History

June 11, 1994: Launched in Avondale Industries (New Orleans, Louisiana). Commissioned: June 8, 1996.

July 23,1996:  Served as Command and Control Ship for the recovery of TWA Flight 800 wreckage.

February-July 2000:  Deployed with USS WASP (LHD 1) Amphibious Ready Group (ARG) in the Mediterranean Sea in support of exercises Dynamic Mix and Noble Shirley.

May 2001: Opened for Fleet Week at Port Everglades, Florida.

February-August 2002:  Deployed with USS WASP (LHD 1) ARG and the 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit to the Persian Gulf in support of Operation of Enduring  Freedom.

January-March 2005: Deployed to the Caribbean Sea as part of the SAIPAN Expeditionary Strike Group (ESG) in support of a New Horizons humanitarian assistance to Haiti.

January-May 2006:  Deployed with USS Roosevelt (DDG 80) and USS Vicksburg (CG 49) to the Persian Gulf in support of the Global War on Terrorism (GWOT).

January-July 2007:  Deployed with the BATAAN Expeditionary Strike Group to  the Horn of Africa in support of the GWOT.

March-October 2008: Surge deployed to the Horn of Africa to conduct maritime interdiction operations in support of the GWOT.

June-August 2009:  Deployed to South America in support of the multi-national amphibious exercise, Southern Partnership Station ‘09.

July 4, 2011:  Participated in Independence Day activities in Boston with USS CONSTITUTION through public tours, ceremonial guard, and training.

October –December, 2011:  Deployed to South America in support of the multi-national amphibious exercise, Southern Partnership Station ’11.

May 2014:  Flagship for New York Fleet Week at Pier 92 in Manhattan.

September 2014:  Flagship for “Star Spangled Celebration” (bicentennial celebration of the War of 1812) at Inner Harbor, Baltimore, MD.

October 2015– May 2016: Deployed with Kearsarge Expeditionary Strike Group to the 5th Fleet Area of Operation.

June 2016: Only US Warship to participate in the Panama Canal Expansion Ceremony.

February 2018- August 2018: Deployed to 5th and 6th Fleet AORs with Iwo Jima ARG supporting BALTOPS. 

December 2019- July 2020: Deployed to 5th and 6th Fleet AORs with Bataan ARG and 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit.