USS Tarawa Veterans' Association
Official Website
CV-40 LHA-1
USS TARAWA (LHA 1)
“Eagle of the Sea”
Tarawa was built by the Ingalls Shipbuilding Division
of the Litton Industries at Pascagoula, Mississippi, and commissioned May 29,
1976. Tarawa was the first in a new generation of multipurpose amphibious
assault ships, a vital member of the Navy/Marine Corps team in the Pacific
Fleet and a major factor in U.S. power projection overseas.
Tarawa’s first deployment to the Western
Pacific began in March 1979. In
addition to an embarked helicopter squadron, the ship operated with temporarily
assigned AV-8A “Harrier” jets in a successful experiment to determine
feasibility of operating vertical/short takeoff and landing (V/STOL) aircraft
from an amphibious assault ship. During
this deployment, Tarawa rescued 400
Vietnamese refugees who were adrift in the South China Sea. Upon returning, Tarawa won her first Admiral James H. Flatley Memorial Award for
Naval Aviation Safety.
The “Eagle of the Sea” began her second
deployment in October, 1980, with a composite squadron of 29 helicopters and
six AV-8As. The squadron was the first
in Marine Corps aviation history to conduct integrated helicopter/fighter
operations aboard an LHA for an extended deployment of more than five months.
Tarawa completed her third deployment to
the Western Pacific and Indian Ocean in November, 1983. During this deployment, Tarawa was diverted to the troubled waters of the Eastern
Mediterranean by order of President Ronald Reagan to support the United Nations
(UN) peacekeeping force in Beirut, Lebanon.
After returning, Tarawa won
her second Admiral Flatley Award.
Steaming
out of San Diego in October, 1984, Tarawa
began her fourth Western Pacific deployment during which the ship participated
in joint military exercises with friends and allies in the region.
In
June of 1986, Tarawa deployed for the
fifth time to the Western Pacific, followed in May 1987 by a complex, one-year
overhaul. During this time, Tarawa won the Admiral Flatley Award for
the third time and by July of 1989 had rejoined the Pacific Fleet for her sixth
operational deployment. She
subsequently participated in joint military exercises with Thailand and Pacific
Fleet Exercise (PACEX) ’89, before returning to San Diego in December of 1989.
The
following December brought the deployment to the Arabian Gulf as the flagship
of a thirteen-ship amphibious task force in support of Operation Desert Shield and Operation
Desert Storm to liberate Kuwait from Iraqi occupation forces. It was the largest such deployment since the
Vietnam conflict. Embarked were the
Commander, Amphibious Group Three and the Fifth Marine Expeditionary Brigade.
Tarawa
participated in the amphibious assault exercise Sea Soldier IV in January, 1991, as a rehearsal for the proposed
amphibious landing into Kuwait. The
proposed operation was, in fact, a coalition force deception designed to keep
the attention of the Iraqi military focused on potential assault from the sea
instead of the real overland thrust.
The deception was successful, playing a major role in keeping U.S. force
casualties at an historic low for an engagement of that magnitude. On February 24th, Tarawa landed elements of the Fifth Marine Expeditionary Brigade
into Saudi Arabia just south of the Kuwaiti border; these forces later joined
with the First Marine Expeditionary Force which entered and liberated Kuwait.
After
the conclusion of Operation Desert Storm,
Tarawa departed the Arabian Gulf in
May of 1991 and was diverted to Bangladesh to render two weeks of humanitarian
assistance to typhoon victims in Operation
Sea Angel. Water purification
equipment, medical aid and 2,000 tons of rice delivered by Tarawa’s helicopters and landing craft helped more than 1.5 million
inhabitants of Southeast Bangladesh survive the ravages of the storm’s aftermath. Tarawa
returned home to San Diego in June of 1991.
In
May, 1992, Tarawa deployed for the
eighth time to the Western Pacific, participating in Eager Mace ‘92-’93, a joint U.S./Kuwait exercise. The ship also supported the insertion of
Pakistani troops into Somalia in support of U.N. humanitarian relief, and
returned to San Diego in November of 1992.
Tarawa was awarded her fourth
Admiral Flatley Award and her first Commander, Seventh Fleet, Amphibious
Warfare Excellence Award for the ’92 deployment.
This
deployment was followed by another complex overhaul at Long Beach Naval
Shipyard. Tarawa departed San Diego in April 1996 for her ninth deployment to
the Western Pacific/Arabian Gulf.
Enroute to the Arabian Gulf, Tarawa
participated in a joint U.S./Thailand amphibious training exercise in the Gulf
of Thailand. Tarawa then proceeded to the Red Sea to participate in exercise Indigo Serpent with the Royal Saudi
Arabian Navy and exercise Infinite
Moonlight with the Royal Jordanian Navy, the first such exercise with the
nation of Jordan. Upon the conclusion
of the Red Sea exercises, Tarawa
entered the Arabian Gulf in support of Operation
Southern Watch, the enforcement of the “no-fly” zone over southern Iraq. Tarawa also participated in Operation Desert Strike to curb Iraqi
aggression. Returning to San Diego in
October 1996, Tarawa was awarded both
the Federal Energy Conservation Award and the Secretary of the Navy Energy
Conservation Award.
In
January 1997, Tarawa entered an
extensive overhaul. Four weeks after
leaving the shipyard, Tarawa was the
centerpiece for Kernel Blitz, the
largest amphibious exercise in the Pacific Fleet in nearly 25 years and
involving over 25 ships and 20,000 Sailors and Marines.
Tarawa departed on her tenth deployment in February,
1998. While participating in joint
exercises with Jordanian armed forces, Tarawa
was diverted to the Red Sea African nation of Eritrea to evacuate American
citizens from the U.S. embassy there.
During the Eritrean-Ethiopian hostilities, more than 200 Americans were
safely rescued.
Tarawa returned
to San Diego in August, 1998 and was awarded her second Secretary of the Navy
Energy Conservation Award.
Tarawa
completed an extensive drydock overhaul period at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard in
Bremerton, Washington in June 1999.