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General Characteristics

Crew List

Memorabilia

About the Ship's Coat of Arms

History

Homeports of USS San Diego

Image Gallery

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USS San Diego (LPD 22)

USS SAN DIEGO is the sixth SAN ANTONIO - class amphibious transport dock and the fourth ship in the Navy to bear the name.

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Crew List:

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

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• Click here to see which USS SAN DIEGO memorabilia are currently for sale on ebay.

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About the Ship's Coat of Arms:

The Shield:

The dark blue represents the traditional mission of a deep-water Navy while the lighter blue represents the near shore environments where USS SAN DIEGO will carry out her mission. The Spanish sailing caravel and stylized dolphins are adapted from the City of San Diego's coat of arms. The caravel is an artistic representation of the SAN SALVADOR, flagship of Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo who landed at San Diego Bay in 1542. The caravel carries a blue and gold pennant, the City of San Diego flag, and a flag with six lightning bolts alluding to USS SAN DIEGO being the sixth ship of the SAN ANTONIO class of Landing Platform Dock (LPD) ships. The demi-trident indicates naval dominance and the ship’s ability to conduct expeditionary operations utilizing the Marine Corps’ mobility triad - Expeditionary Fighting Vehicle (EFV), landing craft air cushion (LCAC), and the Marine Corps' tilt-rotor MV-22 Osprey - in support of the U.S. maritime strategy. The four stars represent ships to bear the name San Diego. The red is representative of the U.S. Marine Corps. The eighteen (18) gold stars pay tribute to the battle stars awarded to USS SAN DIEGO (CL 53) for her combat service during World War II.

The Crest:

The belfry, also adapted from the City of San Diego's coat of arms, recalls the city’s origin as a mission settlement. The mission bell has been replaced with a ship's bell acknowledging the city's long standing connection to maritime industry and the U.S. Navy. The palm wreath signifies honor and victory.

The Supporters:

The U.S. Navy Officer sword, U.S. Marine Corps Mameluke, and U.S. Navy and Marine Corps enlisted swords symbolize the synergy between the two services. Furthermore, the placement of the swords symbolizes the leadership and direction provided by commissioned officers combined with the strength and support of the senior enlisted cadre forging the foundation of USS SAN DIEGO’s crew and the Navy-Marine Corps Team.

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USS SAN DIEGO History:

Secretary of the Navy Gordon R. England named SAN DIEGO on April 30, 2004. Built by Northrop Grumman/Ingalls at Pascagoula, Mississippi, she was laid down on May 23, 2007, launched on May 7, 2010, and christened on June 12, 2010 by ship's sponsor Linda Winter. After builder's trials in early October 2011 and Navy acceptance trials in November, the Navy accepted delivery on December 20, 2011. The pre-commissioning crew moved aboard in early January 2012, and the ship sailed from Pascagoula on March 15, 2012, pausing at Naval Station Guantanamo Bay on March 19 and transiting the Panama Canal on March 25 before arriving at her namesake homeport on April 6. She commissioned at San Diego on May 19, 2012, joining the Pacific Fleet at a time when U.S. strategy emphasized a rebalance toward the Indo-Pacific.

Following shakedown, SAN DIEGO completed a post-shakedown availability in San Diego through early 2013 and continued basic phase training. In February 2013, she tested a stretcher-capable decontamination station during a chemical, biological and radiological drill - first-of-class modifications that expanded mass-casualty response capacity aboard SAN ANTONIO-class ships. By mid-2013, she was conducting well-deck operations with amphibious assault vehicles off Southern California, building toward deployment readiness.

In February 2014, the ship hosted NASA's Underway Recovery Test for the ORION crew module off California, rehearsing open-ocean recovery into the well deck as NASA prepared for Exploration Flight Test-1 and later Artemis missions. That summer, on July 25, 2014, SAN DIEGO departed on her maiden deployment with the MAKIN ISLAND (LHD 8) Amphibious Ready Group (ARG) and the 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU), operating across the U.S. 7th and 5th Fleet regions amid rising coalition operations against ISIS and persistent maritime security missions from the Gulf of Aden to the Arabian Gulf. During the cruise she served as command ship for Malus Amphex 14 with the Royal Malaysian Navy, exercised with British and French units in Cougar Voyage 2014, and trained with Saudi forces during Red Reef 15. The ship also supported regional contingencies, including a period on quick-reaction posture for the U.S. Embassy in Sana'a, Yemen, and an emergent recovery of three NOAA scientists at Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument. Port visits included Aqaba, Jordan; Khalifa Port, United Arab Emirates; Hong Kong; and Pearl Harbor. She returned to San Diego on February 25, 2015, after a seven-month, roughly 40,000-nautical-mile deployment.

Through 2015 and into 2016, SAN DIEGO cycled through maintenance and work-ups, then joined the Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) 2016 exercise around Hawaii. There she conducted integrated amphibious operations and flight activity with multinational partners participating in the world's largest naval exercise, reflecting the U.S. focus on allied interoperability in the Pacific. In the autumn she took part in San Francisco Fleet Week and again supported NASA - this time for Underway Recovery Test-5 - rehearsing additional Orion recovery procedures as the program advanced toward Artemis.

In 2017, SAN DIEGO deployed with the AMERICA (LHA 6) Amphibious Ready Group and the 15th MEU, entering the U.S. 5th and 6th Fleet theaters at a time of counter-ISIS operations, maritime security patrols, and recurrent tension around Bab el-Mandeb and the Strait of Hormuz. Early in the deployment she supported Exercise Alligator Dagger with U.S. and partner forces near Djibouti, and later made two visits to Souda Bay, Crete - October 15 and November 27 - during the ARG's Mediterranean transits. The deployment featured sustained flight, well-deck and theater security operations in the Arabian Sea and Gulf as the AMERICA ARG/15th MEU supported regional partners and freedom of navigation.

In January 2018, en route across the western Pacific, SAN DIEGO called at Apra Harbor, Guam, before returning home to San Diego on February 2. The ship spent 2018-2019 largely in training, certifications and local outreach, including Fleet Week San Diego activities in November 2019, as the Navy emphasized readiness across the amphibious force.

In spring 2020, as the COVID-19 pandemic complicated fleet operations worldwide, SAN DIEGO continued local underway periods and amphibious onloads with 3d Assault Amphibian Battalion in April. She deployed later that year with the MAKIN ISLAND ARG and the 15th MEU, operating from late 2020 into 2021 across the Indo-Pacific and Middle East. In January 2021 the ARG/MEU repositioned forces during Operation Octave Quartz as U.S. troops redeployed from Somalia, then shifted to wider maritime security and crisis-response missions. On February 8, the ARG transited the Strait of Hormuz. On February 13 aircraft from the ARG supported coalition operations against ISIS and from February 15-21, SAN DIEGO conducted a COVID-mitigated port visit to Manama, Bahrain. After several positive COVID tests pierside, the crew implemented mitigation measures and was certified fully mission capable on March 11, resuming underway tasking before the ARG returned to San Diego in late May 2021.

Immediately afterward, the Navy scheduled a deep maintenance period. In mid-June 2021, BAE Systems' San Diego yard received a competitively awarded contract for SAN DIEGO's fiscal 2021 Docking Selected Restricted Availability, a major overhaul planned to run from September 2021 through December 2022. The package combined maintenance, modernization, and repair to extend service life and improve combat systems - part of a broader effort to reset high-tempo amphibious ships after sustained deployments.

By early 2024, SAN DIEGO was again supporting national tasking off Southern California when, from February 21-28, she hosted NASA's Underway Recovery Test-11 - the first full mission-profile recovery rehearsal with the Artemis II astronaut crew - integrating Navy helicopters, small boats, EOD teams and a well-deck recovery of an Orion test article. This capped a decade-long partnership between NASA and the fleet to refine procedures for crewed capsule recovery at sea.

Amid a reshaping of the forward amphibious posture in the Western Pacific, the Navy announced on July 11, 2024, that SAN DIEGO would shift homeport to Sasebo, Japan, joining Forward Deployed Naval Forces-Japan and strengthening day-to-day presence alongside allies. The ship arrived at Fleet Activities Sasebo on September 19, 2024. A month later she hosted a bilateral media engagement for Keen Sword 2025, underscoring her new role in routine allied exercises across the First and Second Island Chains.

Forward-deployed operations followed quickly. On February 27, 2025, SAN DIEGO made a port visit to Ishigaki, Okinawa Prefecture, during presence operations around the Ryukyus. On March 25 she embarked about 500 Marines and sailors to begin the 31st MEU's first patrol of 2025, the classic "float" for the Indo-Pacific's permanently forward-postured amphibious team, centered on deterrence, crisis response, and allied interoperability from the Philippine Sea to the East China Sea and beyond.

On August 20, 2025, while SAN DIEGO lay moored at White Beach Naval Facility, Okinawa, a major fire broke out aboard sister ship NEW ORLEANS (LPD 18) anchored nearby. NEW ORLEANS' crew, joined by SAN DIEGO sailors, Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force and Japan Coast Guard units, and other U.S. commands on Okinawa, fought the blaze for roughly twelve hours before it was declared out at about 4 a.m. on August 21. NEW ORLEANS subsequently returned to White Beach under her own power. The episode highlighted the cooperative emergency-response architecture that SAN DIEGO now supports as part of the forward amphibious force.

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Homeports of USS SAN DIEGO:

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USS SAN DIEGO Image Gallery:

The photos below were taken by me and show the SAN DIEGO at Naval Base San Diego, Calif., on May 10, 2012 - roughly 1 1/2 weeks before her commissioning.

The photos below were taken by me and show the SAN DIEGO arriving at San Diego, Calif., on the morning of October 5, 2012.

The photos below were taken by me and show the SAN DIEGO at Naval Base San Diego, Calif., on October 11, 2012.

The photos below were taken by Henry Schnutz and show the SAN DIEGO at Naval Base San Diego, Calif., on August 27, 2013.

The photo below was taken by Lydia Perz and shows the SAN DIEGO at Naval Base San Diego, Calif., on May 3, 2014.

The photos below were taken by Shiu On Yee on August 20-23, 2014, and show the SAN DIEGO during a port visit to Hong Kong while assigned to the USS MAKIN ISLAND (LHD 8) Expeditionary Strike Group.

The photos below were taken by Michael Jenning and show the SAN DIEGO undergoing a Selected Restricted Availability (SRA) at BAE Systems San Diego Ship Repair on October 2, 2015.

The photos below were taken by Michael Jenning and show the SAN DIEGO returning to San Diego, Calif., respectively at the Naval Base a few hours later. The photos were taken on April 18, 2016.

The photos below were taken by Michael Jenning and show the SAN DIEGO leading the Parade of Ships during Fleet Week San Francisco at San Francisco, Calif., on October 7, 2016.

The photos below were taken by Michael Jenning on October 8, 2016, during an open ship aboard USS SAN DIEGO as part of Fleet Week San Francisco.

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The photos below were taken by Sebastian Thoma and show the USS SAN DIEGO at Naval Base San Diego, Calif., on December 20, 2016.

The photos below were taken by Michael Jenning and show the USS SAN DIEGO at BAE Systems San Diego Ship Repair at San Diego, Calif., on September 28, 2018.

The photos below were taken by Michael Jenning and show the USS SAN DIEGO at Naval Base San Diego, Calif., on March 2, 2019.

The photos below were taken by Michael Jenning during an open ship event aboard USS SAN DIEGO during Fleet Week San Diego on November 8, 2019.

			Click here for more Photos.

The photos below were taken by Sebastian Thoma and show the USS SAN DIEGO during her Drydocking Selected Restricted Availability (DSRA) at BAE Systems San Diego Ship Repair, on November 28 and November 29 (aerial photos), 2021. The ship entered the dry dock on September 27, 2021.

The photos below were taken by Michael Jenning and show the USS SAN DIEGO during her Drydocking Selected Restricted Availability (DSRA) at BAE Systems San Diego Ship Repair, on December 28, 2021. The ship entered the dry dock on September 27, 2021.

The photos below were taken by Michael Jenning and show the USS SAN DIEGO during her Drydocking Selected Restricted Availability (DSRA) at BAE Systems San Diego Ship Repair, on May 29, 2022.

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