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NavSource Online: Amphibious Photo Archive

Contributed by Mike Smolinski

LPH-7 Guadalcanal

Flag Hoist/International Radio Call Sign:
November - India - Echo - Golf

Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons

Secretary of the Navy Letter of Commendation
Precedence of awards is from top to bottom, left to right
Top Row - Joint Meritorious Unit Award - Navy Unit Commendation - Navy Meritorious Unit Commendation
Second Row - Navy Battle "E" Ribbon (4) - Navy Expeditionary Medal (1-Iran/Indian Ocean, 2-Lebanon, 1-Libya) National Defense Service Medal
Third Row - Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal (3-Dominican Republic, 1-Lebanon, 1-Persian Gulf, 1- Op. Restore Hope, Somalia) - Southwest Asia Service Medal - Humanitarian Service Medal (1-Beirut Evacuation)

Iwo Jima Class Amphibious Assault Ship (Helicopter):

Laid down, 1 September 1961, at Philadelphia Naval Shipyard, Philadelphia, PA.

Launched, 16 March 1963

Commissioned USS Guadalcanal, 20 July 1963, CAPT Dale K. Peterson in command

Decommissioned, 31 August 1994, at Philadelphia Naval Shipyard, Philadelphia, PA.

Laid up in the Atlantic Reserve Fleet, Philadelphia

Struck from the Naval Register, 31 August 1994

Final Disposition, disposed of in support of Fleet training exercise, 19 May 2005

Specifications:
Displacement 11,000 t.(lt.) 18,474 t.(fl)
Length 592'
Beam 84'
Flight Deck Beam 105'
Draft 27'
Speed 22 kts.
Complement 667
Troop Accommodations 2,157
Aircraft 25 helicopters
Armament

(as built) four 3"/50 AA guns

(modified) two 3"/50s removed and replaced with 8 cell Sea Sparrow BPDMS launchers, two Phalanx CIWS added
Propulsion two 600 psi boilers, one geared steam turbine, one shaft, 22,000 shaft horsepower

Size	Image Description	Contributed By
137k	Guadalcanal (LPH 7) underway, date and place unknown.	.
108k	Guadalcanal (LPH 7) underway, date and place unknown.	.
89k	Guadalcanal (LPH 7) underway, date and place unknown.	.
114k	Guadalcanal (LPH 7) at Norfolk, VA., date unknown.	© Richard Leonhardt
78k	Guadalcanal (LPH 7) being assisted by Wapakoneta (YTB-766) and two unidentified tugs at Norfolk, VA., 10 August 1964. Underway in the background is *O'Hare DD-889*	© Richard Leonhardt
35k	Guadalcanal (LPH 7) at anchor off Curacao, 1967.	Pete Harlem USMC, Courtesy Bruce Johnson USMC HMM-261
87k	Guadalcanal (LPH 7) returning to NOB Norfolk, 17 March 1969, after the recovery of Apollo 9. US Navy photo.	Robert M. Cieri
94k	Guadalcanal (LPH 7) at Port au Prince, Haiti, April 1975	© Richard Leonhardt
86k	Guadalcanal (LPH 7) at Guantanemo Bay, Cuba, April 1975	© Richard Leonhardt
94k	Guadalcanal (LPH 7) at Norfolk, VA., July 1975	© Richard Leonhardt
96k	Guadalcanal (LPH 7) at Norfolk, VA., January 1976	© Richard Leonhardt
57k	Guadalcanal (LPH 7) underway, May 1977, location unknown.	.
72k	Guadalcanal (LPH 7) date and location unknown.	Brian Kroenung EMC(SW)
158k	A CH46 helicopter, on Guadalcanal (LPH 7)'s flight deck, Norfolk, VA., January 1976	© Richard Leonhardt
75k	A Cobra helicopter on Guadalcanal (LPH 7)'s flight deck, Norfolk, VA., January 1976	© Richard Leonhardt
104k	Guadalcanal (LPH 7) at Augusta Bay, Sicily, February 1976	© Richard Leonhardt
128k	Guadalcanal (LPH-7) aground, Augusta Bay Sicily. On the night of 27/28 January 1976 there were three groundings and at least two collisions during this period. Captain Leonhardt, recalls this as the "Night from Hell" US Navy photo	.
75k	Guadalcanal (LPH 7) at Genoa, Italy, March 1976	© Richard Leonhardt
64k	One of Guadalcanal (LPH 7)'s helicopters crash, Mediterranean Sea, March 1976	© Richard Leonhardt
137k	Guadalcanal (LPH 7) at Rota, Spain, July 1976	© Richard Leonhardt
81k	Guadalcanal (LPH 7) at Morehead City, SC, October 1976	© Richard Leonhardt
93k	Guadalcanal (LPH 7) at Southampton, UK, November 1976	© Richard Leonhardt
99k	Guadalcanal (LPH 7) at Rota, Spain, November 1976	© Richard Leonhardt
59k	A CH53 helicopter on Guadalcanal (LPH 7)'s flight deck, Atlantic Ocean, February 1977	© Richard Leonhardt
69k	A CH53-2 helicopter on Guadalcanal (LPH 7)'s flight deck, Atlantic Ocean, February 1977	© Richard Leonhardt
85k	Guadalcanal (LPH 7) underway, date and place unknown. US Navy photo.	Robert Hurst
62k	Guadalcanal (LPH 7) at Barcelona, Spain, late December 1977.	Photo by Fabio Peña
112k	Guadalcanal (LPH 7) at Barcelona, Spain, late December 1977. Note, two of her original four 3"/50 gun mounts had been replaced by Sea Sparrow BPDMS (forward of the island and on the port quarter), but she had not yet received the SPN-35 blind-approach radar (typically enclosed in a large radome abaft the island).	Photo by Fabio Peña
30k	Guadalcanal (LPH 7) at Barcelona, Spain, late December 1977. Note, the self-defense ECM antenna cantilevered out from the ship's port side at flight deck level, near the stern.	Photo by Fabio Peña
98k	Guadalcanal (LPH 7) underway in the Atlantic, 25 May 1978. US Navy photo.	Robert M. Cieri
122k	Guadalcanal (LPH 7) at Rota Spain, June 1987	Photo by Thomas S. LaLumiere former Sergeant, USMC
112k	Guadalcanal (LPH 7) at Rota Spain, June 1987	Photo by Thomas S. LaLumiere former Sergeant, USMC
69k	Guadalcanal (LPH 7) underway in the Mediterranean Sea during 1989 deployment.	Photo by Ward Creech SK2 USN USS Spartanburg County 1988-91
34k	Guadalcanal (LPH-7), at Palma de Mallorca, Spain, April 1991.	Photo by Pedro Vidal
128k	Guadalcanal (LPH-7) underway, date and place unknown. US Navy photo.	John Rutherford and Wendell McLaughlin
97k	Guadalcanal (LPH-7) underway, date and place unknown. US Navy photo.	Wendell McLaughlin
59k	ex Guadalcanal (LPH-7) laid up in the James River Reserve Fleet, Fort Eustis, VA, 3 May 2001	Photo by SSGT J Moore, US Army