Wasp-class Amphibious Assault Ship

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 lead ship USS Wasp (LHD-01) commissioned on July 29, 1989. Eight Wasp-class ships were built, and as of 2013, all eight are active.

Specifications

 * Type: Amphibious Assault Ship (Hull designation symbol LHD)
 * Service Period: 1989-Present
 * Characteristics:
 * Length: 831 feet (253.29 meters)
 * Beam: 104 feet (31.7 meters)
 * Draft: 27 feet (8.23 meters)
 * Displacement: 40,500 tons (Full Load)
 * Capacity: 1 x MEU (1,894 Marines, 5 x M1 Abrams MBTs, 25 x AAVs, 8 x M198 howitzers, 68 trucks, 12 support vehicles)
 * Crew: 1,206
 * Propulsion: 2 x General Electric LM2500 gas turbines, 2 x shafts
 * Range: 9,500 nautical miles (17,594 kilometers) at 15 knots (27.78 km/h)
 * Speed: 22 knots (40.74 km/h)
 * Sensor Suite:
 * 1 x AN/SPS-49 2-D Air Search Radar
 * 1 x AN/SPS-48 3-D Air Search Radar
 * 1 x AN/SPS-67 Surface Search Radar
 * 1 x Mk.23 Target Acquisition System (TAS)
 * 1 x AN/SPN-43 Marshalling Air Traffic Control Radar
 * 1 x AN/SPN-35 Air Traffic Control Radar
 * 1 x AN/URN-25 TACAN system
 * 1 x AN/UPX-24 Identification Friend Foe
 * Countermeasures:
 * AN/SLQ-25 Nixie torpedo countermeasures suite
 * AN/SLQ-32 Electronic Warfare Suite
 * AN/SLQ-49 Chaff Buoy Decoy System
 * Sea Gnat Missile Decoy
 * Mk.36 SBROC
 * Armament
 * 2 x Mk.29 Sea Sparrow Missile Launchers
 * 2 x Mk.49 Rolling Airframe Missile Launchers
 * 3 x 20mm Phalanx CIWS
 * 4 x Mk.38 25mm Chain guns
 * 4 x .50-caliber BMG machine guns
 * Aircraft Carried: Dependent on mission
 * Boats Carried: 3 Landing Craft Air Cushion or 12 Landing Craft Mechanized

Unit Run

 * USS Wasp (LHD-01)
 * USS Essex (LHD-02)
 * USS Kearsarge (LHD-03)
 * USS Boxer (LHD-04)
 * USS Bataan (LHD-05)
 * USS Bonhomme Richard (LHD-06)
 * USS Iwo Jima (LHD-07)
 * USS Makin Island (LHD-08)