Search the Site with
|
Search the Site with
|
General Characteristics Crew List Memorabilia Cruise Books About the Ship's Coat of Arms History Image Gallery to end of page |  |
USS MESA VERDE is the third SAN ANTONIO - class amphibious transport dock and the first ship in the Navy named in honor of the Mesa Verde National Park in southwestern Colorado.
| General Characteristics: | Awarded: February 29, 2000 |
| Keel laid: February 25, 2003 | |
| Launched: November 19, 2004 | |
| Commissioned: December 15, 2007 | |
| Builder: Northrop Grumman Ingalls Shipbuilding, Pascagoula, Miss. | |
| Propulsion system: four sequentially turbocharged marine Colt-Pielstick Diesels | |
| Propellers: two | |
| Length: 684 feet (208.5 meters) | |
| Beam: 105 feet (31.9 meters) | |
| Draft: 23 feet (7 meters) | |
| Displacement: approx. 24,900 tons | |
| Speed: 22 knots | |
| Well deck capacity: two LCAC or one LCU and 14 Expeditionary Fighting Vehicles | |
| Aircraft: landing platform for all helicopters and the MV-22 Osprey; maintenance facilities for one CH-53E or two CH-46s or one MV-22 or three UH/AH-1s | |
| Crew: Ship: 28 officers, 332 enlisted | |
| Marine Detachment: 66 officers, 633 enlisted (can be expanded to 800) | |
| Homeport: Norfolk, Va. | |
| Armament: two Bushmaster II 30 mm Close in Guns; two |
back to top go to the end of the pageback to top go to the end of the pageCrew List:
This section contains the names of sailors who served aboard USS MESA VERDE. It is no official listing but contains the names of sailors who submitted their information.
back to top go to the end of the pageback to top go to the end of the pageUSS MESA VERDE Cruise Books:
back to top go to the end of the pageAbout the Ship's Coat of Arms:
The Shield:
Mesa Verde's status as a World Cultural Heritage Site and National Park is recalled by the shape of the shield and the representation of the Cliff Palace dwellings. The yucca, an indigenous plant and staple as valuable raw material to early Indian settlers refers again to the region which gives LPD 19 its name and denotes hardiness and survival. The compass rose symbolizes worldwide capabilities and expertise. Gold signifies achievement and excellence.
The Crest:
The green plateau represents the Mesa Verde region which gives the ship its name. The bald eagle symbolizes the United States; the juniper is native to the Mesa Verde region and the sprig held by the eagle bears twenty-four berries representing the twenty-four modern tribes which trace their ancestry to the region. The trident denotes authority and mastery at sea.
The Supporters:
A Naval officer's sword and Marine Corps Mameluke points down saltirewise Proper symbolize teamwork and cooperation between the Navy and Marine Corps.
The Motto:
"Courage Teamwork Tradition". For 750 years, the Ancestral Puebloans occupied the area within the park and their construction efforts culminated in approximately 600 cliff dwellings between 1100 and 1300 A. D. in southwest Colorado. Just as Mesa Verde National Park commemorates the Courage, Teamwork, and Tradition of these Native Americans, so too will the Sailors and Marines in LPD 19.
back to top go to the end of the pageUSS MESA VERDE History:
USS MESA VERDE entered fleet service on December 15, 2007, when she was commissioned at Panama City, Florida. Built by Northrop Grumman Ingalls at Pascagoula, she had been launched on November 19, 2004 and christened on January 15, 2005; her sponsor was Linda Price Campbell, reflecting the ship's link to Colorado's Mesa Verde National Park. The new ship's early period focused on trials, certifications, and amphibious integration workups out of Norfolk, aligning her systems and well-deck operations to support MV-22 tilt-rotors, LCACs, and Marine battalion landing teams.
By mid-2009, the ship was training with the 24TH MARINE EXPEDITIONARY UNIT for a first deployment, rehearsing embarked aviation and surface connectors, visit-board-search-and-seizure drills, and blue-green integration at sea to prepare for operations across EUCOM, AFRICOM and CENTCOM.
On January 23, 2010, as part of the NASSAU (LHA 4) Amphibious Ready Group with USS NASSAU and USS ASHLAND (LSD 48), USS MESA VERDE shifted toward Haiti to support disaster relief after the January 12 earthquake under Operation Unified Response, using her flight deck, medical spaces, and well deck for humanitarian support before resuming her scheduled deployment. Late that winter, the ARG crossed into the Mediterranean and on February 18, 2010, MESA VERDE made a port call at Rota, Spain - her first during the maiden cruise - before transiting the Suez Canal with the ARG into the Red Sea and onward to the 5th Fleet.
In the Gulf that spring she joined maritime security tasks and regional engagement. On March 29-31, 2010, MESA VERDE berthed in Doha for the DIMDEX exhibition with ships from multiple nations, reflecting Gulf states' defense diplomacy. A few weeks later, she operated from Manama and conducted patrols under Combined Task Force 152, the Gulf maritime security coalition. On May 14, 2010, the ship rendered assistance to six distressed Iranian mariners during routine patrols in the Arabian Gulf, an episode emblematic of constabulary responsibilities that accompanied deterrence and theater security cooperation. Through the summer and early autumn of 2010, she continued presence operations with the NASSAU ARG and the 24TH MEU across the 5th Fleet littorals.
After post-deployment maintenance and training, world events drove her next major tasking. On March 23, 2011, MESA VERDE surged from Norfolk with the BATAAN (LHD 5) ARG - USS BATAAN and USS WHIDBEY ISLAND (LSD 41) - to the central Mediterranean amid the NATO-led intervention in Libya. Through spring and summer she supported Operation Odyssey Dawn and then NATO's Operation Unified Protector, providing sea-based command and control for embarked Marines, flight operations, and amphibious staging while enforcing the arms embargo and no-fly zone. Visual records place MESA VERDE operating near Tripoli in early September. After a sustained on-station period she took a rare logistics break at Corfu, Greece, on October 30, 2011, her first liberty in 65 days. The ARG's extended deployment concluded with returns to Hampton Roads in late January and early February 2012, closing what the Navy described as the longest U.S. Navy ship deployment in nearly four decades - an indicator of the operational strain and geopolitical salience of the Arab Spring.
The ship cycled through maintenance and preparations over the next several years, interspersed with inspections and certifications. In January 2014, she completed an INSURV assessment as final workups for a new cruise. On February 10, 2014, MESA VERDE deployed again with the BATAAN ARG and 22ND MEU for a Mediterranean-Gulf patrol, a period shaped by the Syrian civil war's spillover, instability in Libya, and the rise of ISIS in Iraq. In late April, she was photographed underway at sea with embarked Marines. By mid-June, as ISIS seized territory and threatened Baghdad, the Navy moved MESA VERDE into the Arabian Gulf to thicken crisis-response coverage alongside USS GEORGE H. W. BUSH (CVN 77), USS PHILIPPINE SEA (CG 58) and USS TRUXTUN (DDG 103). After months of operations across the 5th Fleet, the ARG transited the Suez Canal on October 2, 2014, and the 22ND MEU and ships returned to home ports later that month. During the deployment, MESA VERDE also conducted regional engagement and port visits, including Haifa, Israel, and other 6th Fleet stops, underlining maritime presence in the Levant during a period of acute security volatility.
Following a maintenance period that included work at Norfolk's Marine Hydraulics International in early 2015, MESA VERDE reentered the Fleet Response Plan cycle. In October 2016, as Hurricane Matthew devastated parts of Haiti, she was tasked to the Caribbean for humanitarian assistance and disaster relief, embarking elements of the 24TH MEU for sealift and logistics support, before being relieved by USS IWO JIMA (LHD 7) as the response force shifted composition.
On March 1, 2017, the BATAAN ARG with the 24TH MEU departed Norfolk on a scheduled deployment. During the spring, MESA VERDE called at Haifa, Israel, on March 16 for a port visit and engagement activities, then at Souda Bay, Crete, on May 1-2 while operating in the eastern Mediterranean. The ARG completed its seven-month cruise with returns to Hampton Roads on September 23, 2017, having provided a mobile crisis-response option for EUCOM, AFRICOM and CENTCOM during a year marked by counter-ISIS operations and persistent tensions across the Levant and Gulf.
The ship entered a major docking phased planned maintenance availability (DPMA) beginning in fiscal 2018 under an $83 million package, followed by continuous maintenance periods in Norfolk. A change of command in late 2019 noted the yard work and subsequent CMAV as the crew prepared the hull and combat systems for the next employment cycle. Another change of command in February 2021 came as the ship progressed through the tail end of maintenance and re-certification.
On July 10, 2023, MESA VERDE sailed with the BATAAN ARG - USS BATAAN and USS CARTER HALL (LSD 50) - and the 26TH MEU (Special Operations Capable) for a deployment initially centered on the North Atlantic and European littorals. She reached Plymouth, United Kingdom, on July 28, 2023, for her first port call. A few days later she visited Narvik, Norway, underscoring NATO's High North focus. On August 25, 2023, she berthed in Dublin, Ireland, the first U.S. Navy visit to the port in over a decade, coinciding with the Navy-Notre Dame game weekend and public diplomacy events. As the security situation in the Eastern Mediterranean deteriorated in autumn 2023, the ARG shifted east to provide maritime crisis-response and deterrence alongside allied navies. On January 2, 2024, MESA VERDE pulled into Piraeus, Greece, after bilateral training with the Hellenic 32nd Marine Brigade, and continued Sixth Fleet operations into the new year. After roughly eight and a half months across the 6th and 5th Fleet areas, she returned to Naval Station Norfolk in early 2024, closing a deployment defined by allied exercises, presence, and proximity to the Gaza-related spillover and Red Sea tensions.
With the ship back in port, the Navy moved to a scheduled sustainment and upgrade phase. In February-March 2024, the service announced a planned selected restricted availability and modernization package - valued at roughly $91–92 million - for later in 2024, to be executed in Norfolk with completion projected into 2025. The work stream supports hull, mechanical and electrical reliability, combat systems refresh, and habitability improvements typical for mid-life SAN ANTONIO-class amphibs preparing for the next deployment cycle.
back to top go to the end of the pageUSS MESA VERDE Image Gallery:
 |
The photos below were taken by me and show the MESA VERDE at BAE Systems Norfolk Ship Repair, Norfolk, Va., on November 10, 2008.
 |  |  |  |
The photos below were taken by me and show the MESA VERDE passing the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel on her way to Norfolk, Va., on October 29, 2010.
 |  |  |  |  |
 |
The photos below were taken by me and show the MESA VERDE at Naval Base Norfolk, Va., on May 6, 2012.
 |  |  |  |
The photos below were taken by Michael Jenning and show the MESA VERDE at the Marine Hydraulics Industries (MHI) Ship Repair & Services shipyard, Norfolk, Va., on April 29, 2015.
 |  |  |  |  |
The photos below were taken by Michael Jenning and show the MESA VERDE at the Marine Hydraulics Industries (MHI) Ship Repair & Services shipyard, Norfolk, Va., on October 6, 2015.
 |  |  |  |  |
 |  |
The photos below were taken by Michael Jenning and show the MESA VERDE at Naval Base Norfolk, Va., on April 13, 2016.
 |  |  |  |
The photos below were taken by Michael Jenning and show the MESA VERDE at Naval Base Norfolk, Va., on October 4, 2017.
 |  |
The photos below were taken by Michael Jenning and show the MESA VERDE undergoing a Drydocking Phased Maintenance Availability (DPMA) at General Dynamics National Steel and Shipbuilding Co., Norfolk, Va., on September 21, 2018.
 |  |  |  |  |
 |  |  |
The photos below were taken by Michael Jenning and show the MESA VERDE at Naval Base Norfolk, Va., on December 26, 2021.
 |  |  |
The photos below were taken by Michael Jenning and show the MESA VERDE undergoing a Selected Restricted Availability (SRA) at the Marine Hydraulics International Ship Repair & Services shipyard in Norfolk, Va., on October 4, 2024.
 |  |  |  |  |
 |  |
back to top
Back to Amphibious Transport Dock site. Back to ships list. Back to selection page. Back to 1st page.