USS Iwo Jima ( LPH - 2 ) USS " Iwo Jima " ( LPH - 2 ) was the lead ship of her class and type — the first ship to be designed and built from the keel up as an amphibious assault ship . She carried helicopter s and a detachment of embarked Marines for use in the Navy ' s " vertical envelopment " concept of amphibious operations . " Iwo Jima " was the second of three ships of the United States Navy to be named for the Battle of Iwo Jima , although the first to be completed and see service ( the first was cancelled during construction ) . First cruises and Cuban Missile Crisis . " Iwo Jima " was laid down on 2 April 1959 by Puget Sound Naval Shipyard , Bremerton , Wash . ; launched on 17 September 1960 , sponsored by Mrs . Harry Schmidt ; and commissioned on 26 August 1961 , Captain T . D . Harris in command . Following shakedown training , she spent the rest of 1961 off the California coast in amphibious exercises . In April 1962 , the ship joined Joint Task Force 8 in the Johnston Island - Hawaii area for an important series of nuclear tests . " Iwo Jima " evacuated several islands and took part in the test evaluation . On 26 July , she sailed from the test area to Pearl Harbor , and continued on to San Diego , where she arrived on 10 August 1962 . In September , the ship took part in full - scale amphibious exercises in California , departing from San Diego on 17 October for her first deployment to the western Pacific . However , as the crisis flared up on 19 October over the introduction of offensive missiles into Cuba , " Iwo Jima " returned to San Diego , embarked Marines 22 October to 27 October , and departed quickly for the Caribbean . As part of America ' s powerful and mobile force afloat , she cruised in a " ready " status until December brought an easing of the Cuban situation . She arrived in San Diego on 13 December . WestPac Cruises . " Iwo Jima " operated out of her home port during the first half of 1963 , carrying out amphibious exercises and training . She departed on 30 August on her long - delayed Western Pacific cruise . Joining the 7th Fleet , she ranged from Hawaii to the Philippines and Taiwan . On 31 October 1963 , " Iwo Jima " departed Philippine waters for special operations along the coast of South Vietnam , standing by to protect American nationals during a period of increased strife . She returned to Subic Bay on 12 November . The following months she sailed with Special Landing Forces of Marines for rigorous amphibious assault and landing raids practice off the coasts of Taiwan and Okinawa . After unloading ammunition at Sasebo , Japan , she departed on 13 April 1964 to return to San Diego , arriving on 28 April . Following amphibious training with Marines along the California seaboard , she overhauled in the Long Beach Naval Shipyard . This work was completed by 7 December 1964 , when " Iwo Jima " began amphibious refresher training ranging to the Hawaiian Islands . On 13 March 1965 , she departed Pearl Harbor for San Diego , arriving 6 days later . Vietnam War . " Iwo Jima " received tons of supplies and scores of Army helicopters , tanker trucks , and vehicles in her hangar and flight deck spaces . Nearly a thousand troops were embarked for her western transit , which began on 12 April 1965 . She stopped at Pearl Harbor for a few hours on the 17th to off - load 50 Marines and their equipment . On 1 May to 2 May , she steamed off St . Jacques , Republic of Vietnam , flying off 77 Army helicopters loaded with troops and combat cargo . From there , she proceeded to Subic Bay in the Philippines , where troops and equipment were received for amphibious landing at Chu Lai , Vietnam , on 11 May 1965 . " Iwo Jima " remained off Chu Lai for a month , protecting Marines and Seabees establishing an air field on the sandy shore . Besides helicopter support ashore , including defense perimeter patrol , she was a support center for laundry , showers , fresh provisions , store and mail service . She also supervised the continual off - load of ships over the beach for the entire month , then on 7 June 1965 , landed squadron personnel and helicopters ashore at Hue - Phu Bai , some 30 miles north of Da Nang . After a few days rest in Subic Bay she was routed to Sasebo , thence to Buckner Bay , Okinawa , where she embarked Marines and equipment . This was completed on 26 June 1965 , when she sailed for Qui Nhon , Republic of Vietnam , in company with " Talladega " ( APA - 208 ) and " Point Defiance " ( LSD - 31 ) . These ships were designated Task Group 76 . 5 , that part of the 7th Fleet that carries the Marine Special Landing Force . On the 30th , she arrived at Qui Nhon , about 100 miles south of Chu Lai . The following day Marines landed ashore to take up defensive positions for the protection of Army engineers and communications units . " Iwo Jima " remained off Qui Nhon for defensive support until 20 July 1965 , then steamed for Pratas Reef about 240 miles southwest of Taiwan . Arriving the morning of the 22d , her helicopters were immediately pressed into service to aid the salvage of destroyer " Frank Knox " ( DD - 742 ) . The close approach of typhoon " Gilda " pounded the grounded destroyer so badly that it was impossible for small boats to get alongside her . Extra men were heli - lifted off the destroyer while surf rose 12 feet high to break completely over the stern of " Frank Knox " . Support given by " Iwo Jima " included such items as hot food , clothes , water , pumps , hose , gasoline , air compressors , welding machines , damage control equipment and technicians . Feed water was heli - lifted in special tanks constructed by destroyer tender " Prairie " ( AD - 15 ) who had faint hope of keeping the destroyer ' s boiler alive . Detached from this duty on 1 August 1965 , " Iwo Jima " made a brief call at Hong Kong , then proceeded to the Philippines . On 17 August 1965 , " Iwo Jima " steamed out of Subic Bay for Vung Tau , Republic of Vietnam , to join in Operation Starlight , a 5 - day search - and - destroy operation that eradicated some 600 Viet Cong . The successful Navy - Marine Corps amphibious operation , backed by gunfire support from cruiser " Galveston " ( CLG - 3 ) and two destroyers , came to a close late on 24 August . " Iwo Jima " ' s evacuation and surgical teams kept the American casualties down to a very low percentage . During transit back to Subic Bay , she learned " Frank Knox " had been refloated ; good news for the crew who had put in so many hard and long hours at Pratas Reef . She landed her Marine Special Landing Force at Chu Lai during 1 September to 2 September , embarked 800 Marines of a rotation draft , and sailed for Buckner Bay . " Iwo Jima " landed the rotation troops at Okinawa , then came off Qui Nhon , 10 September 1965 , to cover the landing of the Army ' s 1st Air Cavalry Division . She had supported three amphibious assault search - and - destroy raids along the coast by 1 October when she steamed to southern waters , remaining in stand - by status for possible evacuation of U . S . nationals in revolt - torn Indonesia . Eight days later she sailed for Danang for a helicopter squadron exchange , thence to Subic Bay where she was relieved by " Valley Forge " ( LPH - 8 ) . Following a visit to Yokosuka , she departed 1 November for return to San Diego , arriving 17 November 1965 . Several months later she again joined the 7th Fleet Amphibious Ready Group , a fast moving assault force which had completed more than 20 search - and - destroy operations along the South Vietnamese coast between March 1965 and September 1966 . One of these missions hit only 3 miles south of the demilitarized zone to search out and decimate a regiment of the North Vietnam Army ' s 342B Division which had infiltrated South Vietnam through the neutral zone . During the first 3 months of 1966 , " Iwo Jima " was at San Diego for upkeep and improvement changes . From April through June extensive refresher training occupied all hands as " Iwo Jima " prepared for her forthcoming Western Pacific deployment . On 24 July , steaming with a task group , she passed the volcanic island whose costly conquest by stouthearted sailors and marines had inspired her name . On board was one of the marine groups that had landed on " Iwo Jima " over two decades earlier . After operations in the Vietnam area , she sailed for Japan . 30 December once again found " Iwo Jima " on the line and underway for special operations in the Mekong Delta region of South Vietnam in a Navy - ready group with a two pronged punch . Early in January 1967 , the Commanding Officer , Captain Nils W . Boe , was relieved by Captain F . X . Timmes . On his departure , Captain Boe said of his crew in a family - gram to mothers and wives , " I want to thank each of you for letting me borrow these magnificent young men for a little while . They have made me feel ten feet tall . " On 1 July 1967 , " Iwo Jima " was reassigned to Amphibious Squadron 3 from Amphibious Squadron 1 , with which she continued to sail with the Pacific Fleet . Pacific Recovery Forces ( Task Force 130 ) . On 17 April 1970 , " Iwo Jima " was the flagship of Task Force 130 that waited for the Apollo 13 spaceship ' s astronauts after their memorable " successful failure " mission and splashdown near American Samoa . In the 1995 film " Apollo 13 " , " Iwo Jima " was played by her sister ship , USS " New Orleans " ( LPH - 11 ) . " Iwo Jima " ’ s skipper , Captain Leland E . Kirkemo , is portrayed by the film ' s central protagonist , Captain Jim Lovell . Multinational Peacekeeping Force . From 10 May 1983 to 8 December 1983 , " Iwo Jima " operated off the Lebanon coast as part of Mediterranean Amphibious Ready Group 2 - 83 ( Marg 2 - 83 ) . The ships hosted the 24th Marine Amphibious Unit ( 24th MAU ) , the main body of which disembarked on 29 May to take position in and around Beirut International Airport , relieving the 22nd MAU as the principal US component of the Multinational Force in Lebanon . On 23 October 1983 , an attack on the Marine ' s barracks caused the death of 241 US servicemen and wounded a further 60 . The ship ' s commanding officer at the time was Arden W . Jones , CAPT USN . During the deployment , it served as the flagship for COMPHIBRON EIGHT , with Morgan France , CAPT USN serving as squadron commander . Catastrophic boiler accident . In October 1990 , " Iwo Jima " was in the Persian Gulf , as part of the buildup for Operation Desert Storm . Having been in operation there for two months , she had developed a leak in a steam valve which supplied steam to a stand - by electrical generator . She docked in Manama , Bahrain , where the valve was repaired by a local contractor under US government inspection . Repairs were completed towards the end of October . On 30 October , as she raised steam to get underway and rejoin the fleet , the valve began to leak once more . The bonnet blew off the valve , flooding the boiler room with steam from two boilers . Ten of the eleven crewmen in the room were killed , with the last surviving until 2330 that evening . The cause of the accident was determined to be the use of fasteners of the wrong material ( namely black oxide coated brass ) on the valve , combined with a lack of proper inspection . Decommissioning . " Iwo Jima " was decommissioned on 14 July 1993 , and struck from the Naval Vessel Register on 24 September . She was sold for scrap on 18 December 1995 . The ship ' s island is at The Museum Of The American GI in College Station , Texas . Potential role in 1982 Falklands War . In the July 2012 newsletter of the United States Naval Institute , which was reprinted online at the Institute ' s web site , it was revealed that the Reagan Administration actively offered the use of the " Iwo Jima " as a replacement in case either of the two British carriers , the and the , had been damaged or destroyed during the 1982 Falklands War . This top - secret contigency plan was revealed to the staff of the Naval Institute by John Lehman , the U . S . Secretary of the Navy at the time of the Falklands War , from a speech provided to the Naval Institute that Lehman made in Portsmouth , U . K . , on 26 June 2012 . Lehman stated that the loan of the " Iwo Jima " was made in response to a request from the Royal Navy , and it had the endorsement of U . S . President Ronald Reagan and U . S . Secretary of Defense Caspar Weinberger . The actual planning for the " Iwo Jima " loan - out was done by the staff of the U . S . Second Fleet under the direction of Vice Admiral James Lyons who confirmed Lehman ' s revelations with the Naval Institute staff . Contigency planning envisioned American military contractor s , likely retired sailors with knowledge of the " Iwo Jima " s systems , assisting the British in manning the U . S . helicopter carrier during the loan - out . Naval analyst Eric Wertheim compared this arrangement to the Flying Tigers . Significantly , except for U . S . Secretary of State Alexander Haig , the U . S . Department of State was not included in the loan - out negotiations . This revelation made headlines in the United Kingdom , but except for the U . S . Naval Institute , not in the United States . References . Jackson , Robert " Fighting Ships of The World . " London : Amber Books Ltd , 2004 Pg . 376 ISBN 9781840136470