USS Coronado (AGF 11) on 21 June 1997.
Click on this photograph for links to larger images of this class.
Class: CORONADO (AGF 11, ex LPD)
Design: SCB Project No. 187C (Navy LPD 4 class flag variant)
Displacement (tons): 10,878 light, 16,405 full
Dimensions (feet): 569' oa, 548'wl x 108' e, 84'wl x 22' max nav
Armament: 4-3"/50T; (1980) 2-3"/50T; (1986) 2-3"/50T, 2-CIWS; (1995) 2-CIWS
Accommodations: 106 officers and 1247 enlisted
Speed (kts.): 20 (sustained)
Propulsion (HP): 24,000
Machinery: Steam turbines, 2 boilers (600psi), 2 screws
Construction:
| AGF | Name | Reclas | Builder | Keel | Launch | Comm |
| 11 | CORONADO | 1 Oct 1980 | Lockheed | 3 May 1965 | 30 Jul 1966 | (Oct 1980) |
Disposition:
| AGF | Name | T | Decomm | Strike | Disposal | Fate | MA Sale |
| 11 | CORONADO | 25 Feb 2005 | 30 Sep 2006 | 12 Sep 2012 | Target | -- |
Class Notes:
In 1961 the basic LPD 1 design (see LA SALLE, AGF 3) was lengthened with a 48-foot plug for additional troop and vehicle cargoes, and they were also fitted with a telescoping hangar to allow minimal support to embarked helicopters. Approved characteristics for this Amphibious Transport Dock (LPD), SCB Project No. 187B, were promulgated on 22 May 1962 with a final change on 29 March 1966. The first three ships of the resulting AUSTIN (LPD 4/SCB 187B) class were funded in FY 1962. Seven later ships of this class, LPD 7-13 (SCB 187C), were fitted like LA SALLE (LPD 3) as PHIBRON flagships with an extra bridge level. Approved characteristics for this Amphibious Transport Dock (LPD), SCB Project No. 187C, were promulgated on 10 May 1963 with a final change on 8 April 1966.
The flag spaces in the AUSTIN class flagships saw little use, and when LA SALLE needed a relief as Middle East flagship to return to the U.S. for her first full overhaul in nine years one of them, CORONADO (LPD 11), was converted to fill in and was reclassified AGF 11 (retaining the LPD number) on 1 October 1980. After LA SALLE returned to the Middle East as flagship in June 1983, CORONADO received an overhaul in 1983-84 and then in October 1985 relieved PUGET SOUND (AD 38) as the command ship of Commander, U.S. Sixth Fleet. She was soon relieved in that role by BELKNAP (CG 26) and in July 1986 was ordered to Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, to become the command ship for Commander, U.S. 3rd Fleet, who previously had flown his flag ashore. She filled this role from 26 November 1986 to the end of her career except for several brief temporary assignments. With her fleet commander she changed homeport from Ford Island at Pearl Harbor to North Island at San Diego in August 1991, although she often moored at Point Loma. She received a large overhaul between 1997 and November 1998 in which she was fitted with the latest network-centric technology. During this overhaul her docking well was also filled in with three decks for command and control facilities and accommodations for 220 personnel and the stern was plated in.
On 14 November 2003 CORONADO was decommissioned, placed in service with the Military Sealift Command, and redesignated T-AGF-11. However in early 2004, the 7th Fleet command ship, USS BLUE RIDGE (LCC 19), needed an extensive dry dock maintenance period and CORONADO was temporarily assigned to replace her. In late March 1904 it was concluded that the activities CORONADO was undertaking required her to be a warship, and she was transferred back to the regular Navy and recommissioned while keeping a large civilian MSC complement. MSC civil service mariners provided navigation, deck, engineering, laundry and galley services while the ship remained in full commission with a Navy mission crew and a Navy commanding officer. The same mixed crew arrangement was applied permanently to MOUNT WHITNEY (LCC 20) in the Atlantic on 20 September 2004. On 27 September 2004, BLUE RIDGE returned to duty with her usual fully military crew as the 7th Fleet command ship. CORONADO was again decommissioned and placed in service with MSC on 25 February 2005, this time putting her in reduced operating status with a 50-man crew and ending her active career. At the end of Fiscal Year 2006 CORONADO was struck on 30 September 2006 and deactivated by MSC on 1 October 2006, being transferred to the Navy Inactive Fleet Facility in Hawaii for storage and disposal. Her sisters of the AUSTIN (LPD 4) class left service between 2005 and 2011 except for DENVER (LPD 9) and PONCE (LPD 17) which lasted to 2017, the latter having been reclassified AFSB(I) 1 in 2012 as an interim aloat forward staging base at Bahrain for patrol craft, mine countermeasure ships, and helicopters.
Ship Notes:
| AGF | Name | MA | Notes |
| 11 | CORONADO | Ex LPD 11 (FY 1964, ord 15 May 1964, comm 23 May 1970). In service as T-AGF 11, 2003-2004, then back to AGF 11 with mixed crew. Struck 30 September 2006, expended as target 12 September 2012. |
Page Notes:
Compiled: 28 Jan 2023
© Stephen S. Roberts, 2023
Special sources: Norman Friedman, U.S. Amphibious Ships and Craft, (Annapolis, 2002).