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USS Peleliu
Career (US)
Ordered:	6 November 1970
Laid down:	12 November 1976
Launched:	25 November 1978
Commissioned:	3 May 1980
Status:	Active in service as of 2007
Homeport:	San Diego, California
General characteristics
Displacement:	39,438 tons full, 25,982 tons light, 13,456 tons dead
Length:	820 ft (249.93 m)
Beam:	106.6 ft (32.5 m)
Draught:	27 ft (8.2 m)
Propulsion:	Steam Turbine
Speed:	24 knots (44 km/h)
Complement:	262 officers, 2543 enlisted
Armament:	• 2 × RAM launchers, • 4 × 25 mm Mk 38 Bushmaster gun mounts, • 2 × Phalanx CIWS, • 5 × 0.50 cal (12.7 mm) mounts
Aircraft carried:	• 6 × AV-8B Harrier attack planes, • 4 × AH-1W Super Cobra attack helicopters, • 12 × CH-46 Sea Knight helicopters, • 9 × CH-53 Sea Stallion helicopters, • 4 × UH-1N Huey helicopters
Motto:	"Pax per Potens" meaning "Peace through Power"

USS Peleliu (LHA-5) is a Tarawa-class amphibious assault ship of the United States Navy, named after the Battle of Peleliu during World War II.

Originally to be named Khe Sanh and then Da Nang, Peleliu was laid in 1976 at Ingalls Shipbuilding in Pascagoula, Mississippi, launched 25 November 1978, sponsored by Peggy Hayward (wife of then-CNO Thomas B. Hayward), and commissioned 3 May 1980, Captain T. P. Scott in command.

Peleliu immediately headed south, threading the Panama Canal and then crossing the Equator on 27 May, setting a new record for time between commissioning and entrance into the southern hemisphere, then proceeded to Long Beach, California.

After Operation Desert Storm In June 1991, while going back to the Persian Gulf, Peleliu participated in the evacuation of Subic Bay personnel in the aftermath of the eruption of Mount Pinatubo in the Philippines. The evacuation included several patients from the maternity ward, resulting in multiple births aboard ship. The eruption was among the world's largest in the past 100 years. It covered a large region in heavy volcanic ash and resulting in the destruction of much of the US naval base.

In November 2001, Peleliu delivered Marines, including then-second lieutenant Nathaniel Fick, to Afghanistan as part of Operation Enduring Freedom. On December 14, 2001, John Walker Lindh was transferred to Peleliu from a Marine base in Afghanistan. David Hicks, "the Australian Taliban", is also reported to have been a detainee on board the Peleliu.^[1]

The Peleliu deployed in support of the Pacific Partnership mission 23 May – 20 Sep 2007.^{[citation needed]} The mission included medical, dental, construction, and other humanitarian assistance programs ashore and afloat in the Philippines, Vietnam, Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, and the Marshall Islands. Medical personnel onboard the Peleliu included medical teams from ten partner nations, and three Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) including Project Handclasp.

Marines and Sailors having some downtime at a 'steel beach' party in 2003.

• Peleliu homepage
• Interrogation of Suspected al Qaeda Affiliates Lead U.S., Australian Navies to Seize More Drugs Story Number: NNS040102-03 "US Navy", January 2, 2004
• Wikimapia.org Satellite view of Peleilu moored in San Diego