1988 – 1995 Fort McHenrys maiden deployment was from June 1988 to December 1988 to the
Western Pacific. Following her return,
Fort McHenry participated in the cleanup of the
Exxon Valdez oil spill from 28 April – 22 June 1989. In recognition of the crew's effectiveness during the cleanup operation,
Fort McHenry was awarded the
Meritorious Unit Commendation and the Coast Guard Special Operations Service Ribbon. On 20 June 1990,
Fort McHenry began her second deployment and spent 10 months in the
Persian Gulf for
Desert Shield/
Desert Storm. When she returned to her homeport of
San Diego on 17 April 1991,
Fort McHenry received the
Navy Unit Commendation,
National Defense Service Medal,
Southwest Asia Service Medal,
Kuwait Liberation Medal (Saudi Arabia),
Kuwait Liberation Medal (Kuwait) and the
Combat Action Ribbon. Eight months later,
Fort McHenry deployed to the Western Pacific on 6 January 1992. After several successful multinational exercises and port visits,
Fort McHenry returned to San Diego on 6 July 1992. Following an extensive overhaul period,
Fort McHenry began the training cycle to prepare for her next deployment. While in the training cycle,
Fort McHenry transited to the East Coast through the
Panama Canal to pick up five new
LCACs from
Panama City, Florida. At the completion of the training cycle,
Fort McHenry embarked on her fourth deployment from 9 June to 9 December 1994. While deployed,
Fort McHenry participated in
Operation Restore Hope. The ship also participated in
Operation Vigilant Warrior. Following the deployment,
Fort McHenry was awarded her second Navy Unit Commendation and
Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal and also received her fourth
Battle Efficiency Award.
1995 – 2000 On 1 September 1995,
Fort McHenry departed San Diego to become one of the units forward-deployed to
Sasebo, Japan. Following her arrival to Japan,
Fort McHenry participated in training exercises and multi-national exercises such as exercise Tandem Thrust and Crocodile in
Australia, Cobra Gold in
Thailand, and
Foal Eagle in
South Korea. She visited ports during those exercises including
Shanghai,
China, and
Kure, Japan. During May 1998,
Fort McHenry participated on
Cooperation Afloat Readiness and Training (CARAT 98), which includes visits and exercises with countries in the Western Pacific such as
Brunei,
Singapore,
Malaysia and Thailand. In addition to her involvement in CARAT 98,
Fort McHenry received the Commander, Naval Surface Pacific Fleet Wellness Unit Award for 1997 and the
Chief of Naval Operations Safety Award for 1997 on 1 June 1998. After spending January 1999 in Hong Kong,
Fort McHenry entered the competitive phase of her training cycle. In April 1999,
Fort McHenry participated in exercise Tandem Thrust 99 in
Guam.
Fort McHenry was also named a repeat winner of the Commander, Naval Surface Pacific Fleet Wellness Unit Award. Finally, during June 1999,
Fort McHenry underwent two Total Ship Training Assessments (TSTA), which confirmed the ship's training progress during the 1999 competitive cycle. In 2000,
Fort McHenry participated in exercise Balikatan 2000 with the
Philippine Armed Forces. The ship was named a repeat winner of the Battle Efficiency Award, Command Excellence Awards for Maritime Warfare, Engineering/Survivability, Command and Control, and Logistics Management for her achievements during the 1999 fiscal year. After Balikatan 2000 was completed,
Fort McHenry continued her hectic schedule by participating in
Exercise Cobra Gold 2000, during May 2000, with the navies of Thailand and Singapore. The busy schedule continued in October 2000, when
Fort McHenry participated in
Exercise Neptune Thunder 2000 with
US Army forces stationed in South Korea. From 27 October to 3 November,
Fort McHenry concluded the year, and the millennium, with her participation in
Exercise Foal Eagle which took place in South Korea.
2001 – 2006 Fort McHenry spent the first half of 2001 in a lengthy Ship Required Availability period. During this period the ship acquired two new weapon systems,
Rolling Airframe Missile (RAM) Launcher and Ship's Self Defense System (SSDS), both would greatly increased the ship's defensive capabilities. After returning to sea in June 2001,
Fort McHenry entered the middle of her training cycle. The ship completed a port visit to
Kagoshima, Japan in August 2001, where approximately seven thousand residents of Kagoshima toured
Fort McHenry. In 2004,
Fort McHenry forward deployed at
FA Sasebo, Japan, and assigned to
Amphibious Group 1. In May 2004,
Fort McHenry departed for a three-month deployment along with several ships including , , and . The deployment was centered around an annual exercise called Cooperation Afloat Readiness and Training (CARAT) 2004. Following a two and a half-month
SAR period,
Fort McHenry was once again put into action as she was emergency deployed to the Philippines after several
typhoons hit the country during November 2004. She provided a platform for
U.S. Air Force helicopters to bring much-needed fuel into the
Philippines. In 2005
Fort McHenry participated in
tsunami relief in the
Asian tsunami crisis. She provided a platform for six
CH-46 helicopters and
LCACs to bring much-needed supplies into
Banda Aceh, Indonesia. During
Operation Unified Assistance,
Fort McHenry was joined by many USN ships including and . Following this tasking,
Fort McHenry immediately went to the island of
Iwo Jima to join American & Japanese veterans for the 60th commemoration of the
Battle of Iwo Jima.
Fort McHenry deployed for the first half of
Cooperation Afloat Readiness and Training (CARAT) 2005. This deployment was completed by and . On 31 March 2006, arrived in Sasebo to replace
Fort McHenry. The crews of the two ships swapped hulls, after which, on 13 April
Tortugas old crew took
Fort McHenry back to
NAB Little Creek,
Virginia, where she was to be
homeported. As of January 2007 she was undergoing a major maintenance overhaul at Naval Station Norfolk.
2007 The
United States Department of Defense stated on 15 October 2007 that
Fort McHenry was slated to leave
Little Creek,
Virginia, 16 October 2007 for a seven-month deployment to the
Gulf of Guinea that the chief of
U.S. Africa Command said will exemplify how that new command will operate. The
amphibious dock landing ship served as a platform for the
Africa Partnership Station Initiative, which aims to work cooperatively with U.S. and international partners in promoting maritime security in
Western Africa. The ship sailed to
Spain to take on officers for the internal APS staff from several European partners; Spain, the
United Kingdom,
Portugal and
Germany, among them, before heading to the Gulf of Guinea. Her full complement included
representatives of U.S. and partner nations' government agencies and non-governmental organizations, all working together to help African nations increase their ability to provide
maritime security. In addition to the U.S. military, U.S. agencies that participated were the
State Department,
Department of Homeland Security,
U.S. Agency for International Development,
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and
U.S. Coast Guard. High Speed Vessel
Swift joined
Fort McHenry in the
Gulf of Guinea, where she transported students as well as trainers during visits to
Senegal, Liberia,
Ghana, Cameroon,
Gabon,
Sao Tome and
Principe.
2009 On 13 May 2009
Fort McHenry left her homeport at Little Creek Naval Amphibious Base for a regularly scheduled deployment as part of the Bataan Amphibious Ready Group (BATARG) and
22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit (22 MEU), including more than 4,000 sailors and marines. The BATARG/22 MEU supported maritime security operations, provided crisis response capability and increased theater security cooperation and forward naval presence in the 5th and 6th Fleet areas of operation. BATARG was composed of
Fort McHenry, the multi-purpose amphibious assault ship , and the amphibious transport dock . The 22 MEU included a battalion landing team from
3rd Battalion,
2nd Marine Regiment, an aviation combat team composed of elements from
Marine Medium Tiltrotor Squadron 263; elements of
Combat Logistics Battalion 22; and the MEU's command section.
2010 On 13 January 2010,
Fort McHenry was sent to assist in the relief efforts following the
2010 Haiti earthquake.
2012 The ship was scheduled to dock in Dublin port, Ireland on 31 August for the American football game "The Emerald Classic" between Notre Dame University's "Fighting Irish" and the US Naval Academy. On board was a crew of 350 sailors and 180 marines.
2015 In January 2015,
Fort McHenry and were positioned off the coast of
Yemen on standby to evacuate the staff of the U.S. embassy should the need arise due to the
collapse of the Yemeni government.
2016 In mid-February,
Fort McHenry participated in amphibious exercise,
Cold Response, together with the
Dutch amphibious transport docks and .
2018 On 22 December,
Fort McHenry personnel, joined with elements of the 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit experienced an outbreak of
parotitis. A ship-wide quarantine was initiated and affected personnel were segregated. The outbreak was not reported until 9 March 2019.
2019 In January 2019, the ship transited from the
Mediterranean Sea through the
Dardanelles Strait and entered the
Black Sea, later visiting the
Romanian port of
Constanța, a major base for the
Romanian Navy. The ship was part of the
Amphibious Ready Group (ARG), and was carrying the
22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit from
Camp Lejeune,
North Carolina. In March 2019, she was
quarantined for over three months following an outbreak of mumps. While quarantined, she continued to operate in 5th Fleet conducting a wide range of operations. She was given short notice tasking to depart 5th Fleet and chop to 6th Fleet in support of BALTOPS 2019, a large scale Naval exercise bringing NATO and partner allies together.
2021 Fort McHenry was decommissioned on 27 March 2021 and is undergoing transfer to the Naval Inactive Ship Maintenance Facility in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where she was placed in reserve status. ==References==