USS Shreveport (LPD-12)

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Career
Awarded:	15 May 1964
Laid down:	27 December 1965
Launched:	22 October 1966
Commissioned:	12 December 1970
Fate:	Active, in commission
Homeport:	Norfolk, Virginia
General Characteristics
Displacement:	9195 tons light, 16966 tons full, 7771 tons dead
Length:	173.7 meters (570 feet) overall, 167 meters (548 feet) waterline
Beam:	30.4 meters (100 feet) extreme, 25.6 meters (84 feet) waterline
Draft:	6.7 meters (22 feet) maximum, 7 meters (23 feet) limit
Speed:	21 knots
Complement:	58 officers, 502 men
Armament:	four three-inch/50-caliber guns

USS Shreveport (LPD-12), a Cleveland-class amphibious transport dock, was the only ship of the United States Navy to be named for the city in Louisiana. Her keel was laid down on 27 December 1965 by the Lockheed Shipbuilding and Construction Company of Seattle, Washington. She was launched on 22 October 1966 sponsored by Mrs. Andrew McBurney Jackson, Jr., and commissioned on 12 December 1970 with Captain Peter H. Pehrsson in command.

On 22 January 1971, Shreveport departed Puget Sound for her home port, Little Creek, Virginia, where she arrived on 21 February. Between 9 March and 9 April 1971, the amphibious transport dock underwent shakedown training at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and, from 16 June to 4 August, she carried 375 midshipmen from the United States Naval Academy on a training cruise to Northern Europe. After post shakedown repairs from 6 October to 24 November 1971, she sailed for the Caribbean Sea, where she participated in landing exercises during the first part of 1972. On the 12 June, the ship again sailed on a midshipman training cruise to Northern Europe, visiting the Azores; Aalborg, Denmark; Portsmouth, England; and Le Havre, France before returning to Norfolk, Virginia, on 3 August. During the rest of 1972, Shreveport conducted amphibious training exercises off the coasts of Virginia, North Carolina, and Florida.

Shreveport, with Amphibious Squadron 2, departed Norfolk on 4 January 1973 for her first tour of duty with the Sixth Fleet in the Mediterranean Sea. The squadron stopped at Morehead City, North Carolina, and embarked elements of the Sixth Marines (BLT 1/6) before it proceeded to Rota, Spain, where it was assigned to CTF 61. The task force departed Rota on 16 January, called at Cannes, France, on 18 January, and was underway for Monte Romano, Italy, on 22 January. During her six-month deployment, Shreveport also visited ports in Italy, Greece, Crete, and Turkey before returning to Morehead City on 2 July. The Marines were offloaded, and the ship continued to Norfolk that afternoon.

Shreveport operated in the Norfolk area until February 1974 when she sailed, with PhibRon 2, for operations in the Caribbean. She returned to her home port on 19 March. The ship made another trip south to the Panama Canal area that lasted from 18 April to 4 June. On 24 June, Shreveport sailed for Rotterdam and another deployment with the Sixth Fleet.

Need information from July 1974 to present.

See USS Shreveport for other ships of the same name.

References

This article includes information collected from the Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships.