Search the Site with 
General Characteristics Crew List Memorabilia Cruise Books USS Comstock History About the Name "Comstock" Image Gallery to end of page

USS Comstock (LSD 45)

USS COMSTOCK is the fifth ship in the WHIDBEY ISLAND class and the second ship in the Navy to bear the name.

General Characteristics:Keel laid: October 27, 1986
Launched: January 16, 1988
Commissioned: February 3, 1990
Builder: Avondale Shipyards, New Orleans, La.
Propulsion system: four Colt Industries 16 Cylinder Diesels
Propellers: two
Length: 610 feet (186 meters)
Beam: 84 feet (25.6 meters)
Draft: 21 feet (6.4 meters)
Displacement: approx. 16,000 tons full load
Speed: 22 knots
Well deck capacity: four LCAC or 21 LCM-6 (on deck: one LCM-6, two LCPL and one LCVP)
Aircraft: none, but two landing spots allow for operation of aircraft as large as the CH-53E
Crew: Ship: 20 Officers, 25 Chief Petty Officers, 302 Enlisted
Marine Detachment: approx. 400 + approx. 100 surge
Armament: two 20mm Phalanx CIWS, two 25mm Mk-38 guns, six .50-calibre Machine guns, two Rolling Airframe Missile (RAM) systems
Cost: $153 million
Homeport: San Diego, CA


Back to topback to top  go to endgo to the end of the page



Back to topback to top  go to endgo to the end of the page

Crew List:

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


back to top  go to the end of the page



Back to topback to top  go to endgo to the end of the page

USS COMSTOCK Cruise Books:


Back to topback to top  go to endgo to the end of the page

About the Ship’s Name:

USS COMSTOCK is the second ship to be named after the Comstock Lode, an early American pioneer mining site near Virginia City, Nevada. The Comstock Lode, founded in 1859, has become indelible in the history of the American West; it produced more than $500,000,000 in gold and silver.

Equally important as the riches the mine produced were the peripheral effects that it had on other industries. To mine the ore, huge hoisting machines, giant pumps, heavy stamps, drills, cables and hundreds of other tools were manufactured. To drain water from underground reservoirs, engineers completed a five- mile tunnel under the floor of the Carson River to the Comstock mine.

Water required for the 40,000 inhabitants of Virginia City and its surrounding area was transported from an artificial lake, Marlette, 30 miles away in the Sierra Nevada Mountains. Using pipes that were cast to fit around mountains, tunnels, flumes and a large inverted siphon, the water transportation and distribution system was a considered an engineering marvel during this epochal period.

Back to topback to top  go to endgo to the end of the page

History of USS COMSTOCK:

Since her commissioning in early 1990, COMSTOCK has completed three extended deployments to the Western Pacific and Middle East Forces, and has completed one deployment to the Southern Pacific conducting counter narcotic operations.

Since being commissioned, COMSTOCK has been at the "tip of the spear". She participated in evacuation operations after Mt. Pinatubo erupted in the Philippines. She was on station during Operation Desert Shield / Desert Storm, and particpated in Operation Continue Hope off the coast of Somalia. Time and again COMSTOCK's ability to perform under pressure has been demonstrated by the Sailors and Marines that serve their country with pride.

In December, 1995 COMSTOCK returned from an extended deployment to the Arabian Gulf in continued support of United Nations and United States policies for that region. Among the highlights of the deployment were integrated amphibious operations with the Jordanian Armed Forces during Operation Infinite Moonlight.

COMSTOCK is a "can do" ship with "can do" Sailors and Marines. The ship was the first USN combatant to have a fully integrated crew of male and female Sailors.

Sailors on COMSTOCK have seen the world with port visits to the tropical climes and Asian shopping extravaganzas with stops in Singapore, Hong Kong and Japan. Her extensive tours in the Arabian Gulf have been highlighted by visiting such ports as: Aquaba, Jordan; Manama, Bahrain; Kuwait City, Kuwait; and Jebel Ali, United Arab Emirates. Other popular ports of call for COMSTOCK have included: Mombasa, Kenya; Seychelles; Perth, Australia; and Hawaii. Not all the good liberty ports are overseas, however. Some of the best visits have been to some of America's fine west coast cities, such as San Francisco and Monterey, California.


Back to topback to top  go to endgo to the end of the page


The photos below were taken by Ian Johnson and show the COMSTOCK arriving at Fremantle, Australia, on April 29, 2007 (the first two photos) and in the harbor on May 3, 2007. At the time, COMSTOCK was part of the BOXER (LHD 4) ESG.



The photos below were taken by me and show the COMSTOCK leaving Naval Base San Diego, Calif., as part of the USS PELELIU (LHA 5) Amphibious Strike Group on March 10, 2008.



The photos below were taken by me and show the COMSTOCK at Naval Base San Diego, Calif., on March 23, 2010.



The photos below were taken by me on September 30, 2011. They show the COMSTOCK in the morning returning to San Diego, Calif., after a seven-month deployment as part of the BOXER (LHD 4) Amphibious Strike Group. The last photo was taken in the late afternoon and shows the COMSTOCK berthed at the Naval Base.



The photos below were taken by me and show the COMSTOCK at Naval Base San Diego, Calif., on May 10, 2012.



The photos below were taken by me and show the COMSTOCK at NASSCO in San Diego, Calif., during her Extended Docking Phased Maintenance Availability. The photos were taken on October 3, 2012.



The photo below was taken by Henry Schnutz and shows the COMSTOCK at Naval Base San Diego, Calif., on August 27, 2013.



The photo below was taken by Lydia Perz and shows the COMSTOCK 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 COMSTOCK 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 COMSTOCK undergoing a Phased Maintenance Availability (PMA) at Huntington Ingalls Industries (HII) Continental Maritime of San Diego shipyard, on October 2, 2015.



The photo below was taken by Michael Jenning and shows the COMSTOCK at Naval Base San Diego, Calif., on April 18, 2016.



The photos below were taken by Michael Jenning and show the COMSTOCK undergoing a Phased Maintenance Availability (PMA) at Huntington Ingalls Industries (HII) Continental Maritime of San Diego shipyard, on October 11, 2017.



The photo below was taken by Sebastian Thoma and shows the COMSTOCK undergoing a Phased Maintenance Availability (PMA) at Huntington Ingalls Industries (HII) Continental Maritime of San Diego shipyard, on November 10, 2017.



The photos below were taken by Michael Jenning and show the COMSTOCK undergoing a Phased Maintenance Availability (PMA) at Huntington Ingalls Industries (HII) Continental Maritime of San Diego shipyard, on September 28, 2018.



The photos below were taken by Michael Jenning and show the COMSTOCK 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 COMSTOCK as part of the Los Angeles Fleet Week at San Pedro, Calif., on August 30, 2019.

Click here for more Photos.


The photos below were taken by Sebastian Thoma and show the COMSTOCK undergoing her Drydocking Selected Restricted Availability (DSRA) at General Dynamics National Steel and Shipbuilding Co. (NASSCO) on November 28 and November 29 (aerial photos), 2021. COMSTOCK entered the shipyard on March 12, 2021.



The photos below were taken by Michael Jenning and show the COMSTOCK undergoing her Drydocking Selected Restricted Availability (DSRA) at General Dynamics National Steel and Shipbuilding Co. (NASSCO) on December 28, 2021. COMSTOCK entered the shipyard on March 12, 2021.



Back to topback to top



Back to Dock Landing Ship site. Back to ships list. Back to selection page. Back to 1st page.