USS Ashland ( LSD - 1 ) USS " Ashland " ( LSD - 1 ) was the lead ship of her class — indeed , the first dock landing ship of the United States Navy . She was the first Navy ship to be named for Ashland , the estate of Henry Clay , in Lexington , Kentucky . " Ashland " was laid down on 22 June 1942 at Oakland , California , by the Moore Dry Dock Company ; launched on 21 December 1942 ; sponsored by Mrs . Jabez Lowell , the wife of Captain Lowell who was then the inspector of naval material at San Francisco ; and commissioned on 5 June 1943 , Lieutenant Commander Francis J . Harris in command . World War II . Following two months of trials , the dock landing ship loaded amphibious craft and personnel at San Diego , stood out to sea on 11 August , and headed west . After arriving at Pearl Harbor on 19 August , the ship paused to take on more cargo and sailed on 25 August for Baker Island . " Ashland " reached that destination on 1 September , unloaded her equipment , and returned to Hawaii on 27 September . Following voyage repairs , and the embarkation of Army troops , she sailed on 19 October for New Caledonia . At Nouméa , the ship loaded tanks and marines and proceeded to Efate where she joined Task Force 53 ( TF 53 ) to take part in amphibious assault exercises in the Gilbert Islands area which she completed on 28 November and set a course for Hawaii . She arrived at Pearl Harbor on 7 December and then commenced an availability period for voyage repairs and alterations . On 11 January 1944 , the vessel got underway for amphibious exercises off Maui . She sortied with TF 52 on 23 January for the assault on the Marshall Islands . From 1 February to 5 February , " Ashland " was involved in assaults on Kwajalein Island and on several of the other small islands in the atoll that bears the same name . On 15 February , the ship embarked marines and equipment at Roi - Namur and proceeded to the assault on Eniwetok . The ship entered Eniwetok Atoll on 17 February and served as a repair ship through 29 February . On that day , she got underway for Pearl Harbor . After a period of availability and operations in Hawaiian waters , the ship headed for the West Coast of the United States . She reached San Francisco on 1 April , began loading landing craft , and was back in Pearl Harbor on 17 April . " Ashland " then conducted training exercises off Maui before leaving Hawaii on 29 May for the initial assault on the Marianas . She launched boats for the invasion on Saipan on 15 June and then assumed duties as a repair ship . On 8 July , " Ashland " sailed to Eniwetok for fuel and supplies . The ship ' s next assignment was the invasion of Tinian on 24 July . She left the Marianas on 28 July and returned via Eniwetok to Pearl Harbor . " Ashland " underwent repairs and held amphibious landing exercises before sailing with Task Group 33 . 1 ( TG 33 . 1 ) for the assault on Yap and Ulithi . " Ashland " was diverted to Manus Island where she was assigned to TF 79 and prepared for the invasion of the Philippines . The ship sailed on 14 October and launched her boats on the 20th for the first assault against Leyte . " Ashland " left the combat area on 22 October and proceeded to Hollandia , New Guinea . There , she embarked troops for transportation to the Philippines ; and , after delivering them to Leyte , she returned to Hollandia on 21 November . " Ashland " headed for Cape Gloucester on 28 November for training exercises . Three days later , she got underway for Lingayen Gulf and the occupation of Luzon . All her equipment was unloaded by 12 January 1945 , and " Ashland " retired toward Leyte . She continued on to Ulithi where she was reassigned to the 5th Fleet . The ship proceeded to Guam on 7 February , loaded 18 amphibious craft , and sailed to Saipan . There , she took on spare parts and more troops . On 12 February and 13 February , " Ashland " participated in landing rehearsals at Tinian . She sailed for Iwo Jima on 16 February and began launching her boats on the 19th . Despite continuing air attacks , " Ashland " ' s crew carried out repair work on schedule until she finally withdrew to Eniwetok on 31 March . " Ashland " entered Pearl Harbor on 13 April and underwent an availability . She took on amphibious craft late in May and got underway for the Philippines on 3 June . She touched at Samar on 1 July to embark PT boat s and their crews for transportation to Kerama Retto . The ship sailed on 3 July , unloaded her charges , and returned to Leyte on 10 July . She shuttled a similar cargo to Okinawa soon thereafter and arrived at Eniwetok on 7 August to refuel . The war ended on 15 August while " Ashland " was steaming independently to Espiritu Santo . After mooring there on 17 August , she proceeded with a load of PT boats to Okinawa . Then she next sailed for Jinsen , Korea , and arrived there on 29 September . She remained at that port two days before getting underway for Leyte for a three - week availability before returning to Okinawa in late October . " Ashland " continued her duty of carrying and tending landing craft in the Far East until January 1946 . Shortly thereafter she returned to the United States and was placed out of commission , in reserve , in March 1946 at San Diego . 1950 – 1957 . " Ashland " was recommissiqned on 27 December 1950 and completed her shakedown training at San Diego in February 1951 . She sailed for the East Coast in April and reported to the Maryland Shipbuilding and Drydock Company , Baltimore , Maryland , on 2 May for additional alterations . The ship ' s first assignment upon leaving the yard was Operation Bluejay , held in conjunction with the Military Sea Transportation Service ( MSTS ) . From June to September , she was deployed to Thule , Greenland . In September , " Ashland " left Greenland and sailed to the Caribbean for two months of operations before returning to Norfolk in November for the remainder of the year . The ship headed back toward the Caribbean in January 1953 for a month - long cruise . She arrived back in the Virginia Capes area in February and remained there until mid - June . On 14 June , " Ashland " commenced a trip to the North Atlantic and operated in those waters through mid - August . In September , she took on board two French submarines and seven French naval personnel for transportation to the West Coast . The vessel transited the Panama Canal on 10 October and touched at San Diego on the 14th . She returned to Norfolk in October and resumed service along the East Coast . From April to June 1955 , the ship underwent repairs at the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard and then proceeded to Newport , Rhode Island , for underway training . On 20 September , she got underway for Operation Sunec , which took her to Thule , Greenland , and ports in Labrador and Newfoundland . After returning in December , " Ashland " entered an upkeep period lasting through February 1956 . She then received further repairs at Baltimore . In April , the ship took part in amphibious exercises at Vieques Island , Puerto Rico . Following this evolution , she made a reserve training cruise to Bermuda . In July , the vessel embarked Army personnel and equipment at NS Argentia , Newfoundland , and sailed on 19 July as part of the DEW line resupply mission . This operation lasted through 8 October . On 1 November , " Ashland " was transferred to the control of Commander , Naval Air Forces , Atlantic , for alterations enabling the ship to tend aircraft . By July 1957 , she was configured to handle six P5M - 2 aircraft . The ship deployed to the Caribbean from 1 August to mid - September . At the conclusion of this assignment , the dock landing ship was decommissioned on 14 September 1957 and placed in the Norfolk Group of the Atlantic Reserve Fleet . 1961 – 1969 . " Ashland " was recommissioned on 29 November 1961 . Assigned to Amphibious Squadron 4 , she began a routine alternating operations off the East Coast with 6th Fleet deployments to the Mediterranean and to the Caribbean . In October 1964 , she participated in Operation Steel Pike I , during which the ship served as a primary control vessel and boat repair ship . Upon completion of Steel Pike , the dock landing ship visited ports in Spain and Portugal before returning to Little Creek , Virginia , her home port , on 19 November . Early in February 1965 , " Ashland " took part in Operation FirEx , a joint Navy - Marine Corps exercise off the Puerto Rican coast and returned to Little Creek on 6 March . She got underway for the Mediterranean in June along with five other ships of Amphibious Squadron 4 and there served in six amphibious landing exercises . During this deployment , she visited nine European ports of call before returning to her home port on 3 November . The ship was deployed to the Caribbean on 3 March 1966 as part of the Caribbean Ready Group and conducted numerous amphibious landings , including Operation Beachtime which involved over 40 ships of the 2d Fleet . Upon her return to Little Creek on 27 June , " Ashland " conducted upkeep until sailing for Narragansett Bay on 18 July for a series of training exercises . She was back in Little Creek later that month and went alongside for an availability . " Ashland " spent the next few months in training exercises and then entered Norfolk Shipbuilding & Dry Dock Company on 18 November for overhaul . The yard work ended on 3 March 1967 , but " Ashland " remained in the Norfolk area until 10 April , when she left for underway training at Guantanamo Bay , Cuba . She returned to Norfolk on 11 May but , four days later , reversed her course and proceeded back to Guantanamo Bay . " Ashland " touched back at home port in early June and engaged in local operations until 3 October , when the dock landing ship sailed for Vieques . She returned to Little Creek on 20 October and ended the year in an upkeep status . " Ashland " was deployed to the Mediterranean on 3 January 1968 . She relieved at Almería , Spain , on 24 January and then held landing exercises at Aranci Bay , Sardinia , and Lovo Santo , Corsica . She visited Gibraltar ; Valencia , Spain ; Marseilles , France ; and Naples and La Spezia , Italy . From 29 April to 10 May , Ashland took part in NATO Exercise Dawn Patrol which also involved French and Greek naval forces . She returned to Little Creek on 30 May . During July and August , the amphibious warship made visits to several East Coast ports and embarked American and Australian midshipmen for a training cruise . She spent September and October undergoing extensive repairs alongside . On 12 November , " Ashland " weighed anchor for another Mediterranean tour . During the deployment , she repeated her routine of amphibious landing exercises and port visits before returning to the United States in late April 1969 . After 2 months at Little Creek , Virginia , the Ashland embarked on its final Mediterranean Cruise , sailing in early July for Rota , Spain . Then , on to Sardinia for exercises and a ship ' s party on the beach . From there , the ship travelled to Cannes , France , and then on to Valletta , Malta . After that , the ship travelled to Timbakion , Crete . It received orders to return to Little Creek while in Crete , cutting short its cruise , and the ship made its way back , encountering along the way a hurricane in roughly the area soon to be called the Bermuda Triangle . A safe return to Little Creek ensued . There , it was found that the repairs she needed to continue efficient operation would be prohibitively expensive . Therefore , " Ashland " was decommissioned on 22 November 1969 . Her name was struck from the Navy List on 25 November 1969 . She was sold to N . W . Kennedy , Ltd . , of Vancouver , British Columbia in May 1970 . Awards . " Ashland " earned six battle star s for World War II service .