Denver (LPD 9) - Naval Cruise Book

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SHIP ' S LOG Total Miles Traveled: 49,776 NM Gallons of Water Distilled: 5,400,000 Fuel Received: 4,528,000 gallons Fuel Burned: 4,776,567 gallons Approximate Cost of Fuel: $12,452,00.00 Ports Visited: Perth, Australia; Bahrain; Dubai; Jebel Ali; Guam; Singapore; Pearl Harbor, HI Shortest Day: 23APR07 Longest Day: 05NOV07 Mail Received: 10,500 LBS Mail Sent: 3,900LBS Rations Prepared: 517,000 Milk Consumed: 17,200 Chicken Consumed: 24,000 Rice Consumed: 8,400 Fish Consumed: 4,500 Best Entre: Steak Crab Legs

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DENVER HISTORY The names of Amphibious Transport Docks are taken from U.S. cities that have been named after famous American explorers. Denver, Colorado is named after James W. Denver. James Denver was an early founder of the state of California, serving as a State Senator, Secretary of the State and as a U.S. Senator. He went on to become Governor of Kansas and a brigadier general during the Civil War. USS DENVER was laid down July 7, 1964 at Lockheed Shipbuilding and Construc- tion Company in Seattle, Wash. She was launched January 23, 1965 and chris- tened by the wife of the governor of Colorado, Mrs. John Love. Denver was commis- sioned on October 26, 1968. During her 39 years of service, DENVER has made numerous deployments, includ- ing five deployments to Vietnam. After an expedient embarkation of Marine Bat- talion 3 9 A in April 1975, DENVER deployed to Vung Tau, Vietnam. DENVER assumed a key role in the emergency evacuation of Vietnam. In the ensuring effort, DENVER rescued 1400 victims of the collapsed South Vietnamese government. In 1991, DENVER acted as the primary control ship for all amphibious ships in support of Operation Desert Storm. On February 24, 1991, DENVER embarked Marine and Navy units were tactically off-loaded off the coast of Al Mishab, Saudi Arabia. DENVER was involved in the Rim of the Pacific 2006, working alongside Sailors and Marines from numerous countries that are located around the world. These operations are conducted annually to train and prepare the consolidation forces of the region in order to respond quickly and effectively to any situation that occurs around the Pacific Most recently, DENVER completed a Western Pacific Arabian Gulf Deployment in support of Operation Enduring and Iraqi Freedom. She departed San Diego on April 10, 2007 and returned home on November 19, 2007. DENVER will be relieving USS JUNEAU in Sasebo, Japan during the summer of 2008 to continue service as part of the Forward Deployed Naval Forces.

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Commanding Officer CAPT Joe Clarkson, USN ttBI[ V ■ ■1 ffjl 1 9 m jBy ' ?! W I -. PI iM i» 1 Wf A f 1 1 L( ' ' BjM ij i i Captain Joe Clarkson graduated from Georgia Tech with a Bachelor of Aerospace Engineering de- gree in 1981. Commissioned in October 1981 after completing Aviation Officer Candidate School, he was designated a Naval Aviator in March 1 983 at Meridian Mississippi and has flown the A-7E and the F A-18C operationally. He has over 3000 hours in tactical jet aircraft and 690 carrier arrested landings. He has completed Navy Nuclear Propulsion training and is designated a Joint Specialty Officer (JSO). Captain Clarkson ' s most recent tour was as the Executive Officer of USS NIMITZ (CVN 68). During his tour on NlMlTZ the ship d eployed to the Western Pacific and Arabian Gulf and was the 2005 COM- NAVAIRPAC Battle E winner. He commanded the VFA-81 Sunliners , an F A-18C Hornet squadron homeported at NAS Oceana VA, from September 2000 until December 200 1 . Previous to his command tour he served as the squadron ' s Executive Officer. While with VFA-81 he deployed in USS GEORGE WASH- INGTON (CVN 73) as a component of CVW-17. Ad- ditional sea duty billets include his junior officer tour in VA-105, the Assistant Strike Operations Officer in USS SARATOGA (CV 60) and a department head tour in VFA-83. During these tours he deployed in USS FORRESTAL (CV 59), in SARATOGA three times and to Iwakuni, Japan as a component of Marine Air Group 12 (MAG- 12). Ashore Captain Clarkson served as an instructor pilot in VA-174 and VFA-106 and his joint duty tour was as part of the NATO Headquarters International Military Staff in Brus- sels, Belgium. He completed JPME Phase 1 through the Air Command and Staff College (ACSC) and JPME Phase 11 at the Joint Forces Staff College (JFSC). He was selected for the Nuclear Power Program in October 200 1 and completed Navy Nuclear Propulsion training in March 2004. Captain Clarkson ' s personal awards include the Defense Meritorious Service Medal, the Meritorious Service Medal and the Strike Flight Air Medal.