HISTORY

USS Tortuga (LSD-46) is the sixth of the Whidbey Island (LSD 41) class ships to be commissioned and the second U.S. Navy ship to bear that name. The first Tortuga (LSD 26) was commissioned in 1945, in action during the Korean War and the Vietnam War, and decommissioned in 1970.

The current USS Tortuga(LSD 46) is a Whidbey Island-class dock landing ship that was laid down on March 23, 1987 by Avondale Shipyards, New Orleans, Louisiana. The threat of Hurricane Gilbert in the Gulf of Mexico forced an early launching of the ship, as a precautionary measure, on Sept. 15, 1988. On Nov. 19, 1988, Mrs. Rosemary Parker Schoultz, the ship’s sponsor, presided over the christening ceremony, breaking the traditional bottle of champagne over the bow of the ship. The ship was commissioned on Nov. 17, 1990.

On Oct. 14, 2005, the U.S. Navy officially announced that the dock landing ship USS Tortuga (LSD 46), originally homeported in Little Creek, Virginia, would be forward-deployed to Sasebo, Japan to replace the dock landing ship USS Fort McHenry (LSD 43). The ship arrived in Sasebo on March 31, 2006 for turnover and assignment as part of the U.S. Navy’s Forward Deployed Naval Forces (FDNF). 

USS Tortuga (LSD 46) and USS Fort McHenry (LSD 43) completed an exchange-of-command process April 12 in Sasebo, Japan, which officially welcomed Tortuga to FDNF. The hull swap between the Fort McHenry and the Tortuga was the quickest in the history of the U.S. Navy, having been conducted in 12 days.

While in the 7th Fleet operating area, USS Tortuga participated in various multi-national exercises with countries in East Asia and Southeast Asia, to include the annual Cooperation Afloat Readiness and Training (CARAT) exercises.

On 3 July 2013, the ship returned to Sasebo, Japan after a two month underway period. The crew then welcomed the USS Ashland (LSD 48), originally homeported in Little Creek, Virginia, for a hull swap process.  On Aug. 23, 2014, upon the exchange=of-command ceremony, USS Ashland replaced USS Tortuga as the forward deployed ship within the 7th Fleet operating area. USS Tortuga departed Sasebo, Japan for its last time on Sept. 9, 2013.  After traveling over 10,000 nautical miles and transiting through the Panama Canal, the ship returned to its original homeport in in Little Creek, Virginia.

Today, The ship is at BAE Shipyards conducting an extended dry-docking selected restricted availability.