USS La Salle (AGF-3)

USS La Salle (AGF-3) underway in the Persian Gulf in 1990
History
United States
Name	La Salle
Namesake	La Salle, Illinois
Ordered	8 August 1960
Builder	New York Naval Shipyard, Brooklyn, New York
Laid down	2 April 1962
Launched	3 August 1963
Acquired	21 February 1964
Commissioned	22 February 1964
Decommissioned	27 May 2005
Reclassified	1972 as miscellaneous command ship (AGF-3)
Stricken	27 May 2005
Fate	Sunk as target in support of Fleet training exercise, 11 April 2007
General characteristics
Class and type	Raleigh-class amphibious transport dock
Displacement	9,559 long tons (9,712 t) light 13,634 long tons (13,853 t) full 4,075 long tons (4,140 t) dead
Length	522 ft (159 m) o/a 500 ft (150 m) w/l
Beam	107 ft (33 m) extreme 84 ft (26 m) w/l
Draft	22 ft (6.7 m) maximum 23 ft (7.0 m) limit
Speed	23 knots (43 km/h; 26 mph)
Complement	72 officers, 593 men, 24 Marines As AGF 750 Marines as LPD
Armament	4 × 3-inch/50-caliber guns in twin turrets 2 x 20 mm Phalanx CIWS 2 x 25 mm chain guns (1987) 2 x 40 mm Mk. 19 grenade launchers 6 x .50 cal. BMG 6 x 7.62 M60 machine guns 2 Stinger missile operator rings SRBOC chaff launchers 40 mm signal gun
Aircraft carried	Up to 6 rotary aircraft
Aviation facilities	Hangar, extensible.

The second USS La Salle (LPD-3/AGF-3) was built as a Raleigh-class amphibious transport dock and entered service with the United States Navy in 1964. La Salle was named for the city in Illinois that was in turn named after René-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle. La Salle saw service in the Caribbean Sea, Gulf of Mexico and throughout international waters in the Middle East and Europe. The vessel served as a command ship for Joint Task Force Middle East and as flagship for the Sixth Fleet. In 2005 the ship was decommissioned and sunk as a target ship off the Atlantic coast of the United States in 2007.