USS Frederick (LST-1184)

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Career

Awarded:	15 July 1966
Laid down:	13 April 1968
Launched:	8 March 1969
Commissioned:	11 April 1970
Decommissioned:	5 October 2002
Stricken:	6 November 2002
Fate:	Sold to Mexico 22 November 2002
General Characteristics
Displacement:	8,792 tons full load
Length:	522 ft (159.1 m)
Beam:	70 ft (21.3 m)
Draft:	19 ft (5.8 m)
Propulsion:	6 × diesels; 16,000 hp; 2 × shafts; Single screw controllable pitch bow thruster
Speed:	20 knots (37 km/h)
Complement:	14 officers, 210 enlisted, 360-400 embarked troops
Armament:	4 × 12.7 mm machine guns 1 × 20 mm Phalanx CIWS
Cargo:	17,300 ft² (1,607 m²) vehicle, 2000 tons total (500 when beaching)

USS Frederick (LST-1184) was named after the city of Frederick, Maryland and Frederick County, Maryland. She was laid down on 13 April 1968 at San Diego, California, by the National Steel and Shipbuilding Corporation; launched on 8 March 1969; sponsored by Mrs. Kleber S. Masterson; and commissioned on 11 April 1970, Cmdr. Robert A. Shaid in command.

Ship's crest

Following shakedown, Frederick was assigned to the Amphibious Force, Pacific Fleet, and was homeported at San Diego. She made over thirteen major deployments to the Western Pacific and Far East. She participated in the Vietnam withdrawal operation in 1970 and the South Vietnam refugee evacuation of 1974.

Frederick deployed with Phibron One in May 1983 from San Diego, California. During the deployment she visited Pearl Harbor, Hawaii; Okinawa, Japan; Philippines; Hong Kong, due to a typhoon Frederick was forced to leave harbor on July 14, 1983; Thailand; Singapore; Somalia; Kenya, during the short stay at Mombasa Frederick was reassigned for deployment to Beirut; Beirut, Lebanon, Frederick was part of the Multinational Peace Keeping Force at Beirut, Lebanon from Sept 12 to October 10, 1983. Frederick then cruised back to San Diego making three stops along the way. The first was at Singapore. Then a short visit to Subic Bay in the Philippines. Then a relaxed port of call at Pearl Harbor. Frederick arrived in San Diego on November 22, 1983.

Frederick deployed in support of Operation Desert Shield and Operation Desert Storm. She was part of a 13 ship amphibious task force that departed on 1 December 1990 for the Persian Gulf in support of Operation Desert Shield. Upon arriving in the Gulf of Oman, Frederick along with various amphibious ships from the Atlantic and Pacific Fleets conducted amphibious exercises in preparation for an amphibious landing, if needed, in Kuwait. Upon commencement of Operation Desert Storm, Frederick and various elements of COMPHIBGRU TWO and COMPHIBGRU THREE headed into the Persian Gulf and conducted one of the greatest mock amphibious invasions in modern warfare. That operation pinned down 15 Iraqi divisions, thus ensuring a quick and decisive victory for the allied forces. Frederick was also involved in the only actual amphibious landing of the Gulf War.

Frederick conducted Operation Sea Angel, humanitarian assistance for Bangladesh. In 1994, Frederick deployed to Somalia in support of humanitarian aid operations.

Frederick was transferred to the Naval Reserve Force in January 1995 and changed homeport to Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. As the only amphibious ship in Pearl Harbor, she conducted bilateral exercises with South East Asian armed forces, continuous training exercises with the United States Marine Corps and was on standby to conduct humanitarian assistance and disaster relief missions, throughout the Pacific.

Frederick decommissioned on 5 October 2002 and was sold the following month to the Mexican Navy as the Usumacinta (A-412). She was the last of her class to decommission.

Frederick earned one award of the Meritorious Unit Commendation and three battle stars for Vietnam service.