USS San Bernardino ( LST - 1189 ) USS " San Bernardino " ( LST - 1189 ) was the eleventh of twenty s built for the United States Navy in the late 1960s and early 1970s . Named after the City of San Bernardino , California , she was the only U . S . Naval vessel to bear the name . " San Bernardino " ( LST - 1189 ) was laid down on 12 July 1969 by National Steel and Shipbuilding Company , San Diego ; launched on 28 March 1970 ; sponsored by Mrs . Walter H . Baumberger , wife of Vice Admiral Baumberger ; and commissioned at the Long Beach Naval Shipyard on 27 March 1971 with Commander Francis L . Roach in command . US service . 1971 – 1974 . Assigned to Amphibious Squadron 3 , Amphibious Force , Pacific Fleet , the new tank landing ship got underway from Long Beach on 7 April 1971 and reached her home port , San Diego , the next day . For the remainder of 1971 , she operated along the coast of California , conducting shakedown and various training exercises prior to commencing normal operations with the fleet . " San Bernardino " opened 1972 by escorting four Indonesia n Military Sealift Command ( MSC ) vessels from the United States to Pearl Harbor , Hawaii . She returned to San Diego , via Acapulco , Mexico on 9 February . Until the beginning of April , she sailed the coast of California . On 3 April she departed for Pearl Harbor and an amphibious exercise in the Hawaiian Islands . She completed the exercise on 14 April and , after three days in Pearl Harbor , weighed anchor for Long Beach on the 17th . After off - loading marines at Long Beach on the 22nd , she returned to San Diego . She remained in San Diego until 7 June , when she departed on a voyage to South America . The tank landing ship visited Valparaíso , Chile ; Callao , Peru ; and Rodman , C . Z . , before returning to San Diego on 17 July . " San Bernardino " conducted refresher training in late July and early August ; and participated in another amphibious exercise in late August . After a month of preparation , " San Bernardino " departed San Diego on 21 September to deploy to the western Pacific . She arrived in Subic Bay on 19 October ; participated in ZAMEX 9 – 72 on the 23rd and 24th ; and put to sea on the 27th . On the next day , she joined the Amphibious Ready Group in the Gulf of Tonkin and remained there until 14 November , when she sailed for Keelung , Taiwan . Following a return voyage to Subic Bay , she rejoined the Amphibious Ready Group in the Gulf of Tonkin on 15 December . Two days later , she was detached to assist the and to Subic Bay . Arriving on 19 December , she departed the same day , bound for Hong Kong . She returned to Subic Bay on the 29th and remained in port for the rest of the year . " San Bernardino ' s " deployment to the 7th Fleet continued until mid - April 1973 . At that time , she sailed east to the United States , arriving at San Diego on the 29th . She remained on the west coast , either in port at San Diego or cruising the coast , for the rest of 1973 . " San Bernardino " spent the first five months of 1974 in port at San Diego . In early June , she sailed west again , stopping at Pearl Harbor ; Suva Harbor , Fiji ; and Brisbane , Australia . " San Bernardino " earned one battle star for service in the Vietnam War . 1995 . The last big task for the " San Bernardino " prior to the scheduled decommissioning and transfer of the ship to the Chilean Navy was to participate in the 50th anniversary of the Battle of Iwo Jima . It was the last of several 50th anniversary commemorations of World War II battles in which the ship had participated . For this one the " San Bernardino " was tasked with beaching on the island of Iwo Jima 50 years after the successful invasion . The " Last Real Gator " transited to Iwo Jima with the rest of the Amphibious Ready Group ( ARG ) consisting of the , and the . While other ships of the ARG remained a mile or so off shore because they were not capable of beaching , the " San Bernardino " , commanded by Commander Randy Etter with Lieutenant Dwayne Eldridge standing Officer of the Deck , executed a perfect beaching . After the bow ramp was extended and placed onto the beach sailors formed up as side boys along both sides of the ramp . As the " San Bernardino " sailors saluted , some of the marines and sailors who were on that beach 50 years previously proceeded up the ramp to participate in a short flight deck reception and wreath laying ceremony to commemorate the battle and remember the lives of those that were lost in securing victory . Chilean service . Decommissioned on 30 September 1995 , she was transferred to the Chilean Navy under the new name " Valdivia " ( LST - 93 ) . The ship arrived at its new Chilean homeport , Valparaíso , on 1 December 1995 . Its name is in honor of the first amphibious operation conducted by the Chilean Navy on 3 February 1820 , in Corral Bay , where a force led by Admiral Lord Thomas Alexander Cochrane took possession of the city of Valdivia . During 2010 , " Valdivia " was heavily involved in relief efforts following the series of eathquakes affecting Chile throughout 2010 . The intense workload caused structural and component fatigue to the already old vessel , and an inspection in August 2010 concluded that repairing the vessel would be uneconomical . " Valdivia " was decommissioned on 14 January 2011 . The Chilean navy plans to replace her with two landing platform dock type vessels .