Mount Vernon (LSD 39) - Naval Cruise Book

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USS MOUNT VERNON LSD-39 USS V , by Mini . onstructic completed in April 1971 Following commissioning .il Shipyard, •report of San MOUNT VERNON ' s homeport was changed to Long !•■ • tmla on 22 July I MOUNT VERNON is .ngth and has a : oint Fully loaded, the ship displaces 1:1.700 tons with a mean draft of 19 feet measured from the keel to the waterline. The ship ' s armament consists of 3 , 50 twin gun mounts and a Vulcan Phalanx anti-ship missile defense system Installed electronic equipment includes air and surface search radars, a navigational radar, a communications •nd an Electronic Emitter Detection System to support the ship ' s amphibious mission. MOUNT VERNON ' s helicopter landing platform can be used in support of helicopter assault and logistics operations. Refueling, limited repairs and minor maintenance of aircraft can also be provided. The ship was designed to transport and launch heavy landing craft from a large well deck, and was the first West Coast ship to be modified for operations with the new Landing Craft Air Cushion (LCAC). Wet well evolutions are facilitated through the use of a complex, electro-hydraulically controlled ballasting and deballasting system. The ship ' s habitability features provide for the berthing, messing and cargo transport of approximately 330 fully-equipped combat troops of the landing force. Since reporting for duty in the Pacific Fleet. MOUNT VERNON has completed seven operational deployments with the Seventh Fleet in the Far East, one deployment with the Middle East Force in the Persian Gulf for minesweeping and escort support operations, assignment to the Joint Task Force for the Alaskan Oil Spill Clean- up, and now is engaged in Pac-Ex. MOUNT VERNON has been awarded the Navy Unit Commendation, the National Defense Service Medal, the Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal and the Humanitarian Service Medal. You name it. We Can Handle It! TOP Minesweeper support operations in the Persian Gulf. 1987-88 MIDDLE: Alaskan Oil Spill Clean-up operations in Prince William Sound. Alaska. 1989. BOTTOM: You bring it. we ' ll land it. Two Duece and a Halfs out the back on their way tc the beach. OPPOSITE: The Mighty Mickey V Haze Gray and Under

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X X 80 USS MOUNT VERNON LSD 39 COMMANDING OFFICER EXECUTIVE OFFICERS WARDROOM CHIEF PETTY OFFICERS DECK DEPARTMENT ENGINEERING DEPARTMENT OPERATIONS DEPARTMENT SUPPLY DEPARTMENT NORTH TO ALASKA PACEX 89 4 6 7 9 15 17 23 35 43 51 71

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MOUNT VERNON THROUGH HISTORY USS MOUNT VERNON is the fifth ship commissioned in the United States Navy to bear the proud name of MOUNT VERNON. Four predecessors served with distinction in times of conflict, beginning during the Civil War. The first MOUNT VERNON was a wooden screw merchant steamer purchased by the Navy and converted to a gunboat in 1861. Among her memorable exploits was participation in the attack on Fort Fisher which severed the last Confederate supply line and helped to bring about the end of the Civil War. Another ship, a side wheel river steamer fitted as a gunboat for the defense of Washington, DC, was named MOUNT VERNON during the Civil War. The name was later changed to MOUNT WASHINGTON to avoid any confusion with the first MOUNT VERNON. Built by Norddeutcher Lloyd Lines and originally named KRONPRINZESSIN CECILLE, the third MOUNT VERNON started out as a first class luxury liner in 1907. The ship was interned in Boston Harbor prior to the United State ' e entry into World War One. The German crew destroyed the ship ' s engines when the U.S. entered the war. After extensive repairs, the ship was transferred to the Navy for use as a troop transport. During the war, MOUNT VERNON transported 33,600 men to France, survived a torpedo hit from a German submarine, and returned 42,500 veterans home. A war correspondent commemorated the MOUNT VERNON ' s role in verse with a poem published in the June 18th, 1918 edition of The Atlantic Shuttle, in which he affectionately refers to the ship as the mighty Mickey V. Another spacious liner also bore the name MOUNT VERNON and saw duty as a troop transport. The fourth MOUNT VERNON was built in 1933 as a luxury liner named SS WASHINGTON. During World War Two, the liner was refitted as a troop transport by the Navy. Continuing in the role of delivering soldiers to battle, MOUNT VERNON transported thousands of troops across both the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans.