USS Peleliu (LHA-5) Ship's Crest Sweatshirt

USS Peleliu (LHA-5) was a Tarawa-class amphibious assault ship commissioned on May 3, 1980, and named for the Battle of Peleliu, one of the Pacific War's most brutal engagements. Fought from September to November 1944 on a coral island in the Palau archipelago, the Battle of Peleliu tested the Marine Corps against a Japanese garrison that deployed an entirely new defensive doctrine of fortified caves and interconnected tunnels, resulting in some of the heaviest fighting casualty rates of the entire war. The ship bearing that name served for more than three decades as a versatile amphibious assault platform, homeported in San Diego and later Long Beach, conducting operations across the Pacific and Indian Oceans including combat support, humanitarian assistance, and disaster relief missions. Decommissioned on March 31, 2015, after thirty-five years of service, Peleliu earned a distinguished record worthy of the battle she was named for. This sweatshirt features the official ship's crest and honors all who served aboard her.