page_title: USS New Orleans (LPH-11)
section_title: 1980s
hierarchical_section_title: USS New Orleans (LPH-11) / 1980s
caption_attribution_description: A port beam view of the amphibious assault ship USS NEW ORLEANS (LPH 11) underway. CH-53 Sea Stallion and CH-46 Sea Knight helicopters line the flight deck.
context_page_description: USS New Orleans (LPH-11) was an Iwo Jima-class amphibious assault ship in the United States Navy. She was the third Navy ship to be so named, and is the first named for the Battle of New Orleans, which was the last major battle of the War of 1812.
  New Orleans was laid down on 1 March 1966 at the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She was launched on 3 February 1968 and sponsored by Mrs. Arthur A. De la Houssaye. She was commissioned on 16 November 1968 with Captain G.M. Even in command.
context_section_description: In 1980, the ship deployed and spent several months in the Indian Ocean during the Iran hostage crisis. She completed a major overhaul at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard in 1981. Deployments and exercises in 1982 and 1983 included RIMPAC '82, Exercise Kernel Usher '83-1, Operation Team Spirit 83, and WESTPAC '83. From May to December 1984, New Orleans sailed the Indian Ocean and Western Pacific, participating in eight major amphibious operations. These included Operation Beach Guard, Operation Cobra Gold & Operation Valiant Usher and was honored as the first US ship to land troops ashore at the island of Iwo Jima since WWII as well as troops at Inchon, Korea since the Korean War. While on WESTPAC in 1986, she served in an alert status off the Philippine coast during that country's national elections. She also served as the medical and communications support ship for president Ronald Reagan's trip to Bali, Indonesia.
  Upon her return to home port, New Orleans participated in two major exercises leading to her thirteenth deployment to the Western Pacific. During this time, she participated in four amphibious exercises, including Cobra Gold '88, Valiant Usher '89-1, and Valiant Blitz '89-1. The ship called on the port of Perth, Australia, during that country's bicentennial. In 1989, she made port visits to Mazatlán (Mexico) and Seattle, Washington, for the Seattle Sea Fair. She also conducted a humanitarian relief effort in Cabo San Lucas (Mexico).
caption: USS New Orleans underway with a complement of CH-53 Sea Stallion and CH-46 Sea Knight helicopters lining the flight deck.
exif: {}