USS Ponce

The Ponce was the last of the Austin-class amphibious transport docks, decommissioned in 2012 after more than 40 years of service—only to be reactivated as an Afloat Forward Staging Base in the Persian Gulf, where she served until 2017. Her second career as a floating base for Mine Countermeasures forces gave her a unique legacy: a ship that found new purpose after retirement and answered the call twice. The sailors who served on her remember a ship that simply refused to quit.