The decommissioned amphibious warship USS Juneau, which operated out of Naval Base San Diego for 25 years, was sunk during a dramatic live-fire training exercise in the Philippine Sea, roughly 200 miles from Guam, according to the Navy.
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The multi-national attack occurred last Friday during Operation Valiant Shield and “brought together air, surface, and subsurface assets in coordinated strikes, allowing crews to sharpen critical skills in weapons employment and target engagement under realistic conditions that no simulator can fully replicate,” the Navy said.
The 548-foot Juneau was targeted by a long-range missile deployed by a U.S. Air Force B-2 Spirit bomber, and by a torpedo launched by a Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force submarine. The two countries frequently train together.
Before the exercise, Juneau “underwent extensive preparation, including the complete removal of hazardous materials such as PCBs, petroleum residues, and other pollutants in line with Environmental Protection Agency guidelines,” the Navy said.
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Juneau was an Austin-class transport dock ship that dispatched Marines and their equipment to the Vietnam War and to the Middle East for Operation Desert Shield and Operation Desert Storm. The ship was homeported in San Diego from 1974 to 1999 and for a very brief time in 2008, when the ship was decommissioned.
The Navy is currently preparing to sink two other decommissioned vessels that were stationed in San Diego for many years: the amphibious assault ship USS Peleliu and the cruiser USS Mobile Bay. The sinkings are likely to occur over the next three weeks.
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