USS Tarawa LHA-1 24inch Model,Navy,Scale Model,Mahogany,Tarawa Class

Sail again with the crew of the USS Tarawa LHA-1  in this handcrafted wooden amphibious assault ship model. Each piece is carved from wood and handpainted to provide a piece you’ll love.

• Length – 24 inches
• Made from Mahogany
• US Veteran Owned Business

USS Tarawa (LHA-1)

USS Tarawa (LHA-1), the lead ship of her class, is an amphibious assault ship that served in the United States Navy from 1976 to 2009. She is the second ship to be named for the Battle of Tarawa, fought during World War II. Tarawa was decommissioned on 31 March 2009, at San Diego Naval Base.

History
The ship was laid down in November 1971 at Pascagoula, Mississippi, by Ingalls Shipbuilding, launched 1 December 1973, sponsored by Audrey B. Cushman, the wife of Robert E. Cushman, Jr., former Commandant of the Marine Corps, and commissioned on 29 May 1976.[1]

Tarawa was the first of five ships in a new class of general-purpose amphibious assault ships, and combined in one ship type the functions previously performed by four different types: the amphibious assault ship (LPH), the amphibious transport dock (LPD), the amphibious cargo ship (LKA), and the dock landing ship (LSD). She was capable of landing elements of a Marine Corps battalion landing team and their supporting equipment by landing craft, helicopters, or a combination of both.[1]

The ship departed Pascagoula on 7 July 1976 and set a course for the Panama Canal. She transited the canal on 16 July and, after a stop at Acapulco, Mexico, arrived at San Diego, California on 6 August. During the remainder of 1976, the ship conducted sea trials, tests, and a shakedown cruise in the southern California operating area. During the first half of 1977, Tarawa was engaged in training exercises off the California coast. On 13 August, she entered Long Beach Naval Shipyard for post shakedown availability, which was completed on 15 July 1978. Following four and one half months of intensive individual ship and amphibious refresher training with embarked marines, Tarawa ended 1978 in her home port of San Diego on Christmas stand down.[1]

Missions

Her first Western Pacific (WESTPAC) deployment came in 1979, where, among other memorable actions including port visits to Pearl Harbor, the Philippines, South Korea, Singapore, Pattaya, and Okinawa, as well as Hong Kong while it was still under British control. She successfully engaged in experimental launch and recovery operations with Marine close air support AV-8 Harrier jets and later rescued over 400 South Vietnamese refugees adrift in the South China Sea; her corpsmen delivering Grace Tarawa Tran during the rescue effort, who returned to a decommissioned Tarawa at Pearl Harbor in 2010 to meet the man who delivered her.[3]

After a second deployment WESTPAC, beginning in 1980 and spanning into 1981, Tarawa was in the Indian Ocean.[4][better source needed]

In 1983, during her third deployment, Tarawa went to the Mediterranean to support the United Nations (UN) peacekeepers in Beirut, Lebanon. Several additional cruises followed.

In 1985 as part of the US 7th Fleet, Tarawa participated in Operation Valiant Blitz with the US Marines 3rd Marine Division. The 1st Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment conducted amphibious landing and helicopter operations off the coast of Okinawa, including visits to Hong Kong and Subic Bay for liberty call.

In June 1989, Tarawa deployed for a six-month WESTPAC tour as the 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU), composed of the Marines from Camp Horno, Camp Pendleton, California, 1st Battalion 9th Marines (redesignated as 2nd Battalion 1st Marines on 9 September 1994).

In December 1990, Tarawa was the flagship of a 13-ship amphibious task force in support of Operation Desert Shield.[citation needed] She participated in the Sea Soldier IV landing exercise in January, which was a deception maneuver suggesting an amphibious assault in K