USS Ponce (LPD-15)
USS Ponce (AFSB(I)-15) (formerly LPD-15) (/ˈpɒnseɪ/ PON-say), was an Austin-class amphibious transport dock, formerly in service with the United States Navy. She has been the only ship of the Navy named for Ponce in the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, which in turn was named after the Spanish explorer Juan Ponce de León, the first governor of Puerto Rico and the European discoverer of Florida. Her keel was laid down on 31 October 1966 by the Lockheed Shipbuilding and Construction Company of Seattle, Washington. She was launched on 20 May 1970 sponsored by Florence W. Hyland, the wife of Admiral John J. Hyland, and commissioned on 10 July 1971.[3] She spent most of her career based on the East Coast and operating in the Atlantic Ocean and Mediterranean Sea, serving in Operation Desert Shield and supporting US operations in the 2011 Libyan Civil War.
For other ships with the same name, see USS Ponce.It was intended that the ship would be decommissioned in 2012, but she gained a reprieve to be converted at short notice into a testbed for the Afloat Forward Staging Base (AFSB) concept, in which she would act as a base for mine-sweeping MH-53E Sea Dragon helicopters in the Persian Gulf. Following the conversion, Ponce had been used to test other initiatives and technologies, such as the Laser Weapon System and operating US Army attack helicopters at sea. After the arrival of USS Lewis B. Puller as a permanent AFSB (now designated as Expeditionary Mobile Base (ESB)),[4] Ponce was decommissioned in October 2017 after 46 years of service and 27 deployments.[5]
Possible sale to Argentina[edit]
In 2017, it was reported that Argentina was interested in acquiring Ponce as an addition to their Navy. It was reported that talks of purchase began while US Vice President Mike Pence was on a state visit to Argentina and met with Argentine President, Mauricio Macri. Such a purchase would restore amphibious assault capability to the Argentine Navy, which it has not had since 1997, with the decommissioning of tank landing ship, ARA Cabo San Antonio. In response to these reports, the United Kingdom has expressed concern that said purchase would give Argentina a way to invade the Falkland Islands once again,[39] and if purchased, the Royal Navy would have to increase its presence in the Falkland Islands. The Navy has since announced that Ponce will be dismantled following her decommissioning, likely negating any possibility of a sale.[40]
Decommissioning[edit]
Ponce was decommissioned at Naval Station Norfolk on 14 October 2017 and moved to the Naval Inactive Ship Maintenance Facility in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where it was laid up.
On 24 March 2022, Ponce was removed from the Philadelphia NIMSF and began its journey to Brownsville, Texas, where it will be scrapped.[41] It arrived in Brownsville on 12 April 2022.[42]