Iwo Jima was laid down on 2 April 1959 by Puget Sound Naval Shipyard, Bremerton, Washington; launched on 17 September 1960, sponsored by Mrs. Harry Schmidt; and commissioned on 26 August 1961.

On 31 October 1963, Iwo Jima departed Philippine waters for special operations along the coast of South Vietnam, standing by to protect American nationals during a period of increased strife.

Iwo Jima received tons of supplies and scores of Army helicopters, tanker trucks, and vehicles in her hangar and flight deck spaces.

Iwo Jima remained off Chu Lai for a month, protecting Marines and Seabees establishing an air field on the sandy shore.

She also supervised the continual off-load of ships over the beach for the entire month, then on 7 June 1965, landed squadron personnel and helicopters ashore at Phu Bai Combat Base, some 30 miles north of Da Nang.

Iwo Jima remained off Qui Nhon for defensive support until 20 July 1965, then steamed for Pratas Reef about 240 miles southwest of Taiwan.

Support given by Iwo Jima included such items as hot food, clothes, water, pumps, hose, gasoline, air compressors, welding machines, damage control equipment, and technicians.

The successful Navy-Marine Corps amphibious operation, backed by gunfire support from the cruiser USS Galveston and two destroyers, came to a close late on 24 August.

During transit back to Subic Bay, she learned the Frank Knox had been refloated, good news for the crew who had put in so many hard and long hours at Pratas Reef.

She had supported three amphibious assault search-and-destroy raids along the coast by 1 October, when she steamed to southern waters, remaining in stand-by status for possible evacuation of U.S. nationals in revolt-torn Indonesia.

Several months later, she again joined the 7th Fleet Amphibious Ready Group, a fast-moving assault force that had completed more than 20 search-and-destroy operations along the South Vietnamese coast between March 1965 and September 1966.

From April through June, extensive refresher training occupied all hands as Iwo Jima prepared for her forthcoming Western Pacific deployment.

Iwo Jima was on the line and underway for special operations in the Mekong Delta region of South Vietnam by 30 December once again, in a Navy-ready group with a two-pronged punch.

On 17 April 1970, Iwo Jima was the flagship of Task Force 130 that waited for the Apollo 13 spaceship's astronauts after their memorable "successful failure" mission and splashdown near American Samoa.

The cause of the accident was determined to be the use of fasteners of the wrong material (namely black oxide coated brass) on the valve, combined with a lack of proper inspection.

A July 2012 article by USNI News of the United States Naval Institute revealed that the Reagan Administration offered the use of Iwo Jima as a replacement in case either of the two British carriers, Hermes and Invincible, had been damaged or destroyed during the 1982 Falklands War.

Lehman stated that the loan of Iwo Jima was made in response to a request from the Royal Navy, and it had the endorsement of U.S. President Ronald Reagan and U.S. Secretary of Defense Caspar Weinberger.

Contingency planning envisioned American military contractors, likely retired sailors with knowledge of Iwo Jima's systems, assisting the British in manning the U.S. helicopter carrier during the loan-out.