La Salle (AGF 3) - Naval Cruise Book

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In May 1987, La Salle rushed to the aid of the stricken U. S. frigate Stark, which was adrift and still burning following an Iraqi missile attack. Initially, La Salle provided crucial fire-fighting, damage control and medical aid. Over the next days, the ship and her crew became home and family for the surviving Stark sailors. Until the arrival of the U. S. tender Acadia in June 1987, La Salle saw to the initial repair requirements of Stark, provided room and board to her crew, and served as a central base for all damage assessment, investigation and public relations functions associated with the tragic event. Mobility, flexibility, and versatility are as much the trademarks of La Salle today as they were 23 years ago. La Salle ' s Mission As a forward deployed unit, with its overseas homeport in Manama, Bahrain, La Salle ' s primary mission is to provide flagship facilities and support for Commander, Middle East Force (COMIDEASTFOR) and his embarked staff. La Salle is also tasked to support the mission of COMIDEASTFOR by fostering goodwill and understanding between the United States and Middle Eastern and Western Indian Ocean countries through port visits, joint naval training exercises and operations. Additionally, La Salle provides logistic, medical and other support within her capability to other U. S. Naval units assigned to Middle East Force. The Middle Eastern and Western Indian Ocean countries continue to increase in importance as areas of considerable global interest both economically and politically. COMIDEASTFOR and La Salle play a significant role in the advancement of U.S. and allied interests in this part of the world and receive the attention of the highest government officials.

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THE VERSATILE USS LA SALLE On 22 February 1964, USS La Salle was commissioned in the U.S. Navy as an Amphibious Transport Dock (LPD). She, joined her sister ships, USS Raleigh and USS Vancouver, as the newest class of amphibious ships in the Navy. Mobility, flexibility and versatility were the trademarks of these ships. Each could transport over 800 combat-ready Marines, along with their equipment, vehicles, ammunition, fuel and cargo, at high speeds to the site of an amphibious operation. A variety of boats, cranes, elevators and conveyors, plus the ability to embark helicopters, could be utilized to enable these operations to be conducted quickly and efTiciently. Taking this capability to the fleet. La Salle ' s operating schedule has been far from routine. She has demonstrated her flexibility in numerous, varied operations. In 1965, she served as the flagship for Atlantic Fleet amphibious forces during the Dominican Crisis. That same year she participated in the evacuation of Construction Battalion SIX from Guantanamo Bay, Cuba during the Cuban Missile T risis. In 1966, La Salle became the first ship of her size to successfully recover and return a Project GEMINI space capsule to Cape Canaveral. During 1969, La Salle served as the test platform for the prototype AV-8 HARRIER VTOL (Vertical Tako-Off and Landing) fighter-bomber. In 1972, after an extensive overhaul. La Salle was designated as a Miscellaneous Command Ship (AGF) and assumed duties as the flagship for Commander, Middle East Force. Painted white to reflect the hot Middle East sun, The Great White Ghost of the Arabian Coast has steamed an average of 55,000 nautical miles annually, in that role, calling on ports in Africa, Asia, and the Middle East. La Salle assisted in the evacuation of 260 American and foreign civilians from the Iranian seaport of Bandar Abbas in 1979. She became the focal point of U.S. activity in the Arabian Gulf at the outset of the Iranian Hostage Crisis. The combination of this crisis and the initiation of the Iran — Iraq War, which began in 1980, brought about a dramatic increase in the command and support responsibilities placed on the ship and her crew. USS Coronado relieved La Salle in November 1980, and the Great White Ghost returned stateside for the first time in eight and one half years. On arrival, she began a major overhaul which included increasing her air conditioning capacity, replacing and upgrading the ship ' s four turbine generators, adding an extensive electronics and communications package, and replacing two 3 50 caliber guns with the MK15 Close-In Weapons System (CIWS). USS La Salle returned to the Arabian Gulf and resumed flagship duties for COMIDEASTFOR in June 1983. Since then, she has continued to provide the embarked staff with reliable command and control facilities, all the while providing ongoing and varied support to the other Middle East Force ships operating in the area. In 1984, La Salle embarked three CH-53 helicopters and associated equipment from Helicopter Mine Countermeasure Squadron 14 to conduct minesweep operations in the Red Sea in response to anonymous attempts to disrupt the free passage of shipping there. In the beginning of 1986, La Salle was dispatched to conduct contingency operations off the coast of Yemen in the Gulf of Aden during that country ' s civil war. With the onset of the Gulf Tanker War, La Salle has continued to serve as the command platform for Commander, Middle East Force to coordinate force operations in the Gulf. La Salle played a vital role, in March 1987, as both a fiagship and a logistics support ship during Northern Arabian Gulf contingency operations while the Arab League convened in Kuwait. By providing needed fuel and supplies. La Salle ensured the other ships of Middle East Force were able to remain on station for an extended period during this operation.

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THE TRADITION OF USS LA SALLE The First La Salle The first ship of the U.S. Navy to bear the name La Salle, a troop transport, was commissioned on March 31, 1943 as USS Hotspur {AP-102). Her name was changed to La Salle on April 6, 1943. During World War II, La Salle served with distinction in the Pacific, earning eight Battle Stars, the Navy Occupation Service Medal and the Philippine Republic Presidential Unit Citation Badge. She was decommissioned on 24 July 1946, and her name was stricken from the Navy rolls on 15 August 1946. La Salle ' s Name Amphibious Transport Docks (LPD) are named for cities which take their names from explorers and developers of the United States. Thus, La Salle is named after the city of La Salle, Illinois, which took its name from the French Explorer Rene Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle. The city of La Salle is located in the prosperous agricultural and industrial Illinois River Valley, in north central Illinois. La Salle was founded in 1827 when the Illinois-Michigan Canal was planned and was incorporated as a city in 1852. Its development has been marked by the influence of explorers, missionaries, pioneers, traders, and emigrants. In 1832, Abraham Lincoln enlisted in the Army at La Salle. The city has been a virtual crossroad of America, giving it a colorful, rich history. Today, La Salle is a city of some 12,000 citizens employed in the manufacturing of clocks and watches, cement, electrical goods, chemicals, and shoes. La Salle has benefited from the gifts of abundant natural resources and from the energetic people living in that modern, progressive American community. Rene Robert Cavelier, sieur de La Salle, was born in 1643. He left the religious life of a Jesuit Novitiate to become an explorer and developer of America. He arrived in Canada from France in 1666 and developed a seignior at Lachine. He later developed trade at Fort Frontenac and was granted a patent of nobility. He then returned to France and obtained a patent to build forts, explore and trade. When he came back to America he brought with him Henri de Tonti, who was his lieutenant in later enterprises. After building a blockade at the outlet of the Niagara River in 1697, he set out across the Great Lakes, to what is now Green Bay, Wisconsin, then by land along Lake Michigan to erect Fort Miami on the site of present day St. Joseph, Michigan. He next proceeded along the Illinois River where Fort Creve Coeur was built. He sent an expedition to the upper Mississippi while he returned to find the Illinois Posts deserted by Henri de Tonti, whose work had been interrupted by Iroquois Indian Attacks. La Salle organized an Indian Federation of the Illinois, the Miami, and small tribes to fight the Iroquois. Reunited with Tonti at Macinac Island, La Salle descended the Mississippi River with a small party that reached the river mount on April 9, 1682. He took possession of the whole Mississippi Valley in the name of France, calling the region Louisiana. La Salle completed Fort St. Louis in 1683 and left for France,