History

USS Mesa Verde is the third amphibious transport dock of the San Antonio-class, but it is the first U.S. Navy ship named "Mesa Verde." The ship was christened in January 2005 with a Native American blessing provided by Peter Pino, a tribal administrator of Pueblo Zia. The ship was commissioned in 2007, marking the 100th anniversary of the creation of the National Park. Mesa Verde’s sponsor was Mrs. Linda Campbell, wife of former Senator Ben Nighthorse Campbell.

NAMESAKE

Congress established Mesa Verde, meaning "green table" in Spanish, as the first cultural park in the National Park System in 1906 to preserve the notable cliff dwellings of the ancestral Puebloan culture. The park received greater recognition in 1978 when it was designated a World Cultural Heritage Site by the United Nations. Occupying part of a large sandstone plateau rising above the Montezuma and Mancos valleys, Mesa Verde National Park is 81 square miles, consisting of 52,122 acres and rising more than 8,500 feet above sea level. Mesa Verde National Park serves as a spectacular reminder of the 13 centuries-old ancestral Puebloan culture by preserving hundreds of dwellings and artifacts.

The archeological sites found in Mesa Verde are some of the most notable and best preserved in the United States. Mesa Verde National Park offers visitors a spectacular look into the lives of the Ancestral Pueblo people. Scientists study the ancient dwellings of Mesa Verde, in part, by making comparisons between the Ancestral Pueblo people and their contemporary indigenous descendants who still live in the Southwest today. Twenty-four Native American tribes in the southwest have an ancestral affiliation with the sites at Mesa Verde.

SHIP CHARACTERISTICS

• Length:  684 feet (208.5 meters)

• Beam:  105 feet (31.9 meters)

• Displacement:  Approximately 24,900 tons full load

• Speed:  In excess of 22 knots (24.2 mph)

• Aircraft:  Four CH-46 Sea Knight helicopters or two MV-22 Osprey tilt rotor aircraft may be launched or recovered simultaneously. The ship’s hangar can store 1-2 aircraft.

• Armament:  Two 30 mm Close-in-Guns, for surface threat defense; two Rolling Airframe Missile launchers for air defense

• Landing Craft:  Two LCACs (air cushion) or one LCU (conventional)

• EFVs:  14 Marine Corps Expeditionary Fighting Vehicles

• Power plant:  Four Colt-Pielstick diesel engines, two shafts, 40,000 Hp

• Crew:  360 Sailors (28 officers, 332 enlisted), three Marines

• Troops:  699 (66 officers, 633 enlisted); surge to 800 total

• LPD 17 Class: San Antonio (LPD 17), New Orleans (LPD 18), Mesa Verde (LPD 19), Green Bay (LPD 20), New York (LPD 21), San Diego (LPD 22), Anchorage (LPD 23), Arlington (LPD 24), and Somerset (LPD 25)

• Motto:  “Courage, Teamwork, Tradition”