USS Racine (LST-1191)

USS Racine underway
History
United States
Name: USS Racine
Namesake: Racine, Wisconsin
Ordered: 15 July 1966
Builder: National Steel and Shipbuilding Company
Laid down: 13 December 1969
Launched: 15 August 1970
Acquired: 17 June 1971
Commissioned: 9 July 1971
Decommissioned: 2 October 1993
Struck: 1 December 2008
Identification: LST-1191
Fate: Sunk as a target during RIMPAC 2018 on 12 July 2018
General characteristics
Class and type: Newport-class tank landing ship
Displacement:
  • 5,190 long tons (5,273.3 t) (light),
  • 8,792 long tons (8,933.1 t) (full)
Length:
  • 522 ft (159.1 m) oa
  • 500 ft (152.4 m) wl
Beam: 70 ft (21.34 m)
Draft: 19 ft (5.79 m)
Propulsion:
Speed: over 20 knots (37 km/h; 23 mph)
Capacity: 19,000 sq ft (1,765.2 m2), capacity of 29 tanks or 30 AAVs.
Troops: Marine detachment: 360 plus 40 surge
Complement: 14 officers, 210 enlisted
Armament:

USS Racine (LST-1191) was the second ship to bear the name of the Wisconsin city. She was the thirteenth of 20 ships of the improved Newport class of Landing Ship, Tank (LST) built to replace the traditional bow door design LSTs of World War II. She was capable of a sustained speed of 20 knots (37 km/h; 23 mph). A stern gate to her tank deck permitted unloading of tracked assault amphibious vehicles (AAV) into the water, or the unloading of other vehicles into a landing craft utility (LCU), onto a pier, or directly into the water. Her ability to adjust her draft, accompanied by her unique 110-foot (34 m) long 75-ton capacity bow-ramp design and her bow thruster, helped bring a new degree of responsiveness and supply to the amphibious fleet.

History

Racine was laid down by the National Steel & Shipbuilding Co., at their yard in San Diego, California on 13 December 1969 and launched on 15 August 1970; sponsored by Mrs. Edwin B. Hooper, wife of Vice Admiral Edwin B. Hooper USN (Ret), Director of Naval History. Racine was placed in commission on 9 July 1971, Commander Daniel W. Anderson in command.[1]

Racine remained at Long Beach, California completing her fitting-out until 9 August, when she departed for San Diego. Racine underwent tests and participated in exercises off the West coast until 8 June 1972. At that time, she steamed out of San Diego for a South American cruise with a group of Naval Reserve Officers Training Corps (NROTC) midshipmen. She visited Valparaiso, Chile; Callao, Peru; and the Panama Canal Zone, returning to San Diego 17 July. On 13 September, she embarked on a tour of duty with WestPac. She remained in the Far East, shuttling men and material between Vietnam and various American bases in the area, until 26 April 1973, when she weighed anchor for San Diego. Racine arrived at San Diego 17 May 1973.[1]

On 6 November 1979, Racine collided with Li Tung Sol, a small fishing vessel. No injuries were reported.[2]

Racine had five Western Pacific deployments in the first 10 years after her commissioning, including deployments during the Vietnam War. In January 1981, Racine was assigned to the Naval Reserve Force with 60% of the crew active duty and 40% of the crew reservists. After 15 January 1981, Racine was assigned to Surface Squadron One homeport of Long Beach, California.[3]

Fate

Racine was decommissioned on 2 October 1993 was placed in inactive reserve at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. In 2009, there was discussion of a possible sale of ex-Fresno and ex-Racine to Peru.[4] This plan did not materialize and ex-Fresno was sunk as a target in 2014. Ex-Racine was listed as "Reported to MARAD for scrap sale" as of January 2015 with disposal preparations completed 25 November 2013.[5] In January 2018 it was announced that Racine would be used as a target during RIMPAC 2018.[6]

On 12 July 2018, ex-Racine was struck by live fire from aircraft, a submarine, and land assets as part of a sinking exercise (SINKEX) involving units from Australia, Japan, and the United States. Ex-Racine was sunk by a Royal Australian Air Force Boeing P-8 Poseidon and a US Navy Los Angeles-class submarine, the USS Olympia at 8:45 p.m. in waters 15,000 feet (4,600 m) deep, 55 nautical miles (102 km) north of Kauaʻi, Hawaii.[7] This was the first firing of a Harpoon missile from an Australian P-8A Poseidon.[8]

Awards

References

  1. 1 2 "Racine II". Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. Navy Department, Naval History and Heritage Command.
  2. ↑ "Racine - Naval Vessel Historical Evaluation" (PDF). NAVSEA Inactive ships. 21 October 2013. Retrieved 31 January 2015.
  3. ↑ "USS Racine". U.S. Navy Cruise Books, 1918-2009. ancestry.com. 1988. (Subscription required (help)).
  4. ↑ "Peru - Refurbishment of two Newport Class Landing Ship Tanks" (PDF). 23 November 2009. Archived from the original (PDF) on 11 December 2009.
  5. ↑ "Inactive Ships inventory" (PDF). NAVSEA Inactive ships. 21 October 2013. Retrieved 31 January 2015.
  6. ↑ "Inactive ship inventory" (PDF). NAVSEA, US Navy. 27 September 2016.
  7. ↑ "RIMPAC Units Participate in Sinking Exercise". Defense Visual Information Distribution Service. 12 July 2018.
  8. ↑ "Rim-of-the-Pacific". Royal Australian Airforce. 22 July 2018.
  9. 1 2 3 4 "Navy Unit Award website". Archived from the original on 14 October 2004. Retrieved 31 January 2015.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.