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NavSource Online: Amphibious Photo Archive


Contributed by Mike Smolinski

USS Boxer (LPH-4)
ex
USS Boxer (CVS-21) (1955 - 1959)
USS Boxer (CVA-21) (1952 - 1955)
USS Boxer (CV-21) (1945 - 1952)

International Radio Call Sign:
November - Xray - Oscar - Papa
NXOP
Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons




Precedence of awards is from top to bottom, left to right
Top Row - Navy Unit Commendation - Navy Expeditionary Medal (10-Cuba) - American Campaign Medal
Second Row - Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal - World War II Victory Medal - National Defense Service Medal (2)
Third Row - Korean Service Medal (8) - Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal (1-Cuba, 1-Dominican Republic) - Vietnam Service Medal (2)
Fourth Row - United Nations Service Medal - Republic of Vietnam Campaign Medal - Republic of Korea War Service Medal (retroactive)


Boxer Class Amphibious Assault Ship (Helicopter):
  • Laid down, 13 September 1943, at Newport News Shipbuilding and Drydock Corp, Newport News. VA.
  • Launched, 14 December 1944
  • Commissioned USS Boxer (CV-21), 15 April 1945, CAPT. D. F. Smith in command
  • Reclassified Attack Aircraft Carrier (CVA-21), 1 October 1952
  • Modified and Reclassified Anti-Submarine Warfare Aircraft Carrier (CVS-21), 15 November 1955
  • Modified and Reclassified Amphibious Assault Ship (Helicopter) (LPH-4), 30 January 1959
  • During the Vietnam War Boxer (LPH-4) participated in the following campaigns:
    Vietnam War Campaigns
    Campaign and Dates Campaign and Dates
    Vietnam Defense
    9 to 17 September 1965
    Vietnamese Counteroffensive
    20 to 23 May 1966
    10 to 12 June 1966

  • Decommissioned and Struck from the Naval Register, 1 December 1969
  • Final Disposition, sold for scrapping, 13 March 1971, by Defense Reutilization and Marketing Service (DRMS), scrapped at Kearny. N.J.
  • Boxer received eight battle stars for Korean service
    LPH Specifications:
    Displacement 26,556 t.(lt) 36,457 t.(fl)
    Length 888'
    Beam 138'
    Draft 30' (max.)
    Speed 33 kts.
    Complement 1,200
    Troop Capacity 1,450
    Aircraft 30 Helicopters
    Armament four dual 5"/38 DP gun mounts
    Propulsion four 565 psi boilers, 4 steam turbines, 4 shafts, 75,000 SHP

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    Size Image Description Contributed By
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    Boxer 89k USS Boxer (LPH-4) underway with assault helicopters ranged on deck, apparently HUS Seahorses forward and HR2S Deuces aft, date and location unknown. Note that she still has her carrier hull number: from time to time in 1957 and 1958, the Navy made available carrier decks for use by Marine helicopters in amphibious training exercises.
    Original Caption from AP Wire Service
    " WILL PUT IN AT GUANTANAMO, CUBA -- This is the USS Boxer which the U.S. Navy said today will put in at Guantanamo, Cuba, this weekend. About 1,500 Marines taking part in an amphibious group training in the Caribbean, will go ashore for rest and recreation. A spokesman said that the shoreleave had been scheduled for several months. (U.S. Navy Photo via APWire photo."
    Robert Hurst
    Boxer 148k USS Boxer (LPH-4) underway, date and location unknown. .
    Boxer 272k USS Boxer (LPH-4) underway, date and location unknown. .
    Boxer 48k USS Boxer (LPH-4) underway, date and location unknown. Joe Fyke
    Boxer 77k USS Boxer (LPH-4) underway during operations off Vieques Island with the Tenth Provisional Marine Brigade, 8 March 1959.
    US Navy photo
    Robert M. Cieri
    Boxer 124k U.S. Marine Corps HUS-1 helicopters lift off form USS Boxer (LPH-4)'s flight deck, during operations off Vieques Island with the Tenth Provisional Marine Brigade, 8 March 1959.
    Photograph by Grantham. US Navy photo # NH 97288
    US Naval Historical Center
    Mosopelea 270k USS Boxer (LPH-4) and USS Intrepid (CVA-11) are in the background of this photo of US Mosopelea (ATF-158) underway at NOB Norfolk, with the SERVLANT Salvage Barge in tow, circa 1961. Image courtesy of
    Larry Blumenthal, PH3, 1957-61.
    "US Navy Photos"
    Boxer 149k August 1965, Mayport, Florida, USS Boxer (LPH-4) seen here just prior to departing for Vietnam with elements of the Army's First Cavalry Division on board. She carried 1200 personnel, 205 helicopters and 6 OV-1 airplanes to the combat zone. Aircraft on her flight deck include 6 OV-1 (dark colored-forward); 4 CH-54 (white-just forward of island); 56 CH-47 (dark colored-amidships and aft) and 36 UH-1 (white-amidships and forward). The remaining 109 helicopters are presumably stowed on Boxer' hangar deck.
    Official U.S. Army Photograph, from the collections of the Naval Historical Center. US Navy photo # NH 97285
    US Naval Historical Center
    Boxer 125k "Carib 1-68 Patrol" Caribbean Ready Group steams in formation as it patrols the Caribbean Sea. Commanded by Capt. J.B. Drachnik, USN, Commander Amphibious Squadron Four. Homeported in Norfolk, Va., are: (l-r) Attack Cargo Ship, USS Rankin (AKA-103); Dock Landing Ship, USS Fort Snelling (LSD-30); Amphibious Assault Ship, USS Boxer (LPH-4); Tank Landing Ship, USS Graham County (LST-1176); and High Speed Transport, USS Kirwin (APD-90). Photographed by PH2 A.P. Gonthier, Jr. US Navy photo # NH 97284. US Naval Historical Center
    Boxer 271k October 1964, Steelpike I, USS Boxer (LPH-4) coming alongside the port side of USS Rigal (AF-58) Jim McCoy
    Boxer 257k October 1964, Steelpike I, USS Boxer (LPH-4) taking station along port side of USS Rigal (AF-58) Jim McCoy
    Boxer 202k October 1964, Steelpike I, unrep underway USS Boxer (LPH-4) taking on supplies for USS Rigal (AF-58) Jim McCoy
    Boxer 272k October 1964, Steelpike I, starboard bow of ISS Boxer (PPH-4), unrep completed Boxer beginning to pull away from USS Rigal (AF-58) Jim McCoy
    Boxer 249k October 1964, Steelpike I, unrep completed and USS Boxer (LPH-4) pulls away from USS Rigal (AF-58) Jim McCoy
    Boxer 380k October 1964, Steelpike I, USS Boxer (LPH-4) approx. 1500 yards off USS Rigal (AF-58)'s port side Jim McCoy
    Boxer 136k USS Boxer (LPH-4) underway in the Caribbean Sea, circa 1965, possibly during the Dominican Republic Intervention. The airborne UH-34 Seahorse Helicopter and those on Boxer's deck belong to Marine Medium Helicopter Squadron 264.
    US Navy photo.
    Juan M. Felix
    Boxer 99k USS Boxer (LPH-4) at anchor off Vieques Island, Puerto Rico, 5 December 1966. H-34 Seahorse Helicopters of Marine Medium Helicopter Squadron 365 line her flight deck.
    US Navy photo # USN-1125049 from the US Naval Photographic Center, Naval Station, Washington, DC.
    Robert M. Cieri

    Click here to view USS Boxer (LPH-4) Miscellaneous Memorabilia
    View the Boxer (LPH-4)
    DANFS history entry located at the US Naval Historical Center
    Commanding Officers
    CAPT. Parker Jr., Edwin Byron, 11.08.1959 - 19.09.1960
    CAPT. Stebbins, Edgar Erwin, 19.09.1960 - 00.02.1961
    CAPT. Wallace, James Bruce, 00.02.1961 - 00.01.1963
    CAPT. Deacon, Edward Thorp, 00.01.1963 - 00.01.1964
    CAPT. Walline, Charles Sayer, 00.01.1964 - 08.01.1965
    CAPT. Sessums, Walter M. 08.01.1965 - 00.01.1966
    CAPT. Morton, Albert Oakes, 00.01.1966 - 31.01.1967
    CAPT. Cooke, Henry J. Hosmer, 31.01.1967 - 31.01.1968
    CAPT. Hunt, Robert Foster, 31.01.1968 - 11.03.1969
    CAPT. Lampman, Lester Boggess, 11.03.1969 - 30.10.1969
    Courtesy Wolfgang Hechler and Ron Reeves

    Crew Contact And Reunion Information
    U.S. Navy Memorial Foundation - Navy Log
    Fleet Reserve Association
    USS Boxer Veterans Association

    Additional Resources and Web Sites of Interest
    No Information Available
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    This page is created and maintained by Gary P. Priolo
    © 2005 Gary P. Priolo © 1996 - 2009 NavSource Naval History. All Rights Reserved.
    Last Updated 3 December 2008