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NavSource Online: Amphibious Photo Archive

Contributed by Mike Smolinski

USS Tripoli (LPH-10)

International Radio Call Sign:
November - Whiskey - Quebec - Uniform NWQU

Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons

Precedence of awards is from top to bottom, left to right
Top Row - Combat Action Ribbon (5)
Second Row - Joint Meritorious Unit Award - Navy Unit Commendation (4) - Navy Meritorious Unit Commendation
Third Row - Navy Battle "E" Ribbon (2) - National Defense Service Medal - Vietnam Service Medal (9)
Fourth Row - Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal (3-Op. Restore Hope, Somalia) - Southwest Asia Service Medal - Humanitarian Service Medal
Fifth Row - Philippines Presidential Unit Citation - Republic of Vietnam Meritorious Unit Citation for Gallantry (8) - Vietnam Campaign Medal

Iwo Jima Class Amphibious Assault Ship (Helicopter):

Laid down, 15 June 1964, at Ingalls Shipbuilding Corp. Pascagoula, MS.

Launched, 31 July 1965

Commissioned USS Tripoli (LPH-10), 6 August 1966, CAPT. Henry M. Suerstedt Jr. in command

Decommissioned, 15 September 1995, at Mare Island Naval Shipyard, Vallejo, CA.

Struck from the Naval Register, 15 September 1995

Custody transferred to the US Army, 27 June 1997

Final Disposition, fate unknown

USS Tripoli earned nine campaign stars for Vietnam service

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) 4 3"/50 AA guns

(modifications) 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

Click On Image For Full Size Image	Size	Image Description	Contributed By
USS Tripoli (LPH-10)
	460k	The experimental tilt-rotor XV-15 aircraft revs its engines, with tie-down chains still in place, on the flight deck of *USS Tripoli* (LPH-10)** during preparations for takeoff, in the Pacific Ocean, 1 August 1983. Department of Defense # DN-SN-83-09896 a US Navy photo by R. Stewart now in the collects of DODImagery.mil.	Robert M. Cieri
	931k	The experimental tilt-rotor XV-15 aircraft executes a vertical take off from the flight deck of *USS Tripoli* (LPH-10)** during at-sea tests of the experimental aircraft, in the Pacific Ocean, 1 August 1983. Department of Defense # DN-SN-83-09897 a US Navy photo by R. Stewart now in the collects of DODImagery.mil.	Robert M. Cieri
	705k	*USS Tripoli* (LPH-10)** underway with Boeing-Vertol CH-46 Sea Knight and Sikorsky MH-53E Sea Stallion helicopters on her flight-deck, date and location unknown. DoD photo from "Carriers: The Men and The Machines" by David Miller and Lindsay Peacock.	Robert Hurst
	1099k	*USS Tripoli* (LPH-10) in dry dock for repairs to a hole in her starboard bow caused by an Iraqi mine. Tripoli** struck the mine, 18 February 1991, while serving as a mine-clearing platform in the northern Persian Gulf during Operation Desert Storm. The ship was able to continue operations after damage control crews stopped the flooding caused by the explosion. US Navy photo by JO1 Gawlowicz.	Robert Hurst
	107k	Close up view of damage to *USS Tripoli* (LPH-10)**s hull as a result of a mine hit during Operation DESERT STORM, April 1991. US Navy photo
	90k	*USS Tripoli* (LPH-10)** underway, date and location unknown. US Navy photo	Dennis Stephenson SMC USN Ret
	88k	*USS Tripoli* (LPH-10)** underway, date and location unknown.	Richard Miller BMCS USNR Ret.
	131k	*USS Tripoli* (LPH-10)** underway, date and location unknown.	Richard Miller BMCS USNR Ret.
	206k	Shimmering Water surrounds *USS Tripoli* (LPH-10) and USS Union (LKA-106)** berthed together at White Beach Navy pier, Okinawa. US Navy photo from "All Hands" magazine, May 1970, photo by PH2 R. E. Ziel USN.	Joe Radigan MACM USN Ret.
	205k	*USS Tripoli* (LPH-10)** underway off the coast of southern California, 10 September 1997. US Navy photo # 970910-N-0000U-003.	Bill Gonyo
Ex-USS Tripoli (LPH-10)
	60k	Ex-*USS Tripoli* (LPH-10)** moored at US Naval Shipyard Mare Island, December 2000	Gerhard Mueller Debus
	49k	Ex-*USS Tripoli* (LPH-10)** moored at US Naval Shipyard Mare Island, Vallejo, CA., 2 July 2002	Photo by Daniel Dunham
	135k	Ex-*USS Tripoli* (LPH-10)** moored at US Naval Shipyard Mare Island, circa 2001	Joe Lombardi Ocean Technical Services
	33k	Ex-*USS Tripoli* (LPH-10)** moored at US Naval Shipyard Mare Island, Vallejo, CA., 14 January 2003	G. Jeanette
	89k	Ex-*USS Tripoli* (LPH-10)** moored at US Naval Shipyard Mare Island, mid-March 2004	Jim R. Huffman
	110k	Ex-*USS Tripoli* (LPH-10)** moored at US Naval Shipyard Mare Island, mid-April 2004	Jim R. Huffman
	64k	Ex-*USS Tripoli* (LPH-10)** moored at US Naval Shipyard Mare Island, 14 June 2004	Sam Stokes, Hole in the Head Press
	421k	Ex-*USS Tripoli* (LPH-10) under tow by ex-USNS Narragansett (T-ATF-167)** outbound for sea south of Angel Island in San Francisco Bay, 1 May 2008.	CAPT. Jack C. Goldthorpe, USCG Ret.
	297k	Ex-*USS Tripoli* (LPH-10) under tow by USNS Narragansett (T-ATF-167)** outbound for sea south of Angel Island in San Francisco Bay, 1 May 2008.	CAPT. Jack C. Goldthorpe, USCG Ret.
	1098k	Ex-*USS Tripoli* (LPH-10) under tow by USNS Narragansett (T-ATF-167)** outbound for sea south of Angel Island in San Francisco Bay, 1 May 2008.	CAPT. Jack C. Goldthorpe, USCG Ret.
	1529k	Ex-*USS Tripoli* (LPH-10) under tow by Narragansett** at Presido Shoals, San Francisco Bay, bound for the former Mare Island Naval Shipyard, 16 October 2008.	CAPT. Jack C. Goldthorpe, USCG Ret.
	60k	Ex-*USS Tripoli* (LPH-10)** moored at Mare Island Naval Shipyard, 27 October 2008.	CAPT. Jack C. Goldthorpe, USCG Ret.
	1108k		CAPT. Jack C. Goldthorpe, USCG Ret.
	271k	Ex-*USS Tripoli* (LPH-10)** in San Francisco Bay, 6 February 2009, as a flat tow being moved by tugs from the former U S Naval Shipyard, Mare Island, CA to pier 80, San Francisco.	CAPT. Jack C. Goldthorpe, USCG Ret.
	932k	Ex-*USS Tripoli* (LPH-10)** being towed out of San Diego Bay, date unknown.	Robert Hurst
	46k	Ex-*USS Tripoli* (LPH-10)** as a launching platform for a small ballistic missile. In December 2006, the ship was towed to Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, where it now has a high-tech role as a launch platform with the nation's developing ballistic missile defense program. Three times the ship was towed some 100 miles off shore and used to launch small ballistic missiles, which are then intercepted by Terminal High Altitude Area Defense Missiles, test-fired from the Pacific Missile Range Facility. The last test in the series was performed 26 October, when the ship fired a "Scud-like" missile, which was successfully intercepted. The ship will be towed back to the San Francisco Bay Area for the winter. Kaua'i lacks a suitable land-based launch site, and the costs of building one would far exceed the approximately $600,000 per year it costs to use the old warship, so the vessel returned to Pearl Harbor for a second series of tests in late spring 2008. As of 10 September 2011 she is at port at Joint Base Pearl Harbor Hickam, HI. US Government photo.	Robert Hurst

USS Tripoli (LPH-10) Memorabilia
Commissioning Program Contributed by Robert M. Cieri	Decommissioning Program Contributed by Robert M. Cieri

For more photos and information about USS Tripoli, see;
Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships
Steve Stengel's USS Tripoli web page
USS Iwo Jima Class Association
Commanding Officers

Crew Contact And Reunion Information
U.S. Navy Memorial Foundation - Navy Log

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This page is created and maintained by Gary P. Priolo

Last Updated 10 February 2012