Two former U.S. warships are set to be sunk during the biennial Rim of the Pacific exercise.
The international maritime exercise, which kicked off on June 24, 2026, will see the amphibious assault ship USS Peleliu and the cruiser USS Mobile Bay sent below the seas off the coast of Hawaii during a live sinking exercise, or SINKEX event, the San Diego Union-Tribune was first to confirm.
RIMPAC, which began in 1971, includes about 40 surface ships, five submarines, 140 aircraft and more than 25,000 personnel, according to the Navy. This year’s exercise is set to conclude on July 31.
RIMPAC covers “a wide range of capabilities including amphibious operations, gunnery and missile proficiency, anti-submarine warfare, air defense exercises, military medicine, humanitarian assistance and disaster response, counter-piracy, mine clearance, explosive ordnance disposal, and diving and salvage operations,” according to the Defense Department.
The Navy did not respond to a Military Times request for comment prior to publication.
The sinking of the Peleliu and Mobile Bay will be the third SINKEX event in recent weeks. The former USS Juneau was sent to the ocean floor during the June 22-July 1 Valiant Shield exercise off the coast of the Mariana Islands Range Complex.
Commissioned in May 1980, the USS Peleliu was the first ship to deploy Marines to Afghanistan after the 9/11 attacks, with the 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit commanded by then U.S. Marine Brig. Gen. James Mattis under Task Force 58.
That same task force went on to capture John Walker Lindh in November 2001. Lindh, an American citizen-turned-enemy-combatant later confessed to being a member of Al-Qaeda while aboard the Peleliu.
During 35 years of service, the ship, dubbed the “Iron Nickel,” steamed more than a million miles before its decommissioning in March 2015.
The second ship to be sunk during the exercise, the Tribune confirmed, is the USS Mobile Bay. Commissioned in February 1987, the ship was named in honor of the August 1864 Battle of Mobile Bay during which Union Adm. David Farragut apocryphally yelled, “Damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead!” before clashing with Confederate forces under Adm. Franklin Buchanan.
Despite its unverified origins, the phrase has since been immortalized in the U.S. Navy, with the Mobile Bay’s motto — “Full speed ahead” paying tribute to Farragut’s famous phrase.
In service for 36 years, the ship’s operational history includes the 1989 evacuation of U.S. Embassy in Beirut, Lebanon, launching 22 Tomahawk Land Attack Missiles (TLAMs) in support of Operation Desert Storm and launching TLAMs in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2003, according to the U.S. Navy.
While the date of the sinkings have yet to be confirmed, the storied ships are set to serve their nation one last time — as target practice.
Claire Barrett is an editor and military history correspondent for Military Times. She is also a World War II researcher with an unparalleled affinity for Sir Winston Churchill and Michigan football.
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