USS Peleliu to be decommissioned after 35 years of service

SAN DIEGO (KUSI) – The USS Peleliu will be decommissioned in a ceremony Tuesday at the Naval Base San Diego.

The 820-foot-long vessel was deployed 17 times and steamed more than 1 million nautical miles in its 35 years of service.

Its final deployment ended last Christmas when it pulled in the San Diego Bay for the last time.

The ceremony will host hundreds of former crew members and Marines who were transported during the vessel’s career.

The flag will be brought down and then the vessel will be towed to Pearl Harbor, Hawaii where it will join the Navy’s reserve fleet.

The Peleliu, named for a Pacific island where a bloody World War II battle took place, was commissioned May 3, 1980, in Pascagoula, Mississippi.

The Navy is expected to replace all the Tarawa-class assault ships with American-class amphibious assault ships that are designed to carry helicopters and other small aircraft.