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General Characteristics Crew List Memorabilia Cruise Books About the Ship's Coat of Arms USS Rushmore History Homeports of USS Rushmore Image Gallery to end of page |  |
USS RUSHMORE is the seventh ship in the WHIDBEY ISLAND - class of Dock Landing Ships and the second ship in the Navy to bear the name.
| General Characteristics: | Keel laid: 1987 |
| Christened: May 6, 1989 | |
| Commissioned: June 1, 1991 | |
| Builder: Avondale Shipyards, New Orleans, La. | |
| Propulsion system: four Colt Industries 16 Cylinder Diesels | |
| Propellers: two | |
| Length: 610 feet (186 meters) | |
| Beam: 84 feet (25.6 meters) | |
| Draft: 21 feet (6.4 meters) | |
| Displacement: approx. 16,000 tons full load | |
| Speed: 22 knots | |
| Well deck capacity: four LCAC or 21 LCM-6 (on deck: one LCM-6, two LCPL and one LCVP) | |
| Aircraft: none, but two landing spots allow for operation of aircraft as large as the | |
| Crew: Ship: 20 Officers, 25 Chief Petty Officers, 302 Enlisted | |
| Marine Detachment: approx. 400 + approx. 100 surge | |
| Armament: two | |
| Cost: $149 million | |
| Homeport: Sasebo, Japan |
back to top go to the end of the pageback to top go to the end of the pageCrew List:
This section contains the names of sailors who served aboard USS RUSHMORE. It is no official listing but contains the names of sailors who submitted their information.
back to top go to the end of the pageback to top go to the end of the pageUSS RUSHMORE Cruise Books:
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About the Ship's Coat of Arms:
The Shield:
The shield is dark blue and gold, the colors traditionally associated with the Navy, representing the sea and excellence. South Dakota, the location of the Mount Rushmore Memorial for which the ship is named, is referred to by the gold and celestine escutcheon, recalling the colors of the state flag. The three silver stars represent the battle stars awarded in World War II to LSD 14, the first USS RUSHMORE. The musket and cutlass symbolize traditional Navy values and the first amphibious operation conducted by the Navy and Marine Corps in Nassau in 1776 during the Revolutionary War. They are shown pointing down to denote nobility of purpose and restraint in the use of power, underscoring the motto. The alligator is the most powerful and traditional symbol of strength and versatility of amphibious warfare.
The Crest:
The mountain ridge in the crest symbolizes the Black Hills of western South Dakota, the location of the memorial. Two Black Hills Spruces, the South Dakota State tree, represent the two ships to bear the name RUSHMORE. A rope of gold and scarlet, the traditional colors of the Marine Corps, symbolizes the strong bond of the Navy-Marine Corps team and serves as a solid foundation for the mountain.
The Motto:
The motto "Nobility Power" is an excerpt from a speech made by the monument’s sculptor, Gutzon Borglum, on the occasion of its dedication and describes the memorial’s tribute to the nobility and power of the four presidents depicted there.
back to top go to the end of the pageHistory of USS RUSHMORE:
USS RUSHMORE was laid down at Avondale Shipyards, New Orleans, on November 9, 1987, launched on May 6, 1989 - with Meredith Brokaw as sponsor - and commissioned at New Orleans on June 1, 1991. Designed to embark and launch conventional landing craft or LCACs from a full-length well deck while supporting helicopter operations, she joined the Pacific Fleet as the seventh WHIDBEY ISLAND-class dock landing ship and the second U.S. Navy ship to bear the name. Her first assignment immediately tied to her amphibious mission: delivering three LCACs from Panama City, Florida, to Camp Pendleton, California. The ship made a liberty call in Jamaica, transited the Panama Canal with a stop at Rodman, Panama, and then continued to San Diego, her homeport, where she completed shakedown and amphibious certifications through late 1991 and into 1992.
With workups complete, RUSHMORE executed her first Western Pacific and Indian Ocean deployment from October 1992 to April 1993. On December 9, 1992, she took station off Mogadishu with TRIPOLI (LPH 10) and JUNEAU (LPD 10) carrying the 15TH MEU(SOC) for the opening phase of OPERATION RESTORE HOPE, the U.S.-led multinational relief effort under UNITAF authority to stabilize famine conditions and secure humanitarian corridors in Somalia. RUSHMORE supported the initial beach landings and subsequent ship-to-shore logistics, a high-visibility operation whose media profile rivaled any post-Cold War amphibious mission to that date. She remained in the region into early 1993 as coalition forces transitioned relief areas to United Nations control.
RUSHMORE's second WESTPAC followed on accelerated notice "almost a year ahead of schedule" from June-December 1994. With only weeks to prepare, she sortied to the Indian Ocean to contribute to OPERATION SUPPORT HOPE along the East African littoral near Mombasa, Kenya, supporting logistics that flowed to the Great Lakes region during the post-genocide refugee crisis. During the same deployment, she assisted the relocation of the U.S. Liaison Office from Somalia amid deteriorating security and conducted bilateral amphibious training with Oman and the United Arab Emirates to maintain coalition interoperability in the CENTCOM theater. The ship earned a Meritorious Unit Commendation for her performance on this deployment.
After a 1995 inter-deployment training cycle, RUSHMORE deployed again from April-October 1996 with the 13TH MEU, participating in COBRA GOLD '96 in Thailand, INFINITE MOONLIGHT in Jordan, RED REEF with Saudi Arabia, and MEUEX '96 in Kuwait, combining amphibious raids, live-fire and mechanized integration across partner ranges from the Gulf of Thailand to the Northern Arabian Gulf. That year she also experimented with rigid-hull inflatable boats for a SPECWAR detachment - an unusual employment for an LSD at the time - and capped the year with a post-deployment liberty call at Mazatlan, Mexico. In 1997, while in a post-deployment sustainment phase, she visited Portland, Oregon; Annette Island, Alaska; and Seattle, Washington, and became the Navy's first full "Smart Ship" testbed in the amphibious force - nicknamed "Smart Gator" and "GATOR 17" - integrating an Integrated Bridge System, Electronic Chart Display and Information System, and Machinery Control System to validate reduced-manning concepts later flowing into the LPD-17 program.
On March 12, 1999, then-CDR Michelle J. Howard assumed command of RUSHMORE in San Diego, becoming the first African-American woman to command a U.S. Navy warship. That year, RUSHMORE deployed with the 11TH MEU and the PELELIU (LHA 5) ARG, conducting IRON MAGIC with the United Arab Emirates and RED REEF with Saudi Arabia, and making the first visit by a U.S. warship to Doha, Qatar, in a decade. The ship completed the six-month WESTPAC in December 1999, notable as the first "Smart Ship" to finish a full deployment, having validated multiple watchstanding and maintenance innovations at sea.
After local operations in 2000, RUSHMORE participated in the CARAT 2001 series throughout Southeast Asia shortly before the September 11 attacks, then entered maintenance and major inspections. In mid-2002, she took part in RIMPAC off Hawaii and, with the TARAWA (LHA 1) ARG, departed San Diego in December 2002 for Fifth Fleet in support of what became OPERATION IRAQI FREEDOM. Through early 2003, she executed maritime security operations (MSO) and amphibious support tasks during buildup and initial combat operations, including at-sea logistics and force protection in the Northern Arabian Gulf as coalition forces secured Iraq's offshore oil infrastructure.
RUSHMORE's December 6, 2004 departure with Expeditionary Strike Group Five initially aimed at another OIF rotation, but the December 26, 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami diverted the force to Southeast Asia for OPERATION UNIFIED ASSISTANCE. With BONHOMME RICHARD (LHD 6) (LHD 6) as flagship and an embarked air combat element, the ESG delivered relief along the Sumatran littoral in January-February 2005. RUSHMORE served as an afloat helicopter refueling and supply staging base; launched LCACs to push potable water and relief ashore; and supported joint and interagency teams coordinating with the Indonesian government. After relief operations, she reoriented to Fifth Fleet for MSO and oil-platform defense near Al Basra and Khor Al Amaya before returning to San Diego on June 6, 2005, following port calls at Bahrain, Jebel Ali/Dubai, and Cairns, Australia.
From June-August 2006, RUSHMORE completed RIMPAC following a three-month maintenance period. In 2007, she finished workups with the BONHOMME RICHARD ESG and the 13TH MEU and deployed on April 10, 2007, for CENTCOM duties, making logistics and liberty stops at Guam, Singapore, Jebel Ali/Dubai, and Bahrain while conducting maritime security and amphibious sustainment training. She returned to Southern California late that year and participated in community outreach activities, then supported fleet commemorations and test range operations in 2008 while preparing for a thorough INSURV material inspection in the autumn.
RUSHMORE deployed again from September 2009 into spring 2010 amid a period of intense coalition counter-piracy, maritime security, and theater-security cooperation operations from the Gulf of Aden and Somali Basin to the North Arabian Sea. The deployment aligned with coalition efforts to push piracy out of the Gulf of Aden sea lanes toward the broader Indian Ocean, underscoring the demand for persistent amphibious presence in maritime chokepoints.
In 2011, the ship supported DAWN BLITZ amphibious training off Southern California, and in July 2012 she passed INSURV - found fit for sustained combat operations on July 13 - before deploying on September 17, 2012 with the PELELIU (LHA 5) ARG and the 15TH MEU. That deployment spanned the Western Pacific and Fifth Fleet: CROCODILO (Dili, Timor-Leste) beginning October 10, 2012; a Darwin, Ausralia port visit; EAGER MACE in Kuwait; a stop at NSA Bahrain; IRON MAGIC in the UAE; RED REEF in Saudi Arabia; a visit to Port Khalifa near Abu Dhabi; an equipment washdown and agricultural inspection in Aqaba, Jordan; a visit to Hong Kong on April 15, 2013; and a return transit via Pearl Harbor. The ARG/MEU team completed the eight-month deployment on May 13, 2013.
On June 10, 2015, during an ESSEX (LHD 2) ARG / 15TH MEU WESTPAC, RUSHMORE recovered 65 distressed persons adrift on makeshift bamboo rafts in the Makassar Strait between Kalimantan and Sulawesi, embarking and treating the survivors before transferring them ashore to Indonesian authorities. The ship's itinerary around that period also included a visit to Manado, Indonesia, and subsequent cooperation events that highlighted U.S.-Indonesia maritime ties.
From 2018 into early 2019, RUSHMORE deployed with the ESSEX ARG and the 13TH MEU - the first ARG/MEU to take F-35B LIGHTNING II jets into combat operations. She crossed the Seventh Fleet boundary in September 2018 and entered the CENTCOM theater soon after, conducting MSO and bilateral training, including EASTERN MAVERICK 19 with Qatar in late November, followed by a December 21, 2018 port visit to Colombo, Sri Lanka, and engagements across the Indian Ocean region. The ARG returned to San Diego on March 1, 2019. In March 2019, HII San Diego Shipyard received a NAVSEA award for RUSHMORE's fiscal-year 2019 Dry-Docking Selected Restricted Availability, supporting depot-level work and modernization ahead of her next operational phase.
Ahead of a major homeport change, the ship also completed a first-of-its-kind waterborne rudder overhaul at San Diego - normally dry-dock work - executed pier-side by SWRMC divers and industry partners and announced on October 14, 2021. RUSHMORE then shifted from San Diego to Sasebo, Japan, arriving on November 17, 2021, to join AMPHIBIOUS SQUADRON 11 and the forward-deployed AMERICA (LHA 6) ARG under U.S. SEVENTH FLEET. She relieved GERMANTOWN (LSD 42), continuing the long-standing FDNF amphibious footprint in Japan.
From 2022 onward, RUSHMORE cycled through patrols and maintenance in SEVENTH FLEET, integrating with the 31ST MEU across the First Island Chain, the Philippine Sea, and the approaches to the South and East China Seas. She routinely embarked LCACs and practiced well-deck operations with SAN DIEGO (LPD 22) and AMERICA, supported theater security cooperation stops, and maintained readiness for humanitarian assistance and disaster relief contingencies that remain a core mission for forward-based amphibious forces. In early 2024, she hosted visits from senior fleet leadership in Sasebo while preparing for the AMERICA ARG's 2025 patrol.
In 2025, RUSHMORE operated at the center of several notable developments for the FDNF amphibious force. On January 29, she conducted LCAC checks and well-deck evolutions in the Philippine Sea with SAN DIEGO. On February 3, the 31ST MEU embarked with the AMERICA ARG. By March 6, the ARG/MEU completed its first patrol of the year, with official summaries highlighting integrated Navy-Marine Corps operations across the region. On June 3, RUSHMORE embarked Amphibious Combat Vehicles (ACVs) during AIT/CERTEX events in the Philippine Sea - part of a broader progression that made her one of the first ships in Seventh Fleet to routinely onload and employ ACVs for ship-to-objective maneuver with the 31ST MEU. On June 9-10, elements of the ARG and 31ST MEU conducted integrated operations in the Solomon Sea, and on June 17, RUSHMORE joined AMERICA and SAN DIEGO in Sydney, Australia, for a high-visibility port visit underscoring U.S.-Australian alliance ties. Through the summer, she completed the patrol and returned to Sasebo in August for a homecoming and post-patrol maintenance.
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Homeports of USS RUSHMORE:
| Period | Homeport |
|---|---|
| commissioned at New Orleans, La. | |
| 1991 - 2021 | San Diego,Ca. |
| 2021 - present | Sasebo, Japan |
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USS RUSHMORE Image Gallery:
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The photo below was taken by Brian Barton and shows the RUSHMORE undergoing overhaul at San Diego on December 6, 2003.
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The photos below were taken by Ian Johnson and show the RUSHMORE arriving at Fremantle, Australia, on October 16, 2007 marking the first time for USS RUSHMORE to visit Western Australia. At the time, RUSHMORE was assigned to the BONHOMME RICHARD (LHD 6) ESG.
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The photos below were taken by me and show the RUSHMORE at Naval Base San Diego, Calif., on March 10, 2008. The ship moored next to the RUSHMORE is the USS DENVER (LPD 9).
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The photo below was taken by Thomas Heinrich and shows the RUSHMORE at Naval Base San Diego, Calif., on March 21, 2009.
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The photos below were taken by me and show the RUSHMORE arriving at Naval Base San Diego, Calif., on October 2, 2011.
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The photos below were taken by me and show the RUSHMORE at Naval Base San Diego, Calif., on May 10, 2012.
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The photos below were taken by Shiu On Yee during USS RUSHMORE's port visit to Hong Kong April 15-22, 2013. The RUSHMORE, along with USS PELELIU (LHA 5) and USS GREEN BAY (LPD 20), visited Hong Kong on their way home from the 5th Fleet area of operations. The three ships arrived in San Diego, Calif., on May 14 after being deployed for eight months.
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The photos below were taken by Henry Schnutz on August 27, 2013, and show the RUSHMORE undergoing a 3 1/2-month Phased Maintenance Availability (PMA) at San Diego, Calif.
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The photos below were taken by Michael Jenning and show the RUSHMORE at Naval Base San Diego, Calif., on December 27, 2014.
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The photos below were taken by Michael Jenning and show the RUSHMORE during a Phased Maintenance Availability (PMA) at BAE Systems San Diego Ship Repair on April 18, 2016.
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The photo below was taken by Sebastian Thoma and shows the RUSHMORE during a Phased Maintenance Availability (PMA) at BAE Systems San Diego Ship Repair on December 20, 2016.
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The photos below were taken by Michael Jenning and show the RUSHMORE returning to San Diego, Calif., after a two-month Oceania Maritime Security Initiative (OMSI) deployment on October 12, 2017. The deployment was focused on combating transnational crimes and enforcing fisheries laws in Oceania. The first photos show the RUSHMORE arriving at Naval Air Station North Island to offload the V-22 Osprey(?) from her flightdeck. 4 1/2 hours later, the ship continued to Naval Base San Diego.
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The photo below was taken by Sebastian Thoma and shows the RUSHMORE at Naval Base San Diego, Calif., on November 10, 2017.
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The photo below was taken by Michael Jenning and shows the RUSHMORE at Naval Base San Diego, Calif., on March 2, 2019 - one day after returning home from an almost 8-month deployment to the western Pacific and Middle East. Note the homecoming lei on the bow.
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