USS Point Defiance (LSD 31)

- decommissioned -

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Named after the park in Pierce County, Tacoma, Wash., the site of a miiltary reservation established by the U.S.Government in 1866, the USS POINT DEFIANCE was the fourth THOMASTON - class dock landing ship and the second ship in the Navy to bear the name. The first ship named POINT DEFIANCE was LSD 24 but this ship's construction was cancelled on August 17, 1945. Decommissioned on September 30, 1983, the POINT DEFIANCE was stricken from the Navy list on February 24, 1992. On September 29, 1995, the ship was sold for scrapping, however, the Navy repossessed POINT DEFIANCE in July 1997, and since then, the ship is laid up in the National Defense Reserve Fleet in the Suisun Bay, Benecia, Calif.

General Characteristics:	Awarded: February 28, 1952
	Keel laid: November 23, 1953
	Launched: September 28, 1954
	Commissioned: March 31, 1955
	Decommissioned: September 30, 1983
	Builder: Ingalls Shipbuilding, Pascagoula, Miss.
	Propulsion system: two 600 psi boilers, twp geared turbines
	Propellers: two
	Length: 510 feet (155.5 meters)
	Beam: 84 feet (25.6 meters)
	Draft: 19 feet (5.8 meters)
	Displacement: approx. 11,300 tons full load
	Speed: 22 knots
	Well deck capacity: three LCU or nine LCM-8 or 50 AAV
	Aircraft: helo platform only
	Crew: Ship: 18 officers, 330 enlisted
	Crew: Marine Detachment: approx. 330 Marines
	Armament: two dual 3-inch/50-caliber Mk-33 gun mounts

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Crew List:

This section contains the names of sailors who served aboard USS POINT DEFIANCE. It is no official listing but contains the names of sailors who submitted their information.

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Accidents aboard USS POINT DEFIANCE:

Date	Where	Events
February 13, 1970	north of Hawaii	USS POINT DEFIANCE and USS PONCHATOULA (AO 148) are slightly damaged in a collision during refueling operations. Three sailors are injured.

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