Wasp-class amphibious assault ship

The USS Wasp (LHD-1), in March 2004.
Class overview
Name: Wasp
Builders: Ingalls Shipbuilding
Operators: United States Navy
Preceded by: Tarawa class
Succeeded by: America class
Cost: $750 million each, average[1]
In commission: 1989–present
Completed: 8
Active: 8
General characteristics
Type: Landing Helicopter Dock (LHD) amphibious assault ship
Displacement: 40,500 long tons (41,150 t) full load
Length: 831 ft (253.2 m)
Beam: 104 ft (31.8 m)
Draft: 27 ft (8.1 m)
Propulsion:
Speed: 22 knots (41 km/h; 25 mph)
Range: 9,500 nautical miles (17,600 km; 10,900 mi) at 18 kn (33 km/h; 21 mph)
Boats & landing
craft carried:
Troops: 1,894 Marine Detachment
Complement: 1,208
Sensors and
processing systems:
  • 1 AN/SPS-49 2-D Air Search Radar
  • 1 AN/SPS-48 3-D Air Search Radar
  • 1 AN/SPS-67 Surface Search Radar
  • 1 Mk23 Target Acquisition System (TAS)
  • 1 AN/SPN-43 Marshalling Air Traffic Control Radar
  • 1 AN/SPN-35 Air Traffic Control Radar
  • 1 AN/URN-25 TACAN system
  • 1 AN/UPX-24 Identification Friend Foe
Armament:
Aircraft carried:

The Wasp class is a class of Landing Helicopter Dock (LHD) amphibious assault ships operated by the United States Navy. Based on the Tarawa class, with modifications to operate more advanced aircraft and landing craft, the Wasp class is capable of transporting almost the full strength of a United States Marine Corps Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU), and landing them in hostile territory via landing craft or helicopters. All Wasp-class ships were built by Ingalls Shipbuilding, at Pascagoula, Mississippi, with the lead ship, USS Wasp, commissioned on 29 July 1989. Eight Wasp-class ships were built, and as of 2015, all eight are active.

Design

The Wasp class is based on the preceding Tarawa-class design.[3] The design was modified to allow for the operation of AV-8B Harrier II aircraft and Landing Craft Air Cushion (LCAC) hovercraft, making the Wasp class the first ships specifically designed to operate these.[3]

Wasp, left, and Tarawa-class Saipan, in 1993.

The main physical changes between the two designs are the lower placement of the ship's bridge aboard the Wasps, the relocation of the command and control facilities to inside the hull,[3] the removal of the 5-inch Mk 45 naval guns and their sponsons on the forward edge of the flight deck, and a lengthening of 24 feet (7.3 m) to carry the LCACs.

Each Wasp class ship has a displacement of 40,500 long tons (41,150 t) at full load, is 831 feet (253.2 m) long, has a beam of 104 feet (31.8 m), and a draft of 27 feet (8.1 m).[4] For propulsion, most of the ships are fitted with two steam boilers connected to geared turbines, which deliver 70,000 shaft horsepower (33,849 kW) to the two propeller shafts.[4] This allows the LHDs to reach speeds of 22 knots (41 km/h; 25 mph), with a range of 9,500 nautical miles (17,600 km; 10,900 mi) at 18 knots (33 km/h; 21 mph).[4] The last ship of the class, USS Makin Island, was instead fitted with two General Electric LM2500 geared gas turbines.[5] The ship's company consists of 1,208 personnel.[4] The ships are the largest amphibious warfare vessels in the world.[3]

Amphibious operations

The LHDs can support amphibious landings in two forms: by landing craft, or by helicopter.[4] In the 266-by-50-foot (81 by 15.2 m) well deck, the LHDs can carry three Landing Craft Air Cushion, twelve Landing Craft Mechanised, or 40 Amphibious Assault Vehicles (AAVs), with another 21 AAVs on the vehicle deck.[4] The flight deck has nine helicopter landing spots, and can operate helicopters as large as the Sikorsky CH-53 Sea Stallion and Boeing Vertol CH-46 Sea Knight.[4] The size of the air group varies depending on the operation: a standard air group consists of six Harriers and four Bell AH-1W SuperCobras for attack and support, twelve Sea Knights and four Sea Stallions for transport, and three or four Bell UH-1N Iroquois utility helicopters.[2][4] For a full assault, the air group can be maxed out at 42 Sea Knights, while a Wasp operating in the sea control or 'harrier carrier' configuration carries 20 Harriers (though some ships of the class have operated as many as 24), supported by six Sikorsky SH-60 Seahawk helicopters for anti-submarine warfare.[2][4] The CH-46 is being replaced by the MV-22 Osprey on a squadron-by-squadron basis, with the expected full conversion within all aviation combat elements by 2019.[6] Two aircraft elevators move aircraft between the flight deck and the hangar; in order to transit the Panama Canal, these elevators need to be folded in.[4]

USS Essex performing a stern gate mating with a landing craft

Each ship is capable of hosting 1,894 personnel of the United States Marine Corps; almost the full strength of a Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU).[4] A Wasp-class vessel can transport up to 30,800 square feet (2,860 m2) of cargo, and another 20,000 square feet (1,858 m2) is allocated for the MEU's vehicles, which typically consists of five M1 Abrams battle tanks, up to 25 AAVs, eight M198 howitzers, 68 trucks, and up to 12 other support vehicles.[4] An internal monorail is used to shift cargo from the cargo holds to the well deck.[4]

Each Wasp-class ship has a hospital with 64 patient beds and six operating rooms. An additional 536 beds can be set up in an "Overflow Casualty Ward" as needed.[7][4]

Armament and sensors

The armament of the first four Wasp class consists of two Mark 29 octuple launchers for RIM-7 Sea Sparrow missiles, two Mark 49 launchers for RIM-116 Rolling Airframe Missiles, three 20 mm Phalanx CIWS systems, four 25 mm Mark 38 chain guns, and four .50 BMG machine guns.[4] The next four ships, Bataan, Bonhomme Richard, Iwo Jima and USS Makin Island (LHD-8), have a slightly reduced weapons outfit compared to their preceding sister ships, with one Phalanx and one Mark 38 gun removed.[4]

Countermeasures fitted to the ships include four to six Mark 36 SRBOC launchers, an AN/SLQ-25 torpedo decoy, AN/SLQ-49 chaff buoys, a Sea Gnat missile decoy, and an AN/SLQ-32 Electronic Warfare Suite.[4]

The sensor suite fitted to each ship comprises an AN/SPS-48 or AN/SPS-52 air-search radar backed up by an AN/SPS-49 air-search radar, an SPS-67 surface search radar, an AN/URN-25 TACAN system, along with several other radars for navigation and fire control.[4]

Construction

All Wasp-class ships were built by Ingalls Shipbuilding, at Pascagoula, Mississippi.[8] The first ship of the class, USS Wasp, was commissioned on 29 July 1989.[9]

The fifth ship of the class, USS Bataan, was constructed through a process of modular assembly and prefitting out, which meant that the LHD was almost 75 percent complete when she was launched.[4] The Bataan was also the first LHD built to house females (as opposed to being modified after completion), with dedicated berths for up to 450 female sailors or Marines.[4]

Ships and homeports

References

Citations
  1. 1 2 "Wasp class Amphibious assault ship". Military Today. Retrieved 8 May 2015.
  2. 1 2 3 "LHD-1 Wasp class". Federation of American Scientists. 9 May 2000. Retrieved 8 April 2011.
  3. 1 2 3 4 Bishop & Chant, Aircraft Carriers, p. 230
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 Bishop & Chant, Aircraft Carriers, p. 231.
  5. ↑ Liewer, Steve (15 September 2009). "Navy Goes Green With New Hybrid Ship". San Diego Union-Tribune. p. 1. Retrieved 8 May 2015.
  6. ↑ Anthony, Marian (12 April 2011). "U.S. Marines Nostalgic “Phrog” Helicopters To Be Phased Out By MV22". Business Insider (Twentynine Palms, California). Retrieved 8 May 2015.
  7. ↑ "USS Kearsarge LHD-3 Ship's Loading Characteristics Pamphlet". Retrieved 8 May 2015.
  8. ↑ "Northrop Grumman Starts Fabrication on Eighth LHD 1 Wasp-class Ship" (Press release). Pascagoula, Mississippi: Northrop Grumman. 27 May 2003. Retrieved 8 May 2015.
  9. ↑ "Wasp To 'Come Alive' today At Naval Yard". Daily Press (Norfolk, Virginia). 29 July 1989. Retrieved 8 May 2015.
  10. ↑ "List of Homeports". United States Navy. Retrieved 8 May 2015.
Bibliography

External links

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