March 27, 1971 - USS San Bernardino

USS San Bernardino, LST-1189, is a Tank Landing Ship and was one of 20 Newport Class LSTs (Photo courtesy of DefenseImagery.Mil)

*  The USS San Bernardino, LST -1189, (named in honor of the City of San Bernardino) was commissioned on March 27, 1971. 

*  The ship was 522 feet long, 70 feet wide, had a top speed of 22 knots (25 mph) and was assigned the home port of San Diego, CA.

*  Its crew consisted of 14 officers and 210 enlisted crew members. 

*  The ship carried 29 tanks & 350 combat troops while helicopters operated off the aft deck.

*  The ship was armed with the 20mm Phalanx system and 2 twin 3-inch/50-caliber guns.

*  The ship saw service in Vietnam and Desert Storm, was decommissioned on September 30, 1995, was sold to Chile and renamed Valdivia.

*  Photographs and memoribilia from the ship and its crew can be seen in the San Bernardino History and Railroad Museum.

(Photo taken in Coronado, CA, by John Lawlor) Offloading Its Cargo

*  As the ship approaches shore or a landing dock, the bow of the ship will separate into two halves.

*  A moveable ramp that has been stored on the ship's deck will be lowered to meet with the ground or dock.

*  A fixed gantry extending upward and forward from the ship will use a series of steel cables to support the moveable deck.

*  When in place the moveable deck will used to rapidly offload 29 tanks and 350 combat troops.