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USS Cayuga (LST 1186)

- decommissioned -

USS CAYUGA was the eighth NEWPORT - class Tank Landing Ship and the third ship in the Navy to bear the name. Decommissioned on August 26, 1994, the CAYUGA was subsequently transfered to Brazil where she was recommissioned as MATTOSO MAIA.

General Characteristics:Awarded: July 15, 1966
Keel laid: September 28, 1968
Launched: July 12, 1969
Commissioned: August 8, 1970
Decommissioned: August 26, 1994
Builder: National Steel and Shipbuilding Company, San Diego, Calif.
Propulsion system: 6 diesels; 16,000 horsepower; bow thruster
Propellers: two and one bow thruster screw
Length: 522 feet (159 meters)
Length over derrick arms: 561 feet (171 meters)
Beam: 70 feet (21.2 meters)
Draft: 17,4 feet (5.3 meters)
Displacement: approx. 8500 tons
Speed: 20 knots
Aircraft: helicopter platform only
Armament: one 20mm Phalanx CIWS, 4 3-inch/.50-caliber guns
Crew: 14 officers, 210 enlisted and approx. 350 embarked troops


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Crew List:

This section contains the names of sailors who served aboard USS CAYUGA. It is no official listing but contains the names of sailors who submitted their information.


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USS CAYUGA History:

USS CAYUGA began service in National Steel and Shipbuilding Company's San Diego Shipyard with her keel-laying on September 28, 1968, as the eighth of twenty NEWPORT - class LST's. CAYUGA was commissioned at Long Beach, California, two years later on August 8, 1970. The Honorable Paul W. Lattimore, Mayor of Auburn, New York presented CAYUGA gifts conveying the pride of the citizens of Cayuga County, New York.

CAYUGA's first voyage brought her to Vancouver, British Columbia and then to the Astoria, Oregon, Fishing Festival. After this, her first public showing, CAYUGA completed her sea trials on October 31, 1970, with a rating of "excellent". CAYUGA's first deployment to the Western Pacific was in 1971, when she became the first ship of her class to launch Amphibious Assault Vehicles at maximum speed and the first ship in the U.S. Navy to conduct an extended dependent's cruise.

Yet another first was attained during CAYUGA's second deployment when on May 24, 1972, she landed Marines in the Republic of South Vietnam during OPERATION SONG THAN 6-73. This operation made CAYUGA the first NEWPORT - class LST to participate in combat operations.

After completing a three month tour in Vietnam, CAYUGA sailed for the Republic of the Philippines, where she earned the Philippine Presidential Citation for disaster relief provided to the flood-ravished Pangasinan province during OPERATION SAKLOLO. CAYUGA again answered the cry of distress on May 23, 1973, by providing relief supplies to the citizens of Nicaragua, whose capital of Managua was devastated by earthquakes. Along with cases of medical supplies, CAYUGA's unique capabilities enabled her to deliver three fire trucks.

Perhaps the most unusual event in CAYUGA's history occurred in September 1976, when she became a "Star of the Silver Screen" by serving as the stage for action scenes filmed at sea for "AIRPORT 77" and "GREY LADY DOWN".

In January 1979 CAYUGA made a patrol of the Western Caroline Trust Territory, visiting such remote islands as Palau, Tobi, Pula Anna, and Sonsorol to check on the condition of the native inhabitants. During the spring of 1981 CAYUGA rescued over eighty refugees from boats off the coasts of Thailand and Hong Kong. Combined training operations were conducted with the navies of Somalia and Oman in November 1982 and with the navies of Korea and Thailand during exercises in the summer of 1985.

CAYUGA's next Western Pacific deployment was completed in July 1987. Traveling nearly 37,000 miles, she operated from the coast of California to the Gulf of Thailand, and from the Aleution Islands to the Coral Sea, while participating in joint and combined exercises with the navies of Thailand, the Republic of Korea, and Australia.

USS CAYUGA earned two Battle Stars for Vietnam service.


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USS CAYUGA Patch Gallery:

WestPac 1990


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