USS Durham (LKA-114)

USS Durham (AKA-114/LKA-114) was a Charleston class amphibious cargo ship named after Durham, North Carolina. She served as a commissioned ship for 24 years and 9 months, and earned a total of 15 awards and campaign ribbons for her service.

USS Durham (LKA-114) off San Diego in 1989
History
United States
Name: USS Durham
Builder: Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Co.
Laid down: 10 July 1967
Launched: 29 March 1968
Commissioned: 24 May 1969
Decommissioned: 25 February 1994
Stricken: 31 August 2015
Fate: To be sunk as a target
General characteristics
Class and type: Charleston-class amphibious cargo ship
Displacement:
  • 9,937 tons (light)
  • 18,322 tons (full load)
Length: 575 ft 6 in (175.41 m)
Beam: 82 ft (25 m)
Draft: 25 ft 5 in (7.75 m)
Boats & landing
craft carried:		 18 × LCM-8 and LCM-6 landing craft
Complement: 50 officers, 592 men
Armament: 4 × twin 3"/50 caliber guns
Service record
Operations:

She was laid down as AKA-114 at Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Co., Newport News, VA, and redesignated LKA-114 on 1 January 1969. She was commissioned on 24 May 1969.

Durham was extensively involved in the Vietnam War.

In April 1975, Durham participated in Operation Frequent Wind, the evacuation of Saigon, Vietnam.[1]

In the Gulf War, she was part of an 18-ship amphibious task force that was the largest such force since the Korean War. The task force arrived on station in the North Arabian Sea on 12 January 1991.

The ship was decommissioned on 25 February 1994. She is currently berthed at the Pearl Harbor, Hawaii Naval Inactive Ship Maintenance Facility (NISMF) awaiting disposal via future SINKEX.

There is no DANFS entry for the ship.

References
  1. By Sea, Air and Land: An Illustrated History of the U.S. Navy and the war in Southeast Asia Chapter 5: The Final Curtain, 1973-1975
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