Skip to main content

Naval History and Heritage Command
Tags
Related Content
Topic
Document Type
  • Themed Collection
Wars & Conflicts
Navy Communities
File Formats
  • Image (gif, jpg, tiff)
Location of Archival Materials
  • NHHC
Author Name
Place of Event
Recipient Name

USS Inchon (LPH-12)

Please see below for item level images and donated collections containing photographs of USS Inchon (LPH-12) 

USS Inchon (LPH-12) was laid down on 8 April 1968 at at Pascagoula, Miss., by Litton Ingalls Shipbuilding; launched on 24 May 1969; sponsored by Mrs. Charlotte Brooks, wife of Representative Jack Brooks, Texas; and commissioned on 20 June 1970 at Pensacola, Fla., Capt. Arthur H. Cummings Jr. in command.

On 1972-1973 USS Inchon (LPH-12) circumnavigated the globe and returned to Norfolk, Va. In February 1973 Inchon was attached to Task Force 78 for Operation End Sweep, the U.S. Navy’s effort to clear U.S. mines from North Vietnamese waters after the signing of the Paris Peace Accords. Those operations were suspended from 17 April through 17 June. They resumed 18 June and End Sweep was completed on 18 July. On 5 February 1980 Inchon collided with dock landing ship USS Spiegel Grove (LSD-32) while refueling in the Atlantic en route to the Mediterranean Sea, with reportedly no injuries and only minor damage. On 7 October 1981 USS Inchon (LPH-12) suffered a boiler explosion while preparing to get underway from Norfolk, Va.

USS Inchon (LPH-12) played a key role in Operation Sharp Edge in 1990, performing evacuation operations during Liberia’s civil war. Shortly afterwards, USS Inchon (LPH-12) patrolled the southern Mediterranean in preparation for emergency evacuations in support of Operation Desert Shield/Storm. In 1994 USS Inchon (LPH-12) deployed to the Mediterranean Sea and Indian Ocean to conduct Operation Continue Hope off the coast of Somalia and Operation Deny Flight off the coast of Bosnia. Following a six-month deployment, USS Inchon (LPH-12) remained in home port for only two weeks, before she was called upon to assist in Operation Support Democracy off the coast of Haiti.

On 1 March 1995 USS Inchon (LPH-12) was re-classed as a mine countermeasures ship (MCS-12) and commenced a 15-month conversion/overhaul by Ingalls Shipbuilding. USS Inchon (LPH-12) once again deployed in 1999, from April through August, and the crew provided critical heavy lift support to Operation Shining Hope, the humanitarian relief effort for Kosovar refugees in the Balkans. Decommissioned on 20 June 2002, USS Inchon (LPH-12) was stricken from the Naval Vessel Register on 24 May 2004. 

For a complete history of USS Inchon (LPH-12) please see its DANFS page.