USS La Salle

The second USS La Salle (LPD-3/AGF-3) was built as a and entered service with the United States Navy in 1964. La Salle was named for the city in Illinois that was in turn named after René-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle. La Salle saw service in the Caribbean Sea, Gulf of Mexico and throughout international waters in the Middle East. The vessel served as a command ship for Joint Task Force Middle East. In 2005 the ship was decommissioned and sunk as a target ship off the Atlantic coast of the United States in 2007. Construction and career Her keel was laid down by New York Naval Shipyard, Brooklyn, New York, on 2 April 1962. She was launched on 3 August 1963 sponsored by Mrs. Victor M. Longstreet, and commissioned on 22 February 1964. Amphibious transport, 1964–1968 After shakedown and training in the Caribbean Sea and off Norfolk, Virginia, the amphibious transport dock departed Norfolk on 9 October to participate in "Operation Steel Pike I", a complex training exercise involving over 80 ships and United States and Spanish troops. It closed the coast of Spain off Huelva on 26 October, and embarked Under Secretary of the Navy Paul B. Fay, Vice Chief of Naval Operations Admiral Horacio Rivero, Commandant of the Marine Corps General Wallace M. Greene, and Chairman of the House Armed Services Committee Congressman Mendel Rivers to watch the landing operations. The exercise completed on 4 November, La Salle joined the 6th Fleet at Naples, Italy, for amphibious operations and joint NATO training. It returned to Norfolk on 13 March 1965.