The USS St. Louis (AKA-116/LKA-116) was a Charleston-class amphibious cargo ship laid down as AKA-116 in 1968, launched and commissioned in 1969. The vessel was ready for sea in 1970 and completed a two-month intensive training in battle organization and amphibious operations. Post-shakedown, she got underway with units of Amphibious Squadron 11 for Pearl Harbor and then for South Vietnam. The ship participated in large-scale amphibious landing exercises in Vietnam and then went back to shuttling men and cargo between Vietnam, Okinawa, and Japan. During the 1970s-1980s, the vessel returned to the picket line off the coast of South Vietnam, participating in the defense operations in the Easter Offensive of 1972. The ship offloaded US Navy SEAL squads during this assault, earning a campaign star and the Combat Action Ribbon later in the 1990s. From 1980 to 1981, she sailed a WESTPAC Cruise to pick up Marines from MSSG-31, earning her a Battle "E" award. The amphibious cargo ship would perform tasks with the Seventh Fleet in the following months until her decommissioning in 1992. Due to asbestos products used in ships built before the 1980s, Navy personnel deployed on these vessels risked exposure and developing severe asbestos diseases many years later.
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