View source for USS Point Defiance

{{morefootnotes|date=November 2024}}
{{Use American English|date=November 2024}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2024}}
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{{Infobox ship image
|Ship image=  [[File:USS Point Defiance;10123111.jpg|300px|USS Point Defiance (LSD-31)]]
|Ship caption= 
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{{Infobox ship career
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|Ship country=United States
|Ship flag={{USN flag|1983}}
|Ship name=USS ''Point Defiance''
|Ship namesake=[[Point Defiance Park|Point Defiance]]
|Ship ordered=
|Ship awarded=28 February 1952
|Ship builder=[[Ingalls Shipbuilding]], [[Pascagoula, Mississippi]]
|Ship laid down=23 November 1953
|Ship launched=28 September 1954
|Ship acquired=
|Ship commissioned= 31 March 1955
|Ship decommissioned= 30 September 1983
|Ship in service=
|Ship out of service=
|Ship struck=24 February 1992
|Ship renamed=
|Ship reclassified=
|Ship homeport=
|Ship motto= 
|Ship nickname=
|Ship honors=10 [[campaign star]]s (Vietnam)
|Ship fate=Scrapped October 2011
|Ship notes=
}}
{{Infobox ship characteristics
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|Header caption=
|Ship class= {{sclass|Thomaston|dock landing ship}}
|Ship displacement=*{{convert|8899|LT|t|0}} light
*{{convert|11525|LT|t|0|abbr=on}} full load
|Ship length= {{convert|510|ft|m|abbr=on}}
|Ship beam= {{convert|84|ft|m|abbr=on}}
|Ship draft={{convert|19|ft|m|abbr=on}}
|Ship depth=
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|Ship decks=
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|Ship propulsion=2 × steam [[turbine]]s, 2 shafts, {{convert|23000|shp|MW|abbr=on}}
|Ship speed= {{convert|21|kn|lk=in}}
|Ship range= 
|Ship endurance=
|Ship boats=21 × [[Landing Craft Mechanized|LCM-6]] landing craft in [[well deck]]
|Ship capacity=
|Ship troops=300
|Ship complement= 304
|Ship sensors=
|Ship EW=
|Ship armament=*4 × twin [[3"/50 caliber gun|{{convert|3|in|mm|abbr=on}}]]/50 cal guns
*6 × twin [[Oerlikon 20 mm cannon|20 mm]] AA guns
|Ship armor=
|Ship aircraft= One helicopter
|Ship aircraft facilities=[[Helipad|Helicopter landing area]] usually of wood construction; no hangar
|Ship notes=
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'''USS ''Point Defiance'' (LSD-31)''' was a {{sclass|Thomaston|dock landing ship}} of the [[United States Navy]]. She was named for [[Point Defiance Park#History|Point Defiance]], a location in [[Pierce County, Washington]], the site of a military reservation established by the U.S. Government in 1866. She was the second ship assigned that name. The construction of the first ship, {{sclass|Casa Grande|dock landing ship}} ''Point Defiance'' (LSD-23), was canceled on 17 August 1945.

''Point Defiance'' (LSD–31) was laid down on 23 November 1953 by [[Ingalls Shipbuilding]] Corp., [[Pascagoula, Miss.]]; [[Ship naming and launching|launched]] on 28 September 1954, sponsored by Mrs. Arthur D. Struble; and [[ship commissioning|commissioned]] on 31 March 1955.

==Service history==

===1955&ndash;1962===
Following shakedown in the [[Gulf of Mexico]], the new dock landing ship arrived [[Long Beach, California]], in July 1955 and joined Amphibious Squadron 7, Amphibious Force, [[United States Pacific Fleet|Pacific Fleet]].

After two deployments to the western Pacific, ''Point Defiance'' became one of the first rocket-launching surface ships to support the 1958 [[International Geophysical Year]] [[Solar eclipse of April 19, 1958|Solar Eclipse]] Expedition to the South Pacific. Launchers on deck fired eight [[Nike-Asp]] [[sounding rocket]]s to collect scientific data during the eclipse.

In May 1959 ''Point Defiance'' participated in the large scale and highly successful amphibious "Operation Twin Peaks" off [[Oceanside, California]] In February 1960 ''Point Defiance'' made her third cruise to the western Pacific, participating in "Operation Blue Star", a combined amphibious operation with [[Republic of China|Chinese Nationalist]] Forces. In June 1960 she participated in "Operation Sea Hawk", a combined amphibious landing with [[Republic of Korea]] forces and returned to Long Beach in July.

She operated off the West Coast during most of 1961, and made a brief cruise to [[Pearl Harbor]] and [[Okinawa Island|Okinawa]]. ''Point Defiance'' departed Long Beach for the western Pacific in January 1962. In May she landed [[United States Marine Corps|Marines]] at [[Bangkok]], [[Thailand]]. In October she transited the [[Panama Canal]] and steamed to the [[Caribbean Sea|Caribbean]] ready to act if needed during the [[Cuban Missile Crisis|Cuban Quarantine]].

===1963&ndash;2011===
In early 1963 ''Point Defiance'' carried [[bathyscaphe]] ''[[Bathyscaphe Trieste|Trieste]]'' from [[San Diego]] through the [[Panama Canal]] to [[Boston]] for deep search operations into the cause of the loss of the nuclear [[submarine]] {{USS|Thresher|SSN-593|3}}.

In September ''Point Defiance'' was on her way to the western Pacific again. In October she steamed to [[Vietnam]] to safeguard U.S. interests, and in November participated in another combined amphibious operation with the [[Republic of China]].

From April to September 1964, ''Point Defiance'' operated in the eastern Pacific, then underwent overhaul. She departed for the western Pacific on 27 April 1965 and off-loaded men and equipment at [[Da Nang]], [[South Vietnam]], on 26 May. On 18 June she helped rescue survivors from the midair collision of two [[Guam]]-based [[B-52 Stratofortress|B-52s]]. In July she landed Marines at [[Qui Nhơn]], South Vietnam, and in early August helped salvage {{USS|Frank Knox|DD-742|6}}, aground on [[Pratas Islands|Pratas Reef]]. In late August she took part in [[Operation Starlite]], an amphibious raid at Van Tuong, South Vietnam, which inflicted heavy enemy casualties. After another successful amphibious landing, she returned home on 24 November.

''Point Defiance'' again departed for the western Pacific on 27 March 1966, and began transporting troops and equipment from U.S. bases in the Far East to South Vietnam. She returned to Long Beach on 24 June, but deployed to South Vietnam again on 1 November. On 11 January 1967 ''Point Defiance'' participated in "[[Operation Deckhouse V|Deckhouse V]]", a major U.S. operation in the Kien Hoa area. On 18 May she sent U.S. Marines on to the beach in the southern half of the [[Vietnamese Demilitarized Zone|Demilitarized Zone]], exchanging fire with [[North Vietnam]]ese shore [[artillery|batteries]]. She returned to Long Beach on 24 June.

On 7 May 1968 ''Point Defiance'' was off on another deployment to the western Pacific, once again with an amphibious ready group off Vietnam. She returned to Long Beach on 18 December.

In the summer of 1969, "Point Defiance" carried a contingent of Naval Academy Midshipmen from San Diego to Seattle to Honolulu and back to San Diego.

In 1972 the Point Defiance was again part of a Ready Group off the coast of Vietnam. It was part of a helicopter assault behind [[People's Army of Vietnam]] lines off the coast of northern South Vietnam in the area of [[Huế]] during the [[Easter Offensive]] of 1972.

: [''1968-2011'']

===Decommissioning, 1983&ndash;2011===
''Point Defiance''  was decommissioned on 30 September 1983 and her name struck from the [[Naval Vessel Register]] on 24 February 1992. She was sold to Pegasus Inc., on 29 September 1995, but repossessed by the Navy, 1 July 1997. Custody was transferred to [[Maritime Administration]] (MARAD), 18 December 1998, and she was laid up in the [[National Defense Reserve Fleet]], [[Suisun Bay]], [[Benicia, California]]. On 28 July 2011, ''Point Defiance'' was sold by MARAD to All Star Metals of Brownsville, Tx for $578,539 to be dismantled.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://voa.marad.dot.gov/Solicitation_Awards/docs/mar-610/MA-14147-POINT-DEFIANCE-SIGNED.pdf |title=Archived copy |access-date=2012-01-04 |archive-date=2016-03-04 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304044528/https://voa.marad.dot.gov/Solicitation_Awards/docs/mar-610/MA-14147-POINT-DEFIANCE-SIGNED.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref> ''Point Defiance'' departed the Suisun Bay Reserve Fleet on 8 September to be cleaned by Allied Defense Recycling at the former Mare Island Naval Shipyard.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.shipspotting.com/gallery/photo.php?lid=1389516 |title = USS Point Defiance LSD31 - ShipSpotting.com - Ship Photos and Ship Tracker}}</ref> ''Point Defiance'' was towed to Brownsville upon completion of the cleaning and was scrapped in October 2011.

==References==
{{DANFS|http://www.history.navy.mil/danfs/p8/point_defiance.htm}}
<references />

== External links ==
*{{Naval Vessel Register URL|id=LSD31|title=nvr.navy.mil: USS ''Point Defiance''}}
*{{navsource|10/12/1231|USS Point Defiance}}
*[http://www.hazegray.org/danfs/amphib/lsd31.htm hazegray.org: USS ''Point Defiance'']

{{Thomaston class dock landing ship}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Point Defiance (LSD-31)}}
[[Category:Thomaston-class dock landing ships]]
[[Category:Cold War amphibious warfare vessels of the United States]]
[[Category:Vietnam War amphibious warfare vessels of the United States]]
[[Category:Ships built in Pascagoula, Mississippi]]
[[Category:1954 ships]]
[[Category:Point Defiance]]