SAN DIEGO -- A decommissioning ceremony for the amphibious assault ship Tarawa will be held in San Diego Thursday to honor its 32 years of U.S. Navy service.

Rear Adm. Garry Hall, commandant of the Industrial College of the Armed Forces, will be the guest speaker at the 3:30 p.m. decommissioning ceremony at Naval Base San Diego, according to Naval Surface Forces public affairs.

The ship is expected to be decommissioned next March 31.

The Tarawa, the first ship in its class, returned to its San Diego homeport in August after finishing its last operational exercise near the Panama Canal. It completed its 14th and final deployment in June.

Commissioned in 1976, the ship was named for Tarawa Atoll, site of a major Marine Corps landing in World War II.

The ship served in the first Gulf War and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.