USS Ashland (LSD-48)

USS "Ashland" (LSD-48) is a "Whidbey Island"-class dock landing ship of the United States Navy. She was the second Navy ship to be named for Ashland, the boyhood home of Henry Clay, in Lexington, Kentucky.

"Ashland" was laid down on 4 April 1988, by the Avondale Shipyards, New Orleans, La.; launched and christened on 11 November 1989, sponsored by Mrs. Kathleen Foley, wife of Admiral Sylvester R. Foley, Jr. (Ret.); and commissioned on 9 May 1992, at New Orleans . As of 2005, "Ashland" is homeported at NAB Little Creek, Virginia, and assigned to Amphibious Group 2.

2005 rocket attack

On 19 August 2005, the "Ashland" and the USS "Kearsarge" were targeted by three Katyusha rockets while in port in Aqaba, Jordan. The vessels were not hit, but one Jordanian soldier was killed and another was wounded after two rockets hit nearby docks. The third rocket landed on a taxi near the Eilat airport in Israel but did not explode. Responsibility was claimed by the Abdullah al-Azzam Brigades, which states that it is associated with the al-Qaeda terrorist group.

Later service

In January 2007, the warship was sent to the coast of Somalia to conduct antiterrorist operations as part of the USS "Dwight D. Eisenhower" task force.On 31 May 2008 "The Guardian" reported that the human rights group Reprieve said up to seventeen US Naval vessels may have been used to covertly hold captives.cite news
url=http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/jun/02/usa.humanrights
title=US accused of holding terror suspects on prison ships
publisher=The Guardian
author=Duncan Campbell, Richard Norton-Taylor
date=2 June 2008
accessdate=2008-06-01
quote=] cite news
url=http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/jun/02/terrorism.terrorism
title=Prison ships, torture claims, and missing detainees
publisher=The Guardian
author=Duncan Campbell, Richard Norton-Taylor
date=2 June 2008
accessdate=2008-06-01
quote=] Reprieve expressed the concern the "Ashland" had been used as a receiving ship for up to 100 captives taken in East Africa.

In April 2008, "Ashland" visited Antsiranana, Madagascar. [cite news
first = Gillian
last = Brigham
title = U.S. 6th Fleet's Southeast Africa Task Force Arrives in Madagascar
url = http://www.navy.mil/search/display.asp?story_id=36415
publisher = United States Naval Forces Europe
date = April 15, 2008
accessdate = 2008-05-03 ]

References

External links

* [http://www.ashland.navy.mil USS "Ashland" official website]
* [http://www.history.navy.mil/danfs/a12/ashland-ii.htm history.navy.mil: USS "Ashland"]
* [http://www.navsource.org/archives/10/1248.htm navsource.org: USS "Ashland"]
* [http://www.nvr.navy.mil/nvrships/details/LSD48.htm nvr.navy.mil: USS "Ashland"]
* [http://navysite.de/ships/lsd48.htm navysite.de: USS "Ashland"]
* [http://www.hullnumber.com/LSD-48 LSD-48 Personnel Roster at HullNumber.com]