USS Portland RIP

My first ship, The USS Portland (LSD-37), was commissioned in late 1970. I went aboard in January 1971 and missed being designated a “plankowner”, an original crew member, by a few weeks. The Portland left the fleet in 2003 and a brand new USS Portland (LPD-27) was commissioned in Portland this year. I recently found out my Portland was towed out to sea off Virginia, used for target practice and sunk. Broke my heart. Lots of memories. The ship’s nickname was “Sweet Pea”.

Many former US Navy ships are strategically sunk to form artificial reefs. Others are sold to other countries for use in foreign navies. The other ship I served on, the USS Plymouth Rock, was decommissioned in 1983 and later sold for scrap metal in 1995 for $268.707. The plankowner term come from the days of wooden ships but modern vessels did have some areas of wooden decks usually around the quarterdeck. A certified plankowner used to get a piece of the wooden deck when s ship went out of service.