The U.S. Navy made history during RIMPAC 2026 when the decommissioned USS Peleliu (LHA-5) became the target of a planned live-fire sinking exercise, or SINKEX, in the Pacific Ocean. The July 17 event represented the final chapter for a ship that had served the United States for more than 35 years while also providing an important training opportunity for today’s sailors.
For Navy personnel, SINKEX exercises are about far more than sinking an old warship. They provide realistic opportunities to practice maritime warfare, coordinate weapons systems, evaluate tactics, and demonstrate the capabilities required during high-end naval operations.
The USS Peleliu’s Final Chapter
The USS Peleliu was a Tarawa-class amphibious assault ship that served for more than three decades. According to U.S. Pacific Fleet reporting, the ship displaced nearly 40,000 tons and operated aircraft from its large flight deck while participating in combat operations, training exercises, and humanitarian missions around the world.
Its final mission was very different from the missions it performed while active.
Instead of carrying Marines and aircraft into an operational theater, USS Peleliu became a carefully prepared training target. The ship’s transformation from combatant to training objective illustrates how the Navy can continue receiving value from a vessel after its active service ends.
RIMPAC 2026
The sinking occurred during Exercise Rim of the Pacific, commonly known as RIMPAC, the world’s largest international maritime exercise.
RIMPAC 2026 brought together approximately 30 nations, more than 30 ships, five submarines, aircraft, land forces, and more than 30,000 personnel around Hawaii and the broader Pacific training environment. The exercise provides participating forces with opportunities to improve interoperability and prepare for complex maritime operations.
The USS Peleliu SINKEX was therefore part of a much larger multinational effort.
What Is a Navy SINKEX?
A SINKEX, short for sinking exercise, involves using a decommissioned ship as a realistic maritime target.
Unlike a simple classroom exercise or computer simulation, a SINKEX allows sailors and military planners to observe how weapons and platforms perform against an actual large vessel in an ocean environment.
During the RIMPAC 2026 exercise, the Peleliu was struck by Harpoon anti-ship cruise missiles, while unmanned surface vessels also participated in the sinking exercise.
The event demonstrated the Navy’s increasing emphasis on combining traditional naval platforms with unmanned systems and long-range fires.
Unmanned Systems Take Part
One of the most interesting aspects of the 2026 Peleliu SINKEX was the participation of unmanned surface vessels.
The U.S. Navy has been increasingly exploring unmanned maritime systems as part of its future force structure. During RIMPAC 2026, Pacific Fleet reported that unmanned surface vessels participated in the live-fire sinking exercise against the former amphibious assault ship.
This illustrates how the Navy is changing the way sailors think about maritime warfare.
Future naval operations may involve combinations of manned ships, submarines, aircraft, unmanned surface vessels, unmanned underwater vehicles, and long-range weapons operating as an integrated force.
A Test of Modern Naval Power
The USS Peleliu SINKEX also demonstrated the importance of long-range fires.
Modern naval warfare increasingly depends upon the ability to detect, identify, track, and engage targets at significant distances. Training against a large ship provides sailors and commanders with an opportunity to practice the coordination required to conduct these complex operations.
RIMPAC’s Pacific setting adds another dimension. The exercise involves vast distances, multinational forces, challenging weather, and complicated maritime environments.
Training under those conditions helps participating forces build the interoperability necessary for real-world operations.
Remembering the Ship’s Service
Although the SINKEX was a training event, the USS Peleliu was more than a target.
The ship carried generations of sailors and Marines and supported American military operations around the world. Its history included combat operations, multinational exercises, and humanitarian missions.
That history gives the final mission particular significance.
For veterans who served aboard USS Peleliu, watching the ship disappear beneath the Pacific represented the end of a chapter. For today’s sailors, however, the ship provided one final contribution to American naval readiness.
The Navy’s Future at Sea
The sinking of USS Peleliu demonstrates an important reality about the modern U.S. Navy.
The fleet is changing.
Traditional warships remain essential, but the Navy is simultaneously developing unmanned systems, advanced sensors, long-range weapons, autonomous platforms, and increasingly networked operations.
RIMPAC 2026 provided an enormous laboratory for testing those capabilities alongside allied and partner nations. The Peleliu SINKEX was one piece of that larger effort.
For sailors, exercises like this provide valuable experience that cannot be duplicated entirely through simulations.
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Final Salute to Peleliu
The July 17, 2026 sinking of USS Peleliu was not simply the destruction of an old warship.
It was a carefully planned U.S. Navy SINKEX, a demonstration of modern maritime weapons, an opportunity to employ unmanned systems, and a training event involving an international coalition.
Most importantly, it marked the final chapter of a ship that served America for more than 35 years.
The Peleliu went to the bottom as a training target—but she left the Navy having completed one final mission: helping today’s sailors prepare for tomorrow’s fight.
Thank you for sharing this information. The USS Peleliu is a part of our lives. Sgt Saenz served on a MEU aboard the Peleliu, as I’m sure many of you did. I was saddened by its final end. I am glad so much more was accomplished after its retirement.
Thank you Mama Saenz!