USS Wasp (LHD-1)
| Career | |
|---|---|
| Name: | USS Wasp |
| Awarded: | 28 February 1984 |
| Builder: | Ingalls Shipbuilding |
| Laid down: | 30 May 1985 |
| Launched: | 4 August 1987 |
| Commissioned: | 29 July 1989 |
| Homeport: | Norfolk, Virginia |
| Motto: | Honor, Tradition, Excellence |
| Status: | in active service, as of 2012 |
| Badge: | |
| General characteristics | |
| Class & type: | Wasp-class amphibious assault ship |
| Displacement: | 40,532 long tons (41,182 t) full load |
| Length: | 844 ft (257 m) |
| Beam: | 106 ft (32 m) |
| Draft: | 26.5 ft (8.1 m) |
| Propulsion: | Steam turbines, 70,000 shp (52 MW) 2 × Boilers, 600 psi (4.1 MPa) 2 × shafts |
| Speed: | 23 knots (26 mph; 43 km/h) |
| Range: | 9,500 nmi (17,600 km) at 20 kn (23 mph; 37 km/h) |
| Troops: | Up to 2,200 Marines |
| Complement: | 1,075 officers and enlisted |
| Armament: | • 2 × NATO Sea Sparrow missile systems • 2 × Rolling Airframe Missile systems • 2 × Phalanx CIWS • 3 × 25 mm Mk 38 cannons • .50-cal M2HB machine guns |
| Aircraft carried: | Variable by mission: • 12 × CH-46 Sea Knight helicopters • 4 × CH-53E Super Stallion helicopters • 6 × AV-8B Harrier attack aircraft • 3 × UH-1N Huey helicopters • 4 × AH-1Z Viper helicopters • MV-22 Osprey VTOL tiltrotor aircraft |
USS Wasp (LHD 1) is a U.S. Navy multipurpose amphibious assault ship. She is the tenth USN vessel to bear the name and was the flagship of the Second Fleet and the lead ship of her class. She was built by the Ingalls Shipbuilding division of Litton in Pascagoula, Mississippi. USS Wasp and her sister ships are the first specifically designed to accommodate new Landing Craft, Air Cushion (LCAC) for fast troop movement over the beach and Harrier II (AV-8B) Vertical/Short Take-Off and Landing (V/STOL) jets which provide close air support for the assault force. Wasp, which is 257 m long (843 ft) with a beam of 32 meters (105 ft), also accommodates the full range of Navy and Marine Corps helicopters, conventional landing craft, and amphibious vehicles.
Since 2004, in a period when all the rest of the USN's flattops have been heavily tasked and often kept on lengthy deployments, the Wasp has never been on an extended deployment and the ship is currently assigned to JSF testing, for which it will not be needed again until the summer of 2013.
Read more about USS Wasp (LHD-1): Specifications, Ship's Coat of Arms, Fleet Life, Operation Enduring Freedom, Operation Iraqi Freedom, Current and Other Operations