Dock Landing Ship
LSD 44 - USS Gunston Hall
Type, Class:		Dock Landing Ship; Whidbey Island - class
Builder:		Avondale Shipyard, New Orleans, Louisiana, USA
STATUS:		Awarded: April 16, 1985 Laid down: May 26, 1986 Launched: June 27, 1987 Commissioned: April 22, 1989 ACTIVE UNIT/ in commission (Atlantic Fleet)
Homeport:		Naval Amphibious Base Little Creek, Virginia, USA
Namesake:		Named after and in honor of Gunston Hall, Virginia - estate of George Mason
Ship's Motto:		DEFENDING THE CONSTITUTION
Technical Data: (Measures, Propulsion, Armament, Aviation, etc.)		see: INFO > Whidbey Island - class Dock Landing Ship
ship images
Aqaba, Jordan - May 2014 April 2014 April 2014 December 2013 Atlantic Ocean - November 2013 Atlantic Ocean - November 2013 Joint Expeditionary Base Little Creek-Fort Story, Virginia - December 2012 Atlantic Ocean - December 2012 Mediterranean Sea - November 2012 Mediterranean Sea - November 2012 5th Fleet AOR - October 2012 5th Fleet AOR - October 2012 Arabian Sea - October 2012 Arabian Sea - August 2012 Red Sea - May 2012 Atlantic Ocean - April 2012 Little Creek - March 2012 Norfolk, Virginia - March 2011 Guantanamo Bay, Cuba - March 2011 Belize - February 2011 Caribbean Sea - February 2011 Guantanamo Bay, Cuba - January 2011 Guantanamo Bay, Cuba - January 2011 Guantanamo Bay, Cuba - January 2011 Norfolk, Virginia - January 2011 Norfolk, Virginia - January 2011 Norfolk, Virginia - July 2010 Loska, Estonia - June 2010 Sekondi, Ghana - March 2010 off Haiti - January 2010 off Haiti - January 2010 Little Creek, Virginia - January 2010 Port Everglades, Florida - May 2007 Persian Gulf - July 2005 Mediterranean Sea - January 2003 Gulf of Izmit, Zurkey - August 1999 1993 1993 1993 during Operation DESERT SHIELD - 1992 1991 1990 1990 1990 1990 after launching - June 27, 1987 launching - June 27, 1987 launching - June 27, 1987 launching - June 27, 1987 launching - June 27, 1987
Gunston Hall, Virginia, USA
Namesake & History:
Gunston Hall Plantation, Virginia: Gunston Hall, the plantation home of George Mason, exemplifies a great period in the history of Virginia and the nation. Famous for architectural beauty as well as historical associations, it remains virtually unchanged from the days when Washington and Jefferson visited here. George Mason (1725-1792) was a statesman and political thinker who played an important but behind-the-scenes role in the founding of our nation. He rarely left his acres on the Potomac, but instead wielded his pen in his lifelong fight for individual rights. In his study at Gunston Hall, Mason drafted the Virginia Declaration of Rights, one of the greatest documents of all time. It was the model for the Federal Bill of Rights and its influence descended to the French Declaration of Rights of man, subsequent European governments, and the United Nation's Declaration of Human Rights. Gunston Hall is a story-and-a-half Georgian house made from brick and local Aquia stone. The two outstanding rooms in the house are the dining room, done in the "Chinese style", and the Palladian room. The elaborately carved woodwork throughout the house was done by William Buckland. Buckland, a young carpenter and "joiner", was brought from Englandto plan and execute the work. Although he is responsible for many other lovely rooms in Maryland and Virginia ; the Palladian Room is considered to be his masterpiece. Gunston Hall was a self-sufficient plantation in the time of George Mason. He owned over 5,000 acres, many of them devoted to growing wheat and tobacco and grazing sheep. Tiny village-like compounds on the grounds provided housing for craftsmen, servants and slaves who lived there with their families. To the east of the Hall is the kitchen yard. Surrounding the originial well are the reconstructed kitchen, laundry, diary, and smokehouse. To the west, the schoolhouse stands on the foundation of the original building where Mason's nine children studied their lessons. The formal gardens have been carefully restored by the Garden Club of Virginia with documented plants of colonial days. The original English boxwood alee is now some twelve feet high. From the end of the garden, there's an unspoiled view over the deer park to the Potomac, where sailing ships once docked to load Mason's crops for shipment to Europe.
USS Gunston Hall (LSD 44): - history wanted -
patches
| seaforces.org | USN ships start page |