USS Tortuga (LSD-46) is a of the United States Navy. She was the second Navy ship to be named for the Dry Tortugas, a group of desert coral islets west of Key West, Florida. Tortuga was laid down on 23 March 1987, by the Avondale Shipyards, New Orleans, Louisiana. The threat of Hurricane Gilbert in the Gulf of Mexico forced an early launching of the ship, as a precautionary measure, on 15 September 1988. On 19 November 1988, Mrs. Rosemary Parker Schoultz, the ship's sponsor, presided over the christening ceremony, breaking the traditional bottle of champagne over the bow of the ship. Tortuga was commissioned on 17 November 1990. History In 1997, Tortuga was commanded by Commander Kenneth M. Rome, and made a Mediterranean deployment from 1 July 1998 until 8 December 1998. In 1999, Commander J.M. Burdon assumed command and commanded the ship until his retirement in late 2000. He was succeeded by Commander James P. Driscoll, and in October 2000, the ship was ordered on an emergency deployment to support UNITAS 2000 in the South Pacific after had run aground on an underwater mountain off the coast of Valparaíso, Chile suffering catastrophic damage. After successfully finishing the UNITAS deployment, Tortuga returned to Little Creek. In January 2001, Tortuga was assigned as flagship to the Standing Naval Forces Atlantic a NATO peacekeeping/quick reaction force. In August 2002, Tortuga departed North Carolina with Marines and sailors from BLT 2/2. During this time she was the home to Echo Company, CAAT Red and a section of CAAT Green, as well as LAR and AmTracks. The group was on what was supposed to be a six-month deployment. In September and October 2002, Tortuga was in Thessaloniki, Greece in support of BLT 2/2 operations in Kosovo. In November Tortuga transited the Suez Canal with the rest of her ARG. They were then assigned to the U.S. Fifth Fleet. In mid-November, Tortuga put Marines from BLT 2/2 ashore in Djibouti. She then proceeded south of the equator to the Seychelle Islands. In March 2003, Tortuga proceeded to the Persian Gulf to deploy her Marines and sailors in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. The Marines and sailors returned to Tortuga in April and returned to the United States on 27 May 2003 after a 9-month deployment. In 2005, Tortuga was commanded by Commander Mark H. Scovill, homeported at NAB Little Creek, Virginia, and assigned to