245 – USS Peoria, LST-1183
July 5th, 2008
# Laid down, 24 February 1968, at National Steel and Shipbuilding Corp, San Diego, CA.
# Launched, 23 November 1968
# Commissioned USS Peoria (LST-1183), 21 February 1970, CDR. John T. Williams in command
# During the Vietnam War Peoria participated in the following campaigns:Vietnamese Counteroffensive – Phase VII
May 12 -14 & 20 – 23, 1971
June 21 – 25, 1971Consolidation I
August 8 – 11 & 13 – 15, 1971# Decommissioned, 28 January 1994
# Laid up in the Pacific Reserve Fleet, category C status, at Naval Inactive Ship Maintenance Facility (NISMF) Pearl Harbor, HI.
# Struck from the Naval Register, 6 November 2002
# Final Disposition, sunk as a target sunk, 12 July 2004, during RIMPAC 2004
# Peoria earned two campaign stars for Vietnam War servicePeoria is the fifth ship of the twenty ship Newport tank landing ship class, which replaced the traditional bow door design LST. Two derrick arms support a thirty-ton, 112-foot bow ramp for the unloading of tanks and other vehicles ashore, additionally, amphibious vehicles can be launched from the tank deck via the ship’s stern gate and the ship’s flight deck can accommodate most Navy helicopter types.
The plaque can be found in the Peoria Courthouse Plaza along a wall as one would be exiting up a set of stairs towards Hamilton.