Historical Narrative

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USS Monticello was a Thomaston-class dock landing ship, the third ship of the U.S. Navy to be named for Monticello, Thomas Jefferson's home in Virginia. 

Monticello was laid down on June 6, 1955 by Ingalls Shipbuilding Corp., Pascagoula, Mississippi.  The ship was launched on August 10, 1956 and commissioned on March 29, 1957.  After outfitting and trials, Monticello arrived at its homeport of San Diego, California, on May 27, 1957 to join Amphibious Forces, Pacific Fleet, and immediately began shakedown training. 

Monticello had a long and active Navy career, which included serving with the U.S. Navy’s Seventh Fleet in the western Pacific, Joint Task Force 8 for nuclear weapon tests at Christmas Island, and in Vietnam where Monticello served as the primary command ship for “Beacon Hill I” at Quang Tri and “Beacon Star” in 1967.

Monticello was decommissioned on October 1, 1985 and transferred to the U.S. Maritime Administration on August 2, 1991.  Its name was struck from the Naval Register on February 24, 1992, and the ship was sold on September 29, 1995 to Pegasus Inc.

The Navy repossessed the ship on July 1, 1997, and transferred it again to the Maritime Administration.  The vessel was berthed at the Suisun Bay Reserve Fleet until June 27, 2010, when it was withdrawn for a US Navy SINKEX exercise.

Naval History and Heritage Command Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships entry for USS Monticello.

Vessel Name History

MONTICELLO (LSD-25)