USS Guam (LPH-9), was an Iwo Jima-class amphibious assault ship, and was laid down by the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard on 15 November 1962; launched on 22 August 1964, sponsored by Mrs. Vaughn H. Emory Green, and commissioned on 16 January 1965.

After fitting out and builder's trials, the new amphibious assault ship joined the U.S. Atlantic Fleet on 21 April 1965 and sailed for Norfolk, her homeport.

On 15 September, at 0959 EDT, Guam recovered Astronauts Pete Conrad and Dick Gordon 710 miles (1,140 km) east of Cape Kennedy.

In the summer of 1971, Guam was chosen as a test vessel for Admiral Elmo Zumwalt's Sea Control Ship concept.

This ship was to operate a few VSTOL fighters and some ASW helicopters in order to free up supercarriers from convoy duty during a conflict with the Soviet Union.

While operating 50 km southeast of Morehead City, North Carolina (USA), on 19 July 1981, a Sikorsky CH-53 Sea Stallion helicopter crashed into another CH-53 and a Bell UH-1N Twin Huey on landing.

In October 1983, bound for another stint off the coast of Lebanon, she was redirected to the Caribbean to serve as the flagship for Operation Urgent Fury, the invasion of Grenada.

Vice Adm. Joseph P. Metcalf III and his command team of 50 directed the week-long invasion from the flag plot of the Guam, a control center designed to accommodate one quarter that number.

During this deployment, the ship was damaged while sailing through a tropical storm off the East Coast of the United States while en route to Rota, Spain.

She also conducted Harrier ops as part of the deployment work-up on a regular basis with the exception of the final voyage from September 1997 through April 1998.

The USS Guam was decommissioned on 25 August 1998 and spent several months at the Norfolk Naval Shipyard while the Navy decided what to do with the ship.

[citation needed] Her dual 3"/50cal Mk33 anti aircraft mount is preserved at the Mesa-Arizona Commemoration Air Force Museum.