By LOGAN HAWKES She’s not much to look at anymore, large sections of the ship have been removed and most of her equipment and electronics are gone. Her once powerful engines are missing and, slowly, the USS Saipan is disappearing, a salvage project at International Shipbreaking Ltd. at the Port of Brownsville. When she was towed into the port a couple of months back she was heralded by hundreds of dock personnel, shipyard workers and others who caught a glimpse of the behemoth as she made her last docking. Even port director Eddie Campirano said he was “impressed” while looking out a window during a meeting the day the ship arrived. Campirano says the Saipan is the largest ship to ever dock at the port. Technically called an amphibious assualt ship, the Saipan is unique in that during its service in the U.S. Navy it carried a complement of fixed wing and rotary wing aircraft on her upper deck, jetsHarrier jets and helicopters that supported amphibious assualts. THE FACTS Keel laid: July 21, 1972 Launched: July 18, 1974 Commissioned: October 15, 1977 Decommissioned: April 25, 2007 Builder: Ingalls Shipbuilding, Miss. Propulsion system: Two boilers Two geared steam turbines Propellers: Two Aircraft elevators: Two Length: 833.34 feet Flight Deck Width: 132.2 feet Beam: 106.6 feet Draft: 26.25 feet (8 meters) Displacement: approx. 39,300 tons   Speed: 24 knots The Saipan carried six (6) AV-8B Harrier attack planes, four (4) AH-1W Super Cobra attack helicopters, twelve (12) CH-46 Sea Knight helicopters, nine (9) CH-53 Sea Stallion helicopters, four (4) UH-1N Huey helicopters. The ship's crew consisted of 82 officers and 882 enlisted men, while the Marine detachment included 1,900-plus soldiers. Armament included two Rolling Airframe Missile Systems (RAM), four 25mm Mk 38 Gun Mounts, two Phalanx CIWS, and five .50 cal. mounts. USS SAIPAN was the second ship in the TARAWA - class of amphibious assault ships and the second ship in the Navy to bear the name. Both decommissioned and stricken from the Navy list on April 20, 2007, the SAIPAN was subsequently used for weapons effect testing, providing vital information on structural integrity and survivability assisting in the designing and planning of future ships. After the tests the SAIPAN was transferred to the inactive fleet and was now laid up at the Philadelphia Naval Ship Yard awaiting final disposal. On May 22, 2009, the SAIPAN was sold for scrapping to International Shipbreaking Ltd. Her first Commanding Officer was Captain F. W. Johnston. SAIPAN's operational career began in July 1979 when she was diverted from Fleet Refresher Training to "Special Contingency Operations" for possible non-combatant evacuation of American personnel from Nicaragua during that country's civil war. In May 1980, SAIPAN was underway augmenting U.S. Coast Guard efforts to assist Cuban refugees crossing the Straits of Florida to the United States. On 25 August 1980, SAIPAN departed Norfolk for the first Mediterranean deployment by a LHA, and on 3 September 1981, SAIPAN deployed for her second tour in the Med. During that deployment, SAIPAN visited or operated in seven different countries on three continents, transited the Suez Canal, and participated in Exercises OCEAN VENTURE, DISPLAY DETERMINATION, BRIGHT STAR and NATIONAL WEEK. From August 1982 through July 1983, SAIPAN was in the Norfolk Naval Shipyard in Portsmouth, Virginia for her first scheduled, complex overhaul. In September 1983, while undergoing Refresher Training at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, SAIPAN was diverted to participate in Operation URGENT FURY off Grenada. SAIPAN then set sail for her third Mediterranean deployment on 22 January 1985. During this deployment, she steamed more than 32,000 miles, logged over 6,700 safe aircraft landings, and visited ports in three countries. After a maintenance period in Norfolk Naval Shipyard, Portsmouth, Virginia from October 1985 to February 1986, SAIPAN sailed to Guantanamo Bay to complete Refresher Training. Amphibious Refresher Training was held later in May off the Coast of North Carolina with SAIPAN achieving a 99.97 overall grade, the highest score ever achieved by any amphibious ship. On 17 August 1986, SAIPAN departed on her fourth Mediterranean deployment. Extended briefly in the Eastern Mediterranean for contingency operations, SAIPAN returned to Norfolk on 24 February 1987. From 17 March 1990 through 17 September 1990, SAIPAN was deployed to the Mediterranean and conducted the evacuation of approximately 1,600 civilians from war-torn Liberia in support of Operation SHARP EDGE. From 17 September 1991 to 17 March 1992, SAIPAN deployed to the Persian Gulf as a unit of ARG 3-91 in support of Operation DESERT STORM. During 1993, SAIPAN was out of home port 245 days. SAIPAN again deployed to the Mediterranean on 17 March with the 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit in support of Operations DENY FLIGHT and PROVIDE PROMISE. The ship returned to Norfolk on 10 September 1993, and entered Norfolk Naval Shipyard for her third scheduled complex overhaul on 29 April 1994. SAIPAN has deployed twice more to the Mediterranean, in 1996 and 1998. SAIPAN provided a presence in the Adriatic Sea during the 2000 federal elections in Yugoslavia, and gave support to the first ever U.S.-Croatian exercise. In 2005, she deployed to Haiti where she offloaded Seabees from Naval Mobile Construction Battalion (NMCB) One, and nearly 1,200 tons of equipment used to rebuild schools and wells in the hurricane-ravaged country. In December 2006, SAIPAN returned from her final deployment.