-Op. Frequent Wind, 2-Eniwetok Cleanup) - Republic of Vietnam Campaign Medal - Kuwait Liberation Medal (Kuwait)
Cleveland Class Amphibious Transport Dock:
  • Laid down, 7 February 1964, at Lockheed Shipbuilding and Construction, Seattle, WA.
  • Launched, 23 January 1965
  • Commissioned USS Denver (LPD-9), 26 October 1968
  • During the Vietnam War USS Denver (LPD-9) participated in the following campaigns:
    Vietnam War Campaigns
    Campaign and Dates Campaign and Dates
    Vietnam Winter-Spring 1970
    25 to 27 February 1970
    12 to 30 March 1970
    26 to 27 April 1970
    30 April 1970     		Consolidation I
    1 to 19 November 1971
    Sanctuary Counteroffensive
    1 to 2 May1970
    10 to 11 May 1970
    20 to 22 May 1970
    10 to 17 June1970     		Consolidation II
    23 to 28 January 1972
    10 to 12 February 1972
    Vietnamese Counteroffensive - Phase VII
    19 to 22 July 1970
    7 to 20 August 1970
    23 to 26 March 1971
    31 May to 9 June 1971     		Vietnam Ceasefire
    30 March to 3 April 1972
    8 April to 27 May 1972
    19 June to 28 July 1972

  • USS Denver is currently assigned to the Amphibious Force, COMNAVSURFPAC and will be forward deployed at Sasebo, Japan in July 2008
  • USS Denver earned six campaign stars for Vietnam War service
    Specifications:
    Displacement 9,734 t.(lt), 17,326 t.(fl)
    Length 570'
    Beam 100'
    Draft 23 ft.
    Speed 21 kts.
    Complement 24 Officers, 400 Enlisted
    Troop Accommodations 840 Troops
    Flag Staff Accommodations 90
    Boats, Assault Craft (well deck capacity) 1 LCU or 1 LCAC, or 2 LCM-8 or 4 LCM-6, (ships boats) 2 LCPL, 1 motor whaleboat
    Armament four twin 3"/50 gun mounts replaced by two 25 mm MK38 chain guns, two Phalanx CIWS, eight 50 cal. mgs.
    Aircraft two CH-46/CH-53 or four UH-1/AH-1, or two AV-8B Harriers
    Propulsion two Foster-Wheeler boilers, two DeLaval steam turbines, twin shafts, 24,000 Shaft Horsepower
    Click On Image
    For Full Size Image    		 Size Image Description Contributed
    By
    Denver 70k USS Denver (LPD-9) underway, date and location unknown
    DVIC Photo # DN-SN-85-00425, 1964, a US Navy photo from the collections of the Defense Visual Information Center.    		 .
    Denver 340k USS Denver (LPD-9) underway, location unknown, circa 1970 Photo distributed by Lockheed Shipbuilding, Submitted by CDR. Louis D Chirillo USN Ret
    Denver 303k USS Denver (LPD-9) Welcome Aboard pamphlet for 1982. Robert M. Cieri
    Denver 520k Sailors on the flight deck of USS Denver (LPD-9) direct an MH-53E Sea Dragon from Helicopter Mine Countermeasures Squadron Fifteen (HM-15), of Corpus Christi, Texas, during lift-off for anti-mine warfare operation in Exercise Kernel Blitz '97. KERNEL BLITZ is taking place off the coast of Southern California and Camp Pendleton to train Navy and Marine Corps personnel in amphibious operations. .
    US Navy photo # 970620-N-3149V-011 PACIFIC OCEAN (20 June 1997) by PH2 (NAC) Jeff Viano.    		 Robert M. Cieri
    Denver 98k USS Denver (LPD-9) cruises off the coast of southern California, 21 June 1997, as the central mine counter-measures support ship in Exercise Kernel Blitz '97.
    US Navy photo # 970621-N-3149V-001    		 Bill Gonyo
    Denver 94k USS Denver (LPD-9) lays at anchor off the coast of southern California, 24 June 1997, as an air-cushion landing craft (LCAC) heads toward her well deck during Exercise Kernel Blitz '97.
    US Navy photo # 970624-N-3149V-001 by PH2 (NAC) Jeffrey S. Viano.    		 Bill Gonyo
    Denver 102k USS Denver (LPD-9) underway during fleet operations in the Pacific. An SH-60 "Seahawk" assigned to Helicopter Anti-Submarine Squadron Light Four One (HSL-41), flies overhead, 30 September 1997.
    US Navy photo # 970930-N-0000U-016.    		 Bill Gonyo
    Denver 19k USS Denver (LPD-9) entering Pearl Harbor after a collision at sea with USNS Yukon (T-AO-202). The collision occurred during an attempted UNREP 13 July, 2000 about 180 miles west of Oahu.
    US Navy photo     		Jim Bedient
    Denver 23k Another view of the damage done to USS Denver (LPD-9) after colliding at sea with USNS Yukon (T-AO-202) during an attempted UNREP 13 July, 2000 about 180 miles west of Oahu.
    US Navy photo     		Jim Bedient
    Denver 79k USS Denver (LPD-9) underway, date and location unknown. Richard Miller BMCS USNR Ret.
    Denver 1127k Security personnel patrol the waters of Anaheim Bay while USS Denver (LPD-9) takes on ammunition. Naval Weapons Station Seal Beach, CA. is the Navy’s primary West Coast ordnance storage, loading and maintenance installation, serving an average of eighty warships each year. The station recently installed a buoy-based security barrier to clearly delineate the restricted area of Anaheim Bay for civilian boaters.
    US Navy photo # 040210-N-1159B-009 Naval Weapons Station Seal Beach, Calif. (Feb 10, 2004) by JO2 Brain Brannon.    		 Robert M. Cieri
    Denver 852k A newly installed buoy-based security barrier stretches around USS Denver (LPD-9) as the ship takes on ammunition. As a visual line of demarcation, the barrier serves to warn civilian boaters to stay in the small craft channel of Anaheim Bay, which is owned by the Naval Weapons Station Seal Beach.. The barriers also help security personnel to quickly and easily identify any vessels crossing into the restricted area.
    US Navy photo # 040210-N-1159B-006 Naval Weapons Station Seal Beach, Calif. (Feb 10, 2004) by JO2 Brain Brannon.    		 Robert M. Cieri
    Denver 4393k USS Denver (LPD-9) departs from Pier 6 Naval Air Station North Island, CA., to conduct routine work-up training off the coast of Southern California. Navy ships and submarines often conduct routine drills and exercises off the Southern California coast in preparation for deployments.
    US Navy photo # 050215-N-1356A-002 San Diego, Calif. (Feb. 15, 2005) by PH2 Charles E. Alvarado.    		 Robert M. Cieri
    Bonhomme Richard 232k USS Denver (LPD-9) and USS Bonhomme Richard (LHD-6) steam through the Gulf of Oman. Bonhomme Richard and Denver, as part of the Bonhomme Richard Expeditionary Strike Group, are on regularly scheduled deployments in support of Maritime Operations. Maritime Operations help set the conditions for security and stability, as well as complement counter-terrorism and security efforts to regional nations.US Navy photo # 070522-N-8157C-1197 Arabian Sea (May 22, 2007) by MC1 Denny Cantrell. Bill Gonyo
    Denver 502k USS Denver (LPD-9) moored pierside at Naval Station San Diego, date unknown. Richard Miller BMCS USNR Ret.
    Denver 1657k Sailors man the rails as USS Denver (LPD-9) returns to Fleet Activities Sasebo following a three-month fall patrol in the Asian-Pacific region. Denver is part of the Essex Amphibious Ready Group which serves under Task Force 76, the Navy's only permanently forward-deployed amphibious force commander. The ship completed its first deployment as part of the U.S. Seventh Fleet Forward Deployed Naval Forces.
    US Navy photo # 081202-N-0807W-119 SASEBO, Japan (Dec. 2, 2008) by MC2 Joshua J. Wahl.    		 Robert M. Cieri
    Denver 998k USS Denver (LPD-9) getting underway during a heavy rain storm to participate in exercise Talisman Saber '09. Talisman Saber is an Australian and U.S. combined exercise designed to prepare both nations in crisis action planning and the execution of contingency operations.
    US Navy photo # 090610-N-0807W-157 SASEBO, Japan (June 10, 2009) by MC2 Joshua J. Wahl.    		 Lee Wahler
    Denver 964k Ensign Daniel J. Rocha, assigned to the minesweeper USS Guardian (MCM-5), looks on as USS Denver (LPD-9) departs Sasebo for her fall patrol.
    US Navy photo # 090923-N-8335D-147 SASEBO, Japan (Sept. 23, 2009) by MC1 Richard Doolin.    		 Lee Wahler
    Denver 2043k USS Denver (LPD-9) rests in her berth at Fleet Activities Sasebo as snow falls over Japan's Kyushu region.
    US Navy photo # 100113-N-0807W-033 SASEBO, Japan (Jan. 13, 2010) by MC2 Joshua J. Wahl.    		 Lee Wahler
    View Official US Navy Photographs of the Burial-at-Sea of the remains of HTC Anthony J. Cieri, Jr., USN (Ret), from the USS Denver (LPD-9), Monday 13 June 1977.
    There is no DANFS history currently available for USS Denver (LPD-9) at Navsource
    View the Denver (LPD-9)
    Ship History/Command Operations Report     at the US Naval History and Heritage Command
    Crew Contact And Reunion Information
    U.S. Navy Memorial Foundation - Navy Log
    Fleet Reserve Association
    Additional Resources and Web Sites of Interest
    USS Denver (LPD-9)
    Navy Fact File - Amphibious Transport Dock - LPD
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    This page is created and maintained by Gary P. Priolo
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    Last Updated 22 January 2010