USS Guam (LPH-9) - 1990s and Fate

1990s and Fate

She departed from Norfolk in August 1990, under the command of Captain Chuck Saffell, to deploy to the Persian Gulf for Operation Desert Shield and Operation Desert Storm, with less than a month's notice. When her crew received notice of the deployment the boilers were torn down for PMS (preventative maintenance).

In January 1991, Guam was sent to the coast of Somalia for Operation Eastern Exit. She was originally set to take the rescued personnel from the Embassy to Kenya, but Kenya refused the Russian Ambassador. Instead, Guam took them to Muscat, Oman before returning to the Persian Gulf.

In 1993, she won the Marjorie Sterrett Battleship Fund Award for the Atlantic Fleet.

In 1996, the USS Guam supported the 22nd MEU in Operation Assured Response off the coast of Liberia.

Guam normally carried 4 AV-8B Harriers and conducted Harrier operations while operating in the Atlantic coast of the United States. She also conducted Harrier ops on a regular basis while on deployment with the exception of the final voyage from September 1997 through April 1998. The last operation conducted was in May 1998 before the final ammunition offload at Naval Weapon Station Yorktown.

She was decommissioned on 25 August 1998 and spent several months at the Norfolk Naval Shipyard while the Navy decided what to do with the ship. Guam was disposed of as a target off the US east coast on October 16, 2001. The SINKEX was conducted by the John F. Kennedy Battle Group. USNS Mohawk towed her out to sea and a fighter wing attached to the JFK conducted SINKEX. True to her name she took over 12 hours to sink most likely due to all watertight compartments sealed by the decommissioning crew.. The exact location was 031° 14' 22.0" North, 071° 16' 35.0" West.