San Bernardino participated in the Vietnam War, earning one battle star and took part in operations in the Middle East.

This made the Newport class the first to depart from the standard LST design that had been developed in early World War II.

The LST carried 1,750 long tons (1,780 t) of diesel fuel for a range of 2,500 nautical miles (4,600 km; 2,900 mi) at the cruising speed of 14 knots (26 km/h; 16 mph).

The ship was also equipped with a bow thruster to allow for better maneuvering near causeways and to hold position while offshore during the unloading of amphibious vehicles.

[3][5] The Newport class were larger and faster than previous LSTs and were able to transport tanks, heavy vehicles and engineer groups and supplies that were too large for helicopters or smaller landing craft to carry.

[1][2] The Newport class has the capacity for 500 long tons (510 t) of vehicles, 19,000 sq ft (1,800 m2) of cargo area and could carry up to 431 troops.

[1][7] The vessels also have davits for four vehicle and personnel landing craft (LCVPs) and could carry four pontoon causeway sections along the sides of the hull.

[6][9] The ship's keel was laid down on 12 July 1969 by National Steel and Shipbuilding Company at their yard in San Diego, California.

Named for a city in California, San Bernardino was launched on 28 March 1970, sponsored by the wife of Vice Admiral Walter H. Baumberger.

The tank landing ship visited Valparaíso, Chile; Callao, Peru; and Rodman Naval Station, Panama, before returning to San Diego on 17 July.

[10] The ARG was stationed off Da Nang, South Vietnam, in a constant state or readiness to respond to threats to Americans in the region.

In early June, the LST was deployed to the western Pacific again, with stops at Pearl Harbor, Suva, Fiji, and Brisbane, Australia.

The intense workload caused structural and component fatigue to the already old vessel, and an inspection in August 2010 concluded that repairing the ship would be uneconomical.