USS Racine (LST 1191)

- decommissioned -
- sunk as a target -

USS RACINE was the 13^th NEWPORT - class Tank Landing Ship and the second US Navy ship named for the city of Racine, Wisconsin. Decommissioned after more than 22 years of service on October 2, 1993, the RACINE was subsequently laid-up at the Naval Inactive Ship Maintenance Facility at Pearl Harbor, HI., awaiting final disposal. On July 12, 2018, the RACINE was sunk as a target during RIMPAC 2018.

General Characteristics:	Awarded: July 15, 1966
	Keel laid: December 13, 1969
	Launched: August 15, 1970
	Commissioned: July 9, 1971
	Decommissioned: October 2, 1993
	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

go to the end of the page

Crew List:

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

Click here to view the list.

go to the end of the page

Click here to see which USS RACINE memorabilia are currently for sale on ebay.

go to the end of the page

USS RACINE Cruise Books:

Cruise Book 1991

go to the end of the page

USS RACINE History:

USS RACINE was laid down at San Diego on December 13, 1969, and launched on August 15, 1970. Her sponsor was Mrs. Edwin B. Hooper, wife of retired Vice Admiral Edwin B. Hooper, then Director of Naval History. The Navy accepted delivery of the ship in June 1971. RACINE was commissioned at Long Beach Naval Shipyard on July 9, 1971, with Commander Daniel W. Anderson as her first commanding officer. She remained at Long Beach while fitting-out work was completed and departed for San Diego on August 9. From August 1971 into the first half of 1972, RACINE operated along the West Coast while undergoing tests, training and exercises intended to bring the new ship and crew to full operational status.

RACINE began her first extended cruise on June 8, 1972, when she departed San Diego carrying a group of Naval Reserve Officers Training Corps midshipmen on a training voyage to South America. During the cruise, she visited Valparaiso, Chile, Callao, Peru, and the Panama Canal Zone. RACINE returned to San Diego on July 17, 1972. Following preparations during the remainder of the summer, she departed again on September 13 for her first Western Pacific deployment, the only deployment of her career that placed her directly within the operational framework of the Vietnam War.

During this deployment, RACINE transported personnel, equipment and supplies between Vietnam and American bases elsewhere in the Western Pacific. Her documented Vietnam service included November 11-13 and November 19-23, 1972, as well as February 5-15, 1973. The deployment took place during the final months of direct American military involvement in Vietnam. Although U.S. ground forces had been progressively withdrawn, naval and Marine amphibious units remained available for logistics, regional contingencies and support of forces still operating in Southeast Asia. RACINE also participated in Zambales Exercise 1-73 in the Philippines and in activities associated with Project Handclasp, under which Navy ships carried donated educational, medical and humanitarian supplies for distribution in overseas communities.

Following the Paris Peace Accords of January 27, 1973, American amphibious forces maintained a contingency posture in the region while the remaining U.S. military presence in Vietnam was being reduced. Marine Corps operational reporting dated February 28 identified RACINE as part of the amphibious shipping supporting the 31st Marine Amphibious Unit. Other ships in the force included USS CLEVELAND (LPD 7), USS TULARE (LKA 112), USS SAN BERNARDINO (LST 1189) and USS FRESNO (LST 1182). The amphibious force remained available offshore while the military situation following the ceasefire was still being assessed.

RACINE's next major assignment took her north for Exercise Golden Dragon 73 in Korea. On March 28, 1973, the headquarters of the 33rd Marine Amphibious Unit embarked aboard USS BLUE RIDGE (LCC 19). On March 30, BLUE RIDGE, TULARE, USS MONTICELLO (LSD 35), SAN BERNARDINO, RACINE and FRESNO departed Okinawa for Korea with elements of the Marine force embarked. Golden Dragon was an amphibious exercise conducted in cooperation with forces in Korea and formed part of the continuing American training and readiness program on the Korean Peninsula. RACINE subsequently completed the remaining portion of her Western Pacific deployment. She departed the Far East for the United States on April 26, 1973, and arrived at San Diego on May 17, ending an overseas deployment of more than eight months. Her Vietnam service was later credited with one battle star.

RACINE resumed Pacific training after returning to California. During September 1973, she operated in Hawaiian waters for Rimpac 73, one of the early iterations of the multinational Rim of the Pacific exercise series. Marines from 1st Battalion, 3rd Marines embarked aboard RACINE at Pearl Harbor for the exercise. Rimpac 73 involved forces from the United States, Australia, Canada and New Zealand and included anti-submarine, anti-air and amphibious training. The exercise continued through September 21. Its amphibious phase included a battalion-size landing involving approximately 600 Marines on Kauai. RACINE and MONTICELLO were among the American amphibious ships involved. The exercise illustrated the role RACINE increasingly performed after the end of direct U.S. combat operations in Vietnam: transporting Marine units, vehicles and equipment while participating in multinational and bilateral amphibious training throughout the Pacific.

RACINE returned to the Western Pacific in 1974. On May 24, she departed San Diego as part of an amphibious formation that also included USS OGDEN (LPD 5), CLEVELAND, MONTICELLO, SAN BERNARDINO and TULARE. The ships conducted training while crossing the eastern Pacific, including gunnery exercises on May 28 and May 29. They arrived at Pearl Harbor on the morning of May 31 and replenished for the onward movement. On June 1, OGDEN departed Pearl Harbor with RACINE in company, while several of the other ships continued toward Australia for Exercise Kangaroo I. OGDEN and RACINE crossed the International Date Line on June 4 while proceeding toward Subic Bay in the Philippines, conducting drills and exercises during the transit.

RACINE subsequently resumed operations with the Seventh Fleet amphibious force. On July 15, CLEVELAND, TULARE and SAN BERNARDINO arrived at Buckner Bay, Okinawa, and RACINE joined them on July 16 for amphibious training at Chin Wan. The two-day period included emplacement of an amphibious assault bulk fuel system and several forms of landing training, including conventional, low-visibility and silent approaches.

RACINE remained involved in Western Pacific amphibious operations through the second half of 1974. Her official deployment record identifies participation in Operation Warm Waters, a combined amphibious exercise conducted in Australian waters. Marine Corps operational reporting dated November 13 placed RACINE at Cairns, Australia, while she was participating in Warm Waters before returning toward the United States. At that time, Amphibious Ready Group Bravo also included CLEVELAND, TULARE and SAN BERNARDINO. The exercise formed part of a wider series of U.S.-Australian amphibious training activities along the Queensland coast. RACINE subsequently completed the deployment and returned to operations on the U.S. West Coast.

On January 28, 1975, RACINE participated in Operation Bead Stream off Southern California with ships of Amphibious Squadron Five. The force included USS ANCHORAGE (LSD 36), CLEVELAND, USS DENVER (LPD 9), USS MOUNT VERNON (LSD 39), USS MOBILE (LKA 115) and USS BARBOUR COUNTY (LST 1195). The exercise formed part of the amphibious force's normal training cycle. Some of the ships involved subsequently deployed to the Western Pacific and participated in the evacuation of South Vietnam during Operation Frequent Wind in April 1975. RACINE is not established by official deployment records as a participant in Frequent Wind. The remainder of her documented 1975 activity consisted primarily of West Coast training and readiness work rather than another major overseas deployment.

RACINE again deployed to the Western Pacific in 1976 and 1977. Marine Corps operational reporting from November 1976 records that she was scheduled to relieve USS FREDERICK (LST 1184) in Amphibious Ready Group Bravo on November 6. The group also included USS DUBUQUE (LPD 8) and USS DURHAM (LKA 114), while Battalion Landing Team 2/9 provided the embarked Marine landing force. During the deployment, RACINE participated in Exercise Quickjab VII, Battalion Landing Team Exercise 1-77, associated with the U.S.-Republic of Korea amphibious exercise Ssang Yong III, and preparations connected with Team Spirit. The Korean amphibious training centered on the Pohang area and provided U.S. and Republic of Korea forces with combined practice in landing operations, command and control and support functions. By January 5, 1977, Marine Corps reporting placed RACINE at Subic Bay, Philippines, while DUBUQUE was at Yokosuka and DURHAM was proceeding toward Subic Bay.

Another extended Western Pacific deployment followed in 1978-1979. By the autumn of 1978, RACINE was assigned to Amphibious Ready Group Alpha with USS OKINAWA (LPH 3), USS VANCOUVER (LPD 2) and MONTICELLO. The associated 31st Marine Amphibious Unit included Battalion Landing Team 3/3, Marine Medium Helicopter Squadron 165 and its logistics support element. Marine Corps reporting places the amphibious group at Subic Bay during the first week of October. A tracked amphibious-vehicle element of Battalion Landing Team 3/3 was embarked aboard RACINE, and on October 8, 1978, Marine forces began a two-day amphibious training evolution in the Philippines during which tracked landing vehicles carried an assault element ashore in a simulated opposed-beach operation. Training in the Philippines also made use of the Zambales training area.

Later in 1978, RACINE participated in the combined U.S.-Republic of Korea exercise Maulex 1-79, also identified as Ssang Yong X. The approximately ten-day amphibious training event was conducted in the vicinity of Kangnung, South Korea, and involved the 31st Marine Amphibious Unit and Korean forces. RACINE's deployment record also identifies participation in Landex 1-79. By early January 1979, Marine Corps reporting again placed OKINAWA, VANCOUVER, MONTICELLO and RACINE at Subic Bay.

The deployment subsequently led into Team Spirit 79, the large recurring U.S.-Republic of Korea field exercise. In early March, the amphibious shipping assembled at Pohang included OKINAWA, VANCOUVER, DUBUQUE, DURHAM, FRESNO, USS CAYUGA (LST 1186) and RACINE. Marine Corps reporting listed the ships at Pohang with an expected departure on March 6, 1979.

Later that year, RACINE was involved in one of the comparatively few documented accidents of her career. On November 6, 1979, she collided with the small fishing vessel LI TUNG SOL. No injuries were reported.

RACINE began 1980 with additional amphibious-force training off Southern California. Early in January, she operated with DUBUQUE, FREDERICK and VANCOUVER during exercises that included amphibious landings off Camp Pendleton and towing evolutions. Later in the year, she again deployed westward. By July, she was serving in Amphibious Ready Group Alpha with USS NEW ORLEANS (LPH 11), VANCOUVER and FREDERICK, supporting the 31st Marine Amphibious Unit. From July 16 through July 21, the Marine landing force conducted Phiblex 7-1-80 while the amphibious group operated from Okinawa. A July 22 status report placed the ships at Okinawa immediately before their scheduled movement toward Subic Bay. The group's movements through the region were affected by Tropical Storm Kim. RACINE's deployment record also identifies participation in Exercise Zamex.

The 1980 deployment extended beyond the normal Western Pacific amphibious circuit into the Indian Ocean. Navy award records credit RACINE with Navy Expeditionary Medal qualifying service from August 8 through October 11 for operations associated with the Iran and Indian Ocean area. This occurred during a period of increased American naval activity in the Indian Ocean following the Iranian Revolution, the continuing U.S. hostage crisis in Iran and the Soviet intervention in Afghanistan.

On September 15, 1980, RACINE and FREDERICK arrived at Colombo, Sri Lanka, for a port visit that continued through September 18. Contemporary Pacific Command reporting records the visit and notes that American naval calls at Sri Lankan ports were politically sensitive at the time. The amphibious group then continued toward Australia. At the beginning of October, the ships divided among several Western Australian ports: NEW ORLEANS and VANCOUVER called at Perth, FREDERICK at Bunbury and RACINE at Geraldton. Marine Corps reporting records the Australian port-call period as continuing through October 2. The ships subsequently conducted Exercise Valiant Usher 31-1 in the Lancelin training area north of Perth, with the exercise continuing into approximately October 10. RACINE then completed the deployment and returned to the United States.

A major change in RACINE's status followed soon afterward. On January 15, 1981, she was transferred to the Naval Reserve Force. The transfer did not place her in inactive reserve. RACINE remained commissioned and operational with a reduced active-duty nucleus that was augmented by Naval Reserve personnel during training periods and exercises. Long Beach became the principal base from which she operated during this phase of her career. The arrangement allowed the Navy to retain amphibious lift capacity while simultaneously providing reservists with operational training aboard an active fleet vessel.

RACINE also underwent substantial maintenance during 1981. Todd Pacific Shipyards at San Pedro received a contract valued at approximately $12.6 million for a regularly scheduled overhaul of the ship. Archival shipyard material documents RACINE in dry dock on June 1 and again during the overhaul period later that summer. By January 14, 1982, RACINE was again documented underway at sea, consistent with her return to operational Naval Reserve Force duties.

One of RACINE's most unusual assignments occurred in 1983. The Navy was moving two newly completed PEGASUS-class patrol combatant missile hydrofoils, USS HERCULES (PHM 2) and USS GEMINI (PHM 6), from the Pacific Northwest to their new home port at Key West, Florida. RACINE was assigned as their escort. The three ships assembled at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard in Bremerton, Washington, before beginning the long passage south. Their voyage took them down the Pacific coast with calls at San Francisco and San Diego and then onward to Acapulco, Mexico. RACINE accompanied HERCULES and GEMINI through the Panama Canal and continued with them to Key West. Contemporary Navy coverage documented the ships entering the canal locks at night, with RACINE following the much smaller hydrofoils through the lock system and across Gatun Lake.

After completing the escort to Key West, RACINE continued to Cartagena, Colombia. During the visit, the ship supported Project Handclasp activities and delivered donated supplies, including medical material, educational items and food. RACINE subsequently returned through the Panama Canal and proceeded back to Long Beach.

RACINE's Naval Reserve Force career during the middle of the 1980s combined maintenance periods, reserve active-duty training and fleet exercises. In April 1985, Southwest Marine at San Pedro began a phased maintenance program covering RACINE, CAYUGA and USS SCHENECTADY (LST 1185). The program comprised eight repair availabilities scheduled between April 1, 1985, and April 21, 1989, with three availabilities assigned to RACINE, three to CAYUGA and two to SCHENECTADY. Contemporary shipyard reporting in July 1985 identified RACINE as the first of the ships entering the approximately $35 million landing-ship phased-maintenance program and stated that she was then under repair at Southwest Marine's San Pedro facility.

Despite her reserve assignment, RACINE continued to participate in significant fleet exercises. On February 10, 1986, she operated off the California coast during a large anti-submarine warfare exercise involving several Naval Reserve Force and fleet ships. Participants included USS WADSWORTH (FFG 9), USS DUNCAN (FFG 10), USS GRAY (FF 1054), USS LANG (FF 1060), USS CIMARRON (AO 177), USS STEIN (FF 1065) and the Royal Australian Navy destroyer HMAS HOBART (D 39). The exercise required ships with different roles to coordinate their movements and anti-submarine defenses while protecting logistics and amphibious units.

RACINE also made a documented Northern California cruise later that year. On June 17 and June 18, 1986, she proceeded toward San Francisco in company with USS VANDEGRIFT (FFG 48). The ships were in San Francisco from June 19 through June 22 and began their return toward Southern California on June 23, reaching Long Beach on June 24. On July 12 and July 13, RACINE participated in Exercise Varsity Player 86-3 with USS GEORGE PHILIP (FFG 12), LANG, GRAY, WADSWORTH and USS JOHN A. MOORE (FFG 19).

The same pattern continued in 1987. During the reserve-training weekend of March 13-15, RACINE participated in Exercise Varsity Player 87-2 with GEORGE PHILIP, USS BOLSTER (ARS 38), DUNCAN, USS REUBEN JAMES (FFG 57) and USS SIDES (FFG 14). Maintenance under the Southwest Marine phased program continued during the broader 1985-1989 period, but RACINE remained available for fleet exercises and continued to function as an operational amphibious asset.

From April 22 through April 24, 1988, RACINE joined GEORGE PHILIP, USS LEWIS B. PULLER (FFG 23), WADSWORTH and USS MAHLON S. TISDALE (FFG 27) for Exercise Varsity Player 88-2. A larger assignment followed that summer when RACINE participated in Rimpac 88 in Hawaiian waters. On July 17, she was documented operating with DENVER off Bellows Air Station on Oahu during the amphibious assault phase of the exercise. The ships were involved in recovering vehicles returning from the landing area. Rimpac brought together forces from several Pacific nations and gave RACINE another opportunity to perform the amphibious transport role for which she had originally been designed, despite by then having spent more than seven years in the Naval Reserve Force.

RACINE undertook a non-combat mission in the western Pacific in 1991. The Federated States of Micronesia was preparing to host the 22nd South Pacific Forum at Palikir on Pohnpei, and the ship was sent to provide logistical and accommodation support because local facilities had to absorb a large influx of officials, journalists and support personnel. RACINE arrived at Pohnpei State Dock on July 21, 1991. A formal welcoming ceremony was held upon her arrival and was attended by Vice President Jacob Nena and U.S. Ambassador Aurelia Brazeal, among others. Commander Harold D. Covert, RACINE's commanding officer, stated that the ship had traveled almost 6,000 miles to support the event. Pre-forum meetings took place from July 22 through July 24, the South Pacific Forum itself on July 29 and July 30, and the post-forum dialogue on August 1 and August 2.

During the forum, RACINE served in effect as an accommodation ship. More than 70 journalists who had traveled to Pohnpei to cover the meetings were provided berthing aboard, together with officials and other visitors arriving from elsewhere in the Federated States of Micronesia. At the same time, RACINE's crew carried out an extensive civic-action program ashore. Sailors worked with the Pohnpei-based Civic Action Team and Seabees on several projects. Work included repairs to the historic Spanish Wall, construction of a two-room addition to an elementary school at Sokehs, scraping, priming and painting corridors and wards at Pohnpei State Hospital, replacement of a drinking fountain, plumbing repairs and other maintenance.

A Navy medical team also traveled to communities around Pohnpei to provide medical assistance. RACINE unloaded approximately 98 pallets of Project Handclasp material, including 72 pallets of books for local schools as well as medical and hygiene supplies and other donated goods. More than four tons of animal feed were also provided for agricultural use. After completing the support mission, RACINE proceeded to Guam and subsequently returned to Long Beach.

RACINE's final major overseas deployment came in 1992 and was primarily commemorative. Task Force Guadalcanal was organized to mark the 50th anniversary of the Guadalcanal campaign and other American and Allied operations in the South Pacific during World War II. Marine Corps records identify the overall task-force period as June 11 through September 15, 1992, while the ship's deployment summary records RACINE's South Pacific deployment from June 15 through September 15. The embarked force consisted primarily of Marines from the 1st Marine Division together with Navy personnel and supporting elements. At one stage, Marine Corps reporting listed a total task-force strength of 227 personnel, with approximately 200 embarked aboard RACINE. The equipment carried included three AAVP-7A1 amphibious assault vehicles, two LAV-25 light armored vehicles and associated support equipment.

The deployment took RACINE through a number of Pacific locations connected either with the Second World War or with contemporary American relations in the region. She visited Fiji during the cruise and arrived at Nuku'alofa, Tonga, on July 3, 1992. The scheduled visit continued through July 8 and included plans for medical and dental civic-action activities. RACINE subsequently continued to Australia and was in Sydney Harbour by July 17, when Australian and Japanese naval ships made a fleet arrival connected with Sydney's sesquicentennial celebrations.

RACINE then proceeded toward the Solomon Islands. By July 24, Marine Corps operational reporting placed her at Honiara, Guadalcanal, with a planned departure on August 9. The ship and her embarked Marines became part of the extensive program commemorating the 50th anniversary of the Allied landings on Guadalcanal. Approximately 1,000 American and Allied veterans traveled to the island for memorial dedications and associated ceremonies. On August 7, 1992, exactly fifty years after the beginning of the Guadalcanal campaign, the program included dedication of the Guadalcanal Campaign Memorial. RACINE was closely associated with the commemorative activities and received visitors during her stay.

On August 9, RACINE was anchored in Iron Bottom Sound, the body of water north of Guadalcanal containing the wrecks of numerous ships lost during the 1942-1943 campaign. Two documented memorial events took place aboard that day. During one ceremony, a wreath was committed to the sea in memory of servicemen who had died during the Solomon Islands campaign. RACINE also conducted the burial at sea of retired Navy Commander Harold Schwartz. Schwartz had served as a Navy doctor with the Parachute Battalion of the 1st Marine Division during World War II and had participated in operations at Guadalcanal, the Gilbert Islands, the Marshall Islands and Okinawa. Master Chief Petty Officer Charles Cartwright presented the urn containing Schwartz's remains to RACINE's commanding officer Robert B. James before the remains were committed to the sea. The location in Iron Bottom Sound connected the ceremony directly with Schwartz's wartime service and the anniversary observances taking place ashore.

After departing the Solomon Islands, RACINE continued the South Pacific commemorative cruise. She was at Noumea, New Caledonia, by August 13, 1992, when a memorial to Americans who had served in New Caledonia during World War II was dedicated. Members of the American delegation subsequently visited RACINE, where a reception was held aboard for Americans and members of the New Caledonian welcoming committee. The visit reflected New Caledonia's wartime importance as a major Allied logistics and staging base in the South Pacific. By the end of August, Marine Corps status reporting showed RACINE and Task Force Guadalcanal en route to Pearl Harbor with an estimated arrival on September 4. RACINE's South Pacific deployment concluded on September 15, 1992. It was her last major overseas deployment.

During 1993, RACINE continued operating from Long Beach while the Navy implemented post-Cold War force reductions that included retirement of numerous older amphibious ships. Lieutenant Commander Bienvenido Valerio became RACINE's final commanding officer on July 30, 1993. After more than twenty-two years of commissioned service, USS RACINE was decommissioned at Long Beach on October 2, 1993. She was subsequently moved to the inactive fleet at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, where she remained for many years rather than being immediately sold or scrapped.

Congress later considered RACINE for transfer to a foreign navy. In 2008, legislation authorized the transfer of RACINE and FRESNO to Peru as excess defense articles. The proposed transfer did not ultimately result in RACINE entering Peruvian service, and the ship remained at Pearl Harbor. RACINE was stricken from the Naval Vessel Register during this period and continued to be held for eventual disposal. The Naval Sea Systems Command later carried out a formal historical evaluation of the ship. On October 21, 2013, the evaluation concluded that RACINE was not eligible for listing in the National Register of Historic Places. The ship nevertheless remained in the inactive fleet for several more years. She was eventually designated for disposal through experimental use in a fleet sinking exercise.

RACINE's final operation occurred during Rimpac 2018. On July 10, 2018, USNS SIOUX (T-ATF 171) towed the former RACINE from Pearl Harbor toward the designated exercise area north of Kauai. The sinking exercise took place on July 12 in approximately 15,000 feet of water about 55 nautical miles north of Kauai and involved forces from the United States, Japan and Australia. The exercise brought together several different forms of anti-ship warfare. The Japan Ground Self-Defense Force fired a land-based surface-to-ship missile, while a U.S. Army unit launched a Naval Strike Missile from a land-based Palletized Load System vehicle at the Pacific Missile Range Facility. A Royal Australian Air Force P-8A Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft launched a Harpoon anti-ship missile. The U.S. Navy attack submarine USS OLYMPIA (SSN 717) subsequently fired a submarine-launched Harpoon followed by a Mk 48 heavyweight torpedo. The Mk 48 struck the former RACINE amidships, broke her keel and sent the ship to the bottom.

RACINE's awards included two Navy Battle "E" awards, the Navy Expeditionary Medal and one Vietnam campaign battle star.

go to the end of the page

USS RACINE SINKEX:

Live fire from aircraft, a submarine, and land assets participating in the Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) exercise sank the decommissioned ex-USS RACINE on July 12, 2018, in the Pacific Ocean. RACINE was struck by live fire from aircraft, a submarine, and land assets as part of a sinking exercise (SINKEX) involving units from Australia, Japan, and the United States. RACINE was sunk by aircraft from Strike Fighter Squadron 192 (VFA-192) at 8:45 p.m. in waters 15,000 feet deep, 55 nautical miles north of Kauai, Hawaii.

The SINKEX featured live firing of surface-to-ship missiles by the Japan Ground Self-Defense Force and a Naval Strike Missile (NSM) from a launcher on the back of a Palletized Load System (PLS) by the US Army, fired from Barking Sands. This marked the first time the US Army and JGSDF have participated in a sinking exercise during RIMPAC as well as the first time a Royal Australian Air Force P-8A Poseidon aircraft has participated in a SINKEX during RIMPAC.