Tarawa-class Amphibious Assault Ship

The Tarawa-class is a ship class of amphibious assault ships/LHA operated by the United States Navy (USN). Five ships were built by Ingalls Shipbuilding between 1971 and 1980; another four ships were planned, but later canceled. As of 2011, only one vessel is active, and the class is due to be replaced by the America-class amphibious assault ships from 2013 onwards. In the late 1970s, the Shah of Iran considered purchasing two Tarawa-class LHAs for the Imperial Iranian Navy.

Specifications

 * Type: Amphibious Assault Ship
 * Service Period: 1976-Present
 * Characteristics:
 * Length: 834 feet (254.2 meters)
 * Beam: 131.9 feet (40.2 meters)
 * Draft: 25.9 feet (7.9 meters)
 * Displacement: 39,967 tonnes (39,336 long tons; 44,056 short tons) full load
 * Complement: 1,855 marines
 * Crew: 930 (56 officers and 874 enlisted)
 * Propulsion:
 * 2 x Combustion Engineering boilers
 * 2 x Westinghouse turbines generating 70,000 horsepower (52,000 kW)
 * 2 x propeller shafts
 * 1 x bow thruster
 * Range: 10,000 nautical miles at 20 knots
 * Speed: 24 knots (44.45 km/hr)
 * Sensor Suite:
 * AN/SPQ-9 Fire Control Radar
 * AN/SPS-48 Air Search Radar
 * AN/SPS-49 Air Search Radar
 * AN/SPS-52 Air Search Radar
 * Countermeasures
 * AN/SLQ-25 Nixie Torpedo Countermeasures
 * AN/SLQ-32 Electronic Warfare Suite
 * AN/SLQ-49 Chaff Buoy Decoy System
 * Mk.36 SBROC Launchers
 * Sea Gnat
 * Armament:
 * 2 x Mk.49 21-cell RAM Launchers
 * 2 x Mk.15 20mm Vulcan Phalanx CIWS
 * 6 x Mk.242 25mm autocannons
 * 8 x 12.7mm machine guns
 * Aviation Facilities: 820 ft by 118.1 ft (249.94 by 36.0 m) flight deck with 2 aircraft lifts
 * Aircraft Carried: 6 x McDonnell-Douglas AV-8B Harrier II, either 19 CH-53E Sea Stallion or 26 CH-46 Sea Knight
 * Boats/Landing Craft Carried: 4 LCU-1610, or 2 LCU and 2 LCM-8, or 17 LCM-6, or 45 LVT

United States Navy

 * USS Tarawa (LHA-01) - Museum Ship
 * USS Saipan (LHA-02)
 * USS Belleau Wood (LHA-03)
 * USS Nassau (LHA-04) - Museum ship
 * USS Peleliu (LHA-05)

Imperial Iranian Navy

 * IIS Unnamed - cancelled due to Iranian Revolution
 * IIS Unnamed - cancelled due to Iranian Revolution