The venerable "Iron Nickel" — the big deck ship that delivered the first Marines into Afghanistan in November 2001 — was decommissioned on March 31 after nearly 35 years of service that included deployments in support of operations Southern Watch, Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom.

Hundreds of current and former crew members, to include 10 previous commanding officers, were on hand to bid the amphibious assault ship Peleliu farewell at the San Diego ceremony. The ship, the last of the Tarawa-class, completed its 17th and final deployment on Dec. 24, ending a legendary career that included deployments in support of operations Southern Watch, Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom.

"From that first deployment onward, USS Peleliu and her crew demonstrated time and again that she always achieved the mission, to perfection, with style and in ways that had never been seen before," said Rear Adm. Marcus Hitchcock, director of Fleet and Joint Training at U.S. Fleet Forces Command, and the ship's 18th commanding officer. He served as guest speaker for the decommissioning ceremony. "Except on rare occasions, USS Peleliu never did it alone. She always had a teammate by her side, the U.S. Marine Corps."

Marines assigned to the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU) depart amphibious assault ship USS Peleliu (LHA 5) to participate in the ground phase of Amphibious Landing Exercise (PHIBLEX) 2015. PHIBLEX is an annual, bilateral training exercise conducted by the Armed Forces of the Philippines, U.S. Marines and Navy to strengthen interoperability across a range of capabilities to include disaster relief and contingency operations. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Dustin Knight/Released)

Marines assigned to the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit depart the Peleliu for the ground phase of Amphibious Landing Exercise 2013 in the Philippines.

Photo Credit: MC3 Dustin Knight/Navy

The ship will be towed from Naval Base San Diego to Middle Loch, Pearl Harbor, where it will be placed in an inactive reserve status.

During the ship's three decade run, it set many firsts and were many firsts along the way for the blue/green team, which conducted 178,051 flight operations, served 57,983 personnel, and steamed approximately 1,011,946 nautical miles and counted 57,983 crewmembers. They include the first:

  • The first Fleet firing of the RIM 116 Rolling Airframe Missile, in October 1995.
  • The first MH-60S Knighthawk landing on a Pacific Fleet naval ship, of the helicopter in April 2003.
  • Expeditionary Strike Group to deploy (led by Peleliu), in August 2003.
  • LHA-class ship to receive the expeditionary fighting vehicle EFV in its welldeck, in January 2009.

The Peleliu Amphibious Ready Group was on a Pacific deployment on Sept. 11, 2001. The amphibious assault ship soon arrived on station and was the first to deploy Marines to the fight in Afghanistan. Less than two years later, Peleliu led ESG-1 in support of the invasionsurge in Iraq. The flagship completed more than 5,337 flight deck evolutions and its AV-8B Harriers flew 268 missions into Iraq in support of ground troops.

In August 2010, the ship's crew provided humanitarian reliefassistance to Pakistan in the wake of a deadly floods. monsoon and subsequent floods. The ship transported more than 5 million tons of food and relief supplies, and rescued more than 9,000 people.

The first to carry the name Peleliu, the ship was named in honor of the 3rd Amphibious Force's assault and capture of Peleliu Island, which took place from Sept. 15 to Nov. 27, 1944, and claimed 1,256 Marine lives.

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