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General Characteristics Crew List Memorabilia Cruise Books About the Name Coat of Arms About the Name "Carter Hall" Accidents aboard the Ship History Homeports of USS Carter Hall Image Gallery to end of page |  |
USS CARTER HALL is the second HARPERS FERRY - class dock landing ship. The HARPERS FERRY class is the cargo variant of the WHIDBEY ISLAND - class. The CARTER HALL is the second amphibious ship in the Navy to bear the name.
| General Characteristics: | Awarded: December 22, 1989 |
| Keel laid: November 11, 1991 | |
| Launched: October 2, 1993 | |
| Commissioned: September 30, 1995 | |
| Builder: Avondale Industries, New Orleans, Louisiana | |
| Propulsion system: four 16 cylinder Colt-Pielstick Diesel Engines | |
| Propellers: two | |
| Length: 610 feet (186 meters) | |
| Beam: 84 feet (25.6 meters) | |
| Draft: 20 feet (6 meters) | |
| Displacement: approx. 16,500 tons full load | |
| Speed: 22 knots | |
| Well deck capacity: two LCAC or one LCU or four LCM-8 or nine LCM-6 or 15 amphibious assault vehicles (AAV) | |
| Aircraft: none, but two landing spots allow for operation of aircraft as large as the | |
| Crew: Ship: 24 officers, 328 enlisted Marine Detachment: 504 Marines | |
| Armament: two | |
| Cost: about $128 million | |
| Homeport: Little Creek, VA |
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 CARTER HALL. 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 CARTER HALL Cruise Books:
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About the Ship's Coat of Arms:
The Shield:
The colors of the field, red, white, and blue, stand for the United States. The saltire recalls the heritage of the South in the history of the Carter Hall, Virginia. The anchor represents the Navy. The tines are in the form of pheons, symbolizing the mission of support to assault operations. The loose rope intertwined with the anchor signifies freedom. The border denotes unity. Dark blue and gold are the colors traditionally associated with the Navy; red for courage, white for integrity.
The Crest:
The griffin denotes courage and viligance. The crown refers to the heritage of CARTER HALL, recalling the Great grandfather of its builder, known as "King" Carter. The battle stars of the first CARTER HALL (LSD 3) are commemorated by the arc of battle, five gold for her service in Vietnam. The motto is underscored by the olive branch for peace and oak for war. Gold is for excellence and red for courage.
The Seal
The arms are emblazoned on a white oval enclosed by a blue collar edge on the outside with a gold rope and bearing the inscription "USS CARTER HALL" at the top and "LSD 50" at the bottom in gold.
The Motto:
"Working for Peace, Ready for War."
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About the Ship's Name, about the Carter Hall Estate:
The Landing Ship Dock CARTER HALL honors the name of a Virginian estate steeped in American history. Colonial Nathan Burwell built his country mansion on 8,000 acres in the lower Shenandoah Valley. The estate is located near the present town of Winchester in Northern Virginia.
The house took two years to build, 1790-1792. and Burwell named it after his great-grandfather, Robert "King" Carter. He chose a commanding site in a grove near a good spring. The clearing for the buildings left a fine body of oak and timber surrounding the estate, which still remains today. The panoramic view of the Blue Ridge Mountains and the Shenandoah River stills thrills visitors.
The mansion was used alternately as headquarters for the Union and Confederate troops during the Civil War. The family silver and other valuables were hidden in a secret place between the roof and ceiling to escape theft.
Burwell donated two acres of his land for a chapel where several notables are buried. Among those laid to rest there are Edmond Randolph, the first Attorney General of the United States and previously a governor of Virginia; novelist John Esten Cook and poet Phillip Pendleton Cooke.
In 1929, Gerald Lambert bought the mansion and grounds from J. Townsend Burwell and completely modernized Carter Hall. The People-to-People Foundation, Inc., parent organization for Project Hope, acqured the property in 1977. Carter Hall is now headquarters of Project Hope's worldwide health sciences education and training program.
back to top go to the end of the pageAccidents aboard USS CARTER HALL:
| Date | Where | Events |
|---|---|---|
| December 12, 2012 | off the coast of North Carolina | A crewmember dies after falling into the well deck while the CARTER HALL is underway off the US East Coast. Following the accident the sailor was medevaced to Greenville, NC, where he was pronounced dead. |
| April 9, 2016 | approx. 60 nautical miles east of Cape Hatteras | Gunner's Mate 3rd class Taylor KayJean Machado fell or jumped overboard while the CARTER HALL was operating off North Carolina. According to initial reports, her boots and an attached note were found at the ship's stern. A 72-hour search for her including 8 ships and Navy and Coast Guard aircraft was suspended on April 12. |
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USS CARTER HALL History:
USS CARTER HALL was laid down at Avondale in Louisiana on November 11, 1991, launched on October 2, 1993, and commissioned on September 30, 1995. In 1996, the ship completed shakedown and basic-phase training along the U.S. East Coast and into the Caribbean. Early foreign port activity included a visit to Nassau, Bahamas, as the crew settled into routine amphibious operations and certifications for well-deck, flight-deck, and Marine embarkation tasks inside the Atlantic Fleet. Through the year, CARTER HALL exercised with surface and aviation units typical of Amphibious Group TWO to validate the ship for first deployment.
CARTER HALL made her maiden overseas cruise with the KEARSARGE (LHD 3) Amphibious Ready Group in 1997, getting underway from Little Creek on April 29, 1997, for a six-month Mediterranean deployment. Through spring and summer, she conducted standard Sixth Fleet amphibious presence and partnered exercises with NATO and allied navies, interleaving training serials with port calls across the theater before completing the deployment and returning home in late October 1997.
After an inter-deployment training cycle in 1998, the ship shifted focus to the Western Hemisphere in 1999 for UNITAS and West African Training Cruise (WATC). CARTER HALL departed on July 24, 1999, and spent the remainder of the year circumnavigating South America with partner navies, conducting amphibious/raids and small-boat operations, humanitarian projects ashore, and a slate of seamanship and interoperability evolutions before returning on December 15, 1999. The events came amid post-Cold War naval engagement initiatives in the Americas to deepen habits of cooperation and crisis-response capacity.
Back in the Mediterranean in 2001, CARTER HALL deployed from April 15 to October 15, 2001, again with KEARSARGE and PONCE (LPD 15). The ship's early-deployment logistics stop in Rota, Spain, set the tone for a presence and exercise tour during a year that, after September 11, 2001, saw heightened force protection and maritime security postures across U.S. Sixth Fleet tasking. CARTER HALL completed the cruise in mid-October.
After work-ups through 2002, CARTER HALL deployed on March 4, 2003, as part of the IWO JIMA (LHD 7) ARG with the 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit, initially supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom tasking in Fifth Fleet waters and the approaches from the Mediterranean and Red Sea. As the strategic focus shifted later in 2003 to West Africa, the ARG repositioned to support U.S. peacekeeping and stabilization efforts off Liberia during the civil-war crisis around Monrovia. By early August, CARTER HALL was operating off Liberia's coast alongside IWO JIMA and NASHVILLE (LPD 13). After roughly two months on station, the three ships pulled into Rota on October 14, 2003, and the deployment concluded with homecoming later that month.
Following maintenance and training, CARTER HALL completed a Mediterranean/Arabian Sea deployment across 2005-2006, the typical schedule for amphibious presence and maritime security in the post-9/11 environment. In mid-2007, while operating in the Gulf of Aden during the peak of Somali piracy, CARTER HALL confronted the hijacked Danish freighter DANICA WHITE. On June 2-3, 2007, the ship fired warning bursts and destroyed three pirate skiffs in tow, but discontinued pursuit once the hijacked ship crossed into Somali territorial waters, where U.S. ships did not operate without host-nation consent. The incident became an early high-visibility example of the legal and operational constraints navies faced against pirates transiting to coastal sanctuaries.
In 2008, the ship executed a summer COMPTUEX with the IWO JIMA Expeditionary Strike Group in the Atlantic (with well-deck embarkations of 26th MEU amphibious assault vehicles and extensive integrated training), then deployed from late summer 2008 into early 2009 for maritime security operations spanning U.S. Sixth and Fifth Fleet areas. The period reflected the Navy-Marine Corps team's steady demand signal for boarding/interdiction, partner training, and crisis-response readiness across the Mediterranean, Red Sea, and Arabian Sea.
Humanitarian response bookended 2010. In the immediate aftermath of the Haiti earthquake, CARTER HALL was ordered on January 13, 2010, to contribute lift, water, and logistics capacity to Operation Unified Response. Later that year, the ship embarked elements of the 26th MEU as part of the KEARSARGE ARG and transited the Strait of Gibraltar on September 8, 2010, en route to Sixth and Fifth Fleet tasks that autumn and winter. The ARG operated in the broader Mediterranean-Red Sea theater in early 2011 as coalition operations unfolded around Libya, while keeping to its amphibious crisis-response remit across the region.
On October 31, 2012, CARTER HALL got underway for disaster-relief support to areas hit by Hurricane Sandy. Early November found the ship in New York Harbor with WASP (LHD 1) and SAN ANTONIO (LPD 17), providing helicopter operating spots and waterborne lift. On November 4, CARTER HALL's embarked landing craft ferried supplies and personnel into Sandy Hook, New Jersey. The group stood down and returned to Hampton Roads on November 12, 2012.
CARTER HALL sailed again with the KEARSARGE ARG and 26th MEU in 2013, embarking March 12. The deployment combined long-planned partner exercises and real-world contingency posture. In June, the ship supported Eager Lion 13 in Aqaba, Jordan, moving heavy equipment ashore by LCAC, as the ARG balanced assignments in Fifth Fleet waters with the turbulence of the Syrian civil war and political unrest in Egypt that summer. Elements of the ARG shifted back into the Mediterranean in early September while CARTER HALL remained in the Middle East until later in the season. The ARG returned to the U.S. on November 6, 2013.
From early 2014 through late 2015, USS CARTER HALL transitioned from post-deployment reset into an extended Chief of Naval Operations availability at General Dynamics NASSCO-Norfolk that doubled as a mid-life upgrade period. The centerpiece was the ship's first Consolidated Afloat Networks and Enterprise Services (CANES) installation, a bow-to-stern overhaul of command, control, communications, computers and intelligence networks carried out from July 2014 into August 2015. Work in the yard also included flight-deck non-skid renewal and ship service diesel generator testing as the crew balanced maintenance with training and certification tasks pier-side in Little Creek. In December 2014, while still homeported, the crew joined the base community for Naval Station Norfolk's annual "Operation Decorama" holiday lighting tradition.
With the availability winding down, CARTER HALL moved back into tactical systems testing and basic phase workups. On November 2, 2015, the ship hosted the Navy's portion of the Multi-Service Operational Test & Evaluation for the Theater Medical Information Program-Joint (TMIP-J), an afloat medical data and communications suite assessed by DOT&E with participation from JITC, MCTSSA and other test agencies. In parallel, the Navy Information Operations Command (NIOC) Norfolk "red team" scheduled follow-on cybersecurity assessments aboard the ship for January 7-11, 2016. During this period Cmdr. Tina Dalmau, who had taken command in August 2015, led the crew as they restored full operational readiness after the yard period.
In early 2016, CARTER HALL operated off the U.S. East Coast during training tied to a major composite training event for the DWIGHT D. EISENHOWER (CVN 69) Carrier Strike Group. On April 9, 2016, a sailor was reported missing while the ship was conducting training roughly 60 nautical miles off Cape Hatteras. An intensive Navy-Coast Guard search followed and was suspended on April 12. The Navy subsequently identified the missing sailor as Gunners Mate 3rd Class Taylor KayJean Machado. The episode punctuated a spring spent returning the ship and crew to sea and completing certifications needed for later deployments.
By June 2016, CARTER HALL was operating with U.S. 6th Fleet in northern European waters for the annual BALTOPS series, focused on allied amphibious and anti-submarine warfare training in the Baltic region alongside NATO and partner forces. After completing amphibious events with embarked Marines and allied contingents, the ship made port visits to Kiel on June 16-19, and Amsterdam on June 21, transiting the North Sea Canal locks en route, and later visited Bergen, Norway, June 26, reinforcing defense cooperation and giving the crew brief shore time before follow-on tasks.
CARTER HALL's 2017 began with the BATAAN (LHD 5) Amphibious Ready Group (ARG) - BATAAN, MESA VERDE (LPD 19) and CARTER HALL - completing Composite Training Unit Exercise (COMPTUEX) off the Atlantic seaboard in January, the culminating certification for ARG/MEU deployment with the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit. After entering U.S. European Command waters, the ship paused at Souda Bay, Crete, for logistics and a week of visit, board, search and seizure (VBSS) training, then shifted north to support "Spring Storm 17", a Romania-led bilateral amphibious evolution at Capu Midia in March, where embarked Marines conducted ship-to-shore movement from CARTER HALL. On March 26 the ship transited from the 6th Fleet area to U.S. 5th Fleet for Middle East missions.
In May 2017, CARTER HALL offloaded vehicles and equipment at Aqaba, Jordan, to support EAGER LION, U.S. Central Command's long-running combined exercise with Jordan that blends live-fire, interoperability and crisis-response scenarios across land, air and maritime components. Through the summer, the ship remained in 5th Fleet conducting maritime security operations with the BATAAN ARG and 24th MEU, before the ARG wrapped up its seven-month deployment with a Norfolk/Little Creek homecoming on September 23.
Post-deployment in 2018, CARTER HALL cycled through maintenance, crew rotations and training while pier-side between local operations. On June 1, 2018, Cmdr. Brian K. Hamel relieved Cmdr. Timothy R. Carter during a change of command ceremony at the NASSCO-Norfolk shipyard in Portsmouth, reflecting the post-deployment maintenance setting. A subsequent change of command on August 10, 2018, saw Cmdr. Bruce W. Golden relieve Cmdr. Hamel in a ceremony at Portsmouth. On February 4, 2019, CARTER HALL completed the Phased Maintenance Availability in Norfolk - modernization and material readiness that set up the next operating cycle. That summer, CARTER HALL self-deployed from Little Creek on August 4, 2019, for UNITAS LX in Brazil under U.S. Fourth Fleet, joining Latin American navies for amphibious, maritime security, and HA/DR scenarios marking the 60th iteration of the longest-running multinational naval exercise in the Western Hemisphere.
In the first pandemic year, Navy officials disclosed on June 1-10, 2020, that several CARTER HALL sailors had tested positive for COVID-19 in late May while the ship was in homeport preparing for hurricane-season surge duty. The crew was moved ashore while the ship underwent deep cleaning, and then reconstituted for continued training.
CARTER HALL's next long deployment began with the IWO JIMA (LHD 7) Amphibious Ready Group on March 25, 2021. The ship made a maintenance/logistics stop in Plymouth, U.K., on April 17, 2021, and in Lisbon, Portugal, on April 30, then continued into the Mediterranean, departing Souda Bay, Crete, on May 30 after a three-day call. Over the following months the ship's port slate included Rota (Spain), Aqaba (Jordan), Jebel Ali (UAE), and Manama (Bahrain) while the ARG supported maritime security and regional presence across Fifth and Sixth Fleets. CARTER HALL returned to Little Creek on October 7, 2021, closing a six-month cruise.
In 2023, CARTER HALL deployed with the BATAAN (LHD 5) Amphibious Ready Group and 26th MEU (SOC). After crossing into the Mediterranean in late July, the ship transited the Suez Canal and entered the Red Sea on August 8, 2023, as U.S. Central Command bolstered maritime presence amid Iranian harassment of commercial shipping. As the Israel-Hamas war broke out in October, the ARG maneuvered to posture across the Eastern Mediterranean and Red Sea. On December 28, 2023, CARTER HALL transited northbound through Suez to rejoin the Eastern Mediterranean posture. In February-March 2024, CARTER HALL made a scheduled port visit to Souda Bay (arriving February 11, with pier images from February 29 and departure on March 2) and then called at Piraeus, Greece, on March 17. The deployment concluded with return to Joint Expeditionary Base Little Creek-Fort Story on March 21, 2024, after eight and a half months in U.S. Sixth and Fifth Fleet waters.
back to top go to the end of the pageHomeports of USS CARTER HALL:
| Period | Homeport |
|---|---|
| commissioned at New Orleans, La. | |
| 1995 - present | Little Creek, Va. |
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USS CARTER HALL Image Gallery:
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The photos below were taken by Michael Jenning and show the CARTER HALL during an Extended Drydocking Selected Restricted Availability (E-DSRA) at General Dynamics NASSCO shipyard (ex-Metro Machine), Norfolk, Va., on May 8, 2014.
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The photos below were taken by Michael Jenning and show the CARTER HALL still undergoing her Extended Drydocking Selected Restricted Availability (E-DSRA) at General Dynamics NASSCO shipyard, Norfolk, Va., on October 23, 2014.
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The photos below were taken by Michael Jenning and show the CARTER HALL during her Extended Drydocking Selected Restricted Availability (E-DSRA) at General Dynamics NASSCO shipyard, Norfolk, Va., on April 29, 2015.
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The photos below were taken by Michael Jenning and show the CARTER HALL near the end of her Extended Drydocking Selected Restricted Availability (E-DSRA) at General Dynamics NASSCO shipyard, Norfolk, Va., on October 6, 2015.
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The photos below were taken by Michael Jenning and show the CARTER HALL at Naval Base Norfolk, Va., on April 13, 2016. The ship had just returned from an underway in support of the DWIGHT D. EISENHOWER (CVN 69) Strike Group's Composite Training Unit Exercise (COMPTUEX).
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The photos below were taken me and show the CARTER HALL arriving at Kiel, Germany, on June 17, 2016, after participating in BALTOPS 2016. For the exercise, the CARTER CALL had two LCACs and several AAVs embarked.
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The photos below were taken by me and show the CARTER HALL at Naval Base Kiel, Germany, on June 18, 2016, after her participation in BALTOPS 2016.
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The photos below were taken me and show the CARTER HALL departing Naval Base Kiel, Germany, on June 19, 2016. She subsequently headed to Amsterdam, The Netherlands, where she arrived on June 21.
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The photo below was taken by Michael Jenning and shows the CARTER HALL at Little Creek, Va., on October 12, 2016.
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The photos below were taken by Michael Jenning and show the CARTER HALL at Naval Base Norfolk, Va., on October 4, 2017.
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The photo below was taken by Michael Jenning and shows the CARTER HALL at General Dynamics NASSCO-Earl Industries shipyard in Portsmouth, Va., for a maintenance availability on September 21, 2018.
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The photos below were taken by Michael Jenning and show USS CARTER HALL during Fleet Week Baltimore on September 8, 2022.
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The photos below were taken by Michael Jenning and show USS CARTER HALL undergoing a Drydocking Selected Restricted Availability (DSRA) at BAE Systems Norfolk Ship Repair on October 4, 2024.
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