Tarawa-class Amphibious Assault Ship

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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[edit | edit source]

  • 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

Unit Run[edit | edit source]

United States Navy[edit | edit source]

  • 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[edit | edit source]

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