page_title: USS Acadia
section_title: 1987–1994
hierarchical_section_title: USS Acadia / Service history / 1987–1994
caption_attribution_description: English: A stock image file from the USS Acadia newspaper "Tendergram" Nov. 1990. It shows the USS Oldendorf and the USS Curts alongside and a sea-going tug on the other.
context_page_description: USS Acadia was a Yellowstone-class destroyer tender in the service of the United States Navy, named after Acadia National Park. She was inactive and in reserve after her 1994 decommissioning at Naval Inactive Ship Maintenance Facility, Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, under maintenance category B, until sunk off Guam during a live-fire training exercise on 20 September 2010. She was the first ship to house a wartime mixed sex crew and was unofficially nicknamed "The Love Boat" in the 1991 Persian Gulf War after 36 women became pregnant during deployment.
  She was ordered on 11 March 1976, laid down on 14 February 1978 at San Diego by National Steel and Shipbuilding Company, launched on 28 July 1979, sponsored by Mrs. Clarence R. Bryan, wife of Vice Admiral Bryan, and commissioned on 6 June 1981 with Capt. Brenton P. Hardy in command.
context_section_description: On 5 September 1990 the ship departed San Diego for the Persian Gulf during Operation Desert Shield and Operation Desert Storm. She was responsible for the first reload of shipboard Tomahawk missiles outside the continental U.S. while pierside in Mina Jebel Ali. The reload recipient was the guided missile destroyer John Paul Jones.
  This was the first wartime deployment of a mixed male-female crew on a U.S. Navy combat vessel. Just over one third of her crew were women, which caused some controversy when during the course of the mission 1 in 10 of the female crew either became pregnant or discovered they already were.
  On 30 October 1990, USS Iwo Jima sustained a catastrophic mechanical failure when a high pressure steam valve burst. This cost the lives of ten of the crew but repairs kept her fully operational for Desert Storm after six weeks of repairs by Acadia.
  On 18 February 1991, the cruiser Princeton struck two influence mines in the Persian Gulf just forward of her after 5-inch (127 mm) gun mount during Operation Desert Storm, resulting in a cracked superstructure, a jammed port rudder and leaking port shaft seal. Despite severe damage to her stern, her forward weapon systems and Aegis combat system were back online within fifteen minutes. Princeton remained on station for 30 hours until relieved. Repairs in the Mina Jebel Ali near Dubai took five weeks, performed by the destroyer tender on duty: Acadia, after which Princeton returned to the United States under her own power for additional repairs.
  The ship returned to San Diego from the deployment. Acadia received the Navy Unit Commendation for her exemplary service during the Gulf War.
caption: Acadia, with Oldendorf and Curts alongside, and a sea-going tug on the other, November 1990
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