Iwo Jima (LPH 2) - Naval Cruise Book

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535 if' Named in honor of the historic World War ll battle, USS IWO JllVlA lLPl-l-21 is the first ship designed and built from the keel up as an Amphibious Assault Ship. Her primary mission is to embark, transport, and land combat equipped troops by means of embarked helicopters, IWO ..lllVlA'was launched on 17 September 1960 at the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard in Bremerton, Washington, and commissioned there on 26 August 1961. She first entered her home port of San Diego on 11 November 1961Q During 1962 IWO JllVlA participated in Central Pacific nuclear tests before receiving orders to proceed to the Caribbean during the November Cuban Missile Crisis. With the Cuban Crisis resolved, IWO JllVlA headed back for San Diego in early 1963. Following overhaul and refresher training, lWO JIIVIA departed for her first VVESTPAC deployment. During the fall of the Vietnamese government in November 1963, lWO rendered aid to American civilians living there. Upon her return to the states lWO JllVlA underwent a regular yard overhaul in July 1964 and firstreceived the Admiral James A. Flatley award for aviation safety. History ol a proud Ship

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E USS IWO JlMA is named for the epicstruggle in February 1945 in which three divisions of the United States Marines wrested control of the tiny island of the same name from a brave, desperate, and determined band of Japanese defenders. In February 1945, the American forces in the Pacific were in a commanding position. The United States, by then, had recovered from the disastrous attack on Pearl Harbor to the point where routine air attacks on Japanese cities could be made by heavy bombers launched from the Marianas. The successful outcome of the war seemedljnevitable, but no one ever predicted that victory over the Japanese could be attained cheaply. , The island of Iwo Jima was a thorn in the sidefof the U.9:fheavy bomber crews. Japanese air attacks on the Mariana bases were launched from lwo. Also, the island based fighters attacked U,S. bombersgianroute to and from their raids on the Japanese homeland. An assault on Iwo Jima was therefore necessary to eliminate these attacks on theiibombersrand to provide a haven for damaged American aircraft returning from Japan. , g 1 - 1 ' 1 Amphibious forces of the U.S. Pacific Fidet' attacked tlfegfgrtressiiqf,-ilwoylima on 19 February 1945 with a formidable force totaling 495 ships, including 17 aircraftvicarriersr, DiBh6S,,l3nd on 23 February, a 40 man detachment of the 28th Marines scaled Mount Suribachi at Mind the and Stripes. Arpicture of the flag-raising on Mount Suribachi became the most famous photograpifdf td'in8piLQ4,yAm8ricqns ever since: V The battle for lwoiiiitftl lrvasifoughti finally' secured by U.S. Forces. ln the struggle 6,821 Americans and more than 29,009 Jamnen WIFI firfefjtiidgtesavagecandyicostlyibattle in the history of the Marine Corps, but the Marines could be proud. Aitlfleet Admiral Nlmitz Jima, Uncommon valoir jwas a common virtue. With theiendwof the fighting,the Amencanfabiemavewauchievsd. , - ' 1 1 if 'i Cf NVQ JIMA 7 v l '71 -4 r. 'N A lf 4. ,. mf' Q? . s r-Q if sr r , , ,J in 11 , xg: I l i ,l 'r ri g r

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-n- 1- On her second deployment to Vietnam IWO JINIA aided in construction of the Chu Lai military complex and served as direction ship during salvage operations on the grounded USS FRANK KNOX lDD-7421. On her third deployment to Vietnam IWO steamed over 40,000 miles and participated in twelve combat assault operations. IWO JllVlA's fourth WESTPAC cruise began in late 1967 and included eight more amphibious assaults against the enemy in Vietnam. She was also instrumental in rendering aid during the Tet Offensive in February 1968. IWO JINIA returned in October 1969 from her fifth WESTPAC deployment during which she participated in 5 amphibious operations. She returned to San Diego with 1800 marines as part of President Nixon's Vietnam redeployment plan. After several months of upkeep in San Diego, IWO JIMA was designated as the Primary Recovery Ship for the Apollo 13 moon landing mission. The ship departed San Diego on lVlarch 20, 1970 bound for the recovery area in the South Pacific.While the world watched on live television, on April 17, IWO JIMA picked up astronauts Lovell, Swigert, and Haise after their mission was aborted due to an accident in deep space. Upon her return to San Diego in lVlay, IWO JINIA completed Refresher Training, and Amphibious Training in preparation for the forthcoming deployment. On November 2, 1970 IWO JINIA departed for her sixth deployment to the Western Pacific. 4