USS Iwo Jima (LHD-7) is a Wasp-class amphibious assault ship, named after the Battle of Iwo Jima. Fabrication work for Iwo Jima began at Ingalls shipyard on 3 September 1996, and the ship's keel was laid on 12 December 1997.
Construction & Commissioning
She was launched on 4 February 2000. USS Iwo Jima was christened by her sponsor, Mrs. Zandra Krulak, wife of General Charles C. Krulak, the former Commandant of the Marine Corps, in Pascagoula, Mississippi on 25 March 2000. The commissioning crew moved aboard in April of 2001, and made the ship's maiden voyage (accompanied by more than 2,000 World War II veterans — many of them survivors of the Battle of Iwo Jima) on 23 June 2001. She was commissioned a week later in Pensacola, Florida, on 30 June 2001.
Operations
Shortly thereafter, the ship and crew began an accelerated Inter Deployment Training Cycle, which tested virtually every system onboard in realistic combat conditions. Iwo Jima was also the first ship on the waterfront open to the public after the terrorist attacks of September 11.
Iwo Jima and the Marines of the 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU) deployed 4 March 2003 in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. It was also in 2003 that the USS Iwo Jima was deployed to the coast of Liberia as part of JTF Liberia.
The ship's motto, "Uncommon Valor," is based on Fleet Admiral Chester W. Nimitz's words: "Among the Americans who served on Iwo Island uncommon valor was a common virtue."
In 2004, Iwo Jima participated at the annual Fleet Week in New York City. USS Iwo Jima served as the 2nd Fleet flagship, based out of Norfolk, Virginia.
Hurricane Katrina
On August 31, 2005, Iwo Jima's Amphibious Ready Group made steam for the Hurricane Katrina stricken city of New Orleans. The Iwo Jima sailed up the Mississippi River to the city of New Orleans to directly support relief operations and act as the central command center for all federal, state and local disaster recovery operations.
During this critical period, the Iwo Jima served as the region's only fully functional air field for helicopter operations, conducting over one thousand flight deck operations; provided hot meals, showers, drinking water, and berthing to thousands of National Guardsmen and relief workers; provided medical services for disaster victims; and conducted clean-up operations in the city and suburbs of New Orleans.
The Iwo Jima served as flagship for the commander-in-chief, George W. Bush, and is only the second Navy ship to have been presented the flag of the President of the United States of America.
2006 Deployment
On June 6, 2006, the Iwo Jima led a seven ship convoy, called the Iwo Jima Expeditionary Strike Group, encompassing 6,000 sailors and Marines, on a six-month tour of duty to the Middle East in support of the wars in Iraq, Afghanistan and against terrorism.
The Iwo Jima, along with the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit, was used to evacuate U.S. citizens from Lebanon after the Israeli Defense Force made the Beirut International Airport unusable. The task force headed by the Iwo Jima reached the Persian Gulf on October 17, 2006.