USS Guadalcanal LPH-7

Iwo Jima Class Amphibious Assault Ship (Helicopter):

Laid down, 1 September 1961, at Philadelphia Naval Shipyard, Philadelphia, PA.

Launched, 16 March 1963

Commissioned USS Guadalcanal, 20 July 1963

Decommissioned, 31 August 1994, at Philadelphia Naval Shipyard, Philadelphia, PA.

Laid up in the Atlantic Reserve Fleet, Philadelphia

Struck from the Naval Register, 31 August 1994

Final Disposition, initially retained by the Navy for use as a museum. Presently laid up in the James River Reserve Fleet,

Fort Eustis, VA, scheduled to be sold for scrapping. Several attempts were tried to use USS Guadalcanal again.

Initially the Navy was considering converting her to a mine countermeasures support ship (MCS) to Complement

Inchon (MCS-12). This was canceled before any work was started. New York City and Quincy, MA. have

considered converting the ship into a floating museum/memorial but these efforts have also fallen short.

Specifications:
Displacement 11,000 t.(lt.) 18,474 t.(fl)
Length 592'
Beam 84'
Flight Deck Beam 105'
Draft 27'
Speed 22 kts.
Complement 667
Troop Accommodations 2,157
Aircraft 25 helicopters
Armament(as built) four 3"/50 AA guns
(modified) two 3"/50s removed and replaced with 8 cell Sea Sparrow BPDMS launchers, two Phalanx CIWS added

Propulsion two 600 psi boilers, one geared steam turbine, one shaft, 22,000 shaft horsepower

GUADALCANAL was finally sunk as a target in May 2005.

I was aboard the Guadalcanal all of spring 1966. I went with D Co. 1st Battalion 6th Marines 2ndMARDIV FMFLANT as BLT 1/6. It was the best time I had in the service. Alot of my platoon mates from Platoon 157 at PI ended up in Delta. Bruce Chaput, Frank Mazza, James Araby and Linsey H fucking Nye are guys I remember. Chaput and Araby even came to see me after Nam, but they ended up scarfing all the women avaliable Christmas 1967, but that is another story.

We cruised the Caribeean with Liberty Calls at Gitmo; Kingston, Jamaica; San Juan,P.R.; St. Thomas, V.I. I missed liberty at St.Toms, I was restricted to ship due to a off limits violation at Isabella Segunda, PR. But I stood firewatch for those blessed with liberty and made a bundle for Kingston.

One sunset, after we had been to Jamaica, I stumbled upon my first marijuana at the bow of the ship. Three guys were lying in the safety net over the bow smoking and watching dolphins crash through the surf, racing the bow. Being young and dumb, I joined right in. It was really magical watching the bow cut through the glass surface of the ocean from about 60 feet above. The sun set on my straight life that day, I think I'll always be chasing those dolphins.

In 1993, I attended a paralegal School in Philadelphia, a school which was a ripoff supreme, to obtain a certificate in Litigation Management. While there I crawled all over places I had visited while at Philadelphia Naval Hospital in 1967. The Guadalcanal was docked at the Navy Yard there and I got as far as the gang plank to say goodbye. She was eighty feet high and almost two football fields long, a huge, brooding, grey hulk. Goodbye Big Girl.