Wasp class amphibious assault ship
Encyclopedia
The Wasp class is a class
Ship class
A ship class is a group of ships of a similar design. This is distinct from a ship-type, which might reflect a similarity of tonnage or intended use. For example, the is a nuclear aircraft carrier of the Nimitz class....
of Landing Helicopter Dock (LHD) amphibious assault ship
Amphibious assault ship
An amphibious assault ship is a type of amphibious warfare ship employed to land and support ground forces on enemy territory by an amphibious assault...
s operated by the United States Navy
United States Navy
The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...
. Based on the Tarawa class
Tarawa class amphibious assault ship
The Tarawa class is a ship class of amphibious assault ships operated by the United States Navy . Five ships were built by Ingalls Shipbuilding between 1971 and 1980; another four ships were planned, but later cancelled...
, with modifications to operate more advanced aircraft and landing craft
Landing craft
Landing craft are boats and seagoing vessels used to convey a landing force from the sea to the shore during an amphibious assault. Most renowned are those used to storm the beaches of Normandy, the Mediterranean, and many Pacific islands during WWII...
, the Wasp class is capable of transporting almost the full strength of a United States Marine Corps
United States Marine Corps
The United States Marine Corps is a branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for providing power projection from the sea, using the mobility of the United States Navy to deliver combined-arms task forces rapidly. It is one of seven uniformed services of the United States...
Marine Expeditionary Unit
Marine Expeditionary Unit
A Marine expeditionary unit , formerly called Marine amphibious unit , is the smallest Marine air-ground task force in the United States Fleet Marine Force...
(MEU), and landing them in hostile territory via landing craft or helicopters. All Wasp-class ships were built by Ingalls Shipbuilding
Ingalls Shipbuilding
Ingalls Shipbuilding is a shipyard located in Pascagoula, Mississippi, USA, originally established in 1938, and is now part of Huntington Ingalls Industries...
, at Pascagoula, Mississippi
Pascagoula, Mississippi
Pascagoula is a city in Jackson County, Mississippi, United States. It is the principal city of the Pascagoula, Mississippi Metropolitan Statistical Area, as a part of the Gulfport–Biloxi–Pascagoula, Mississippi Combined Statistical Area. The population was 26,200 at the 2000 census...
, with lead ship commissioned on 29 July 1989. Eight Wasp-class ships were built, and , all eight are active.
Design
The Wasp class is based on the preceding Tarawa-classTarawa class amphibious assault ship
The Tarawa class is a ship class of amphibious assault ships operated by the United States Navy . Five ships were built by Ingalls Shipbuilding between 1971 and 1980; another four ships were planned, but later cancelled...
design. The design was modified to allow for the operation of AV-8B Harrier II
AV-8B Harrier II
The McDonnell Douglas AV-8B Harrier II is a second-generation vertical/short takeoff and landing ground-attack aircraft. An Anglo-American development of the British Hawker Siddeley Harrier, the Harrier II is the final member of the Harrier family that started with the Hawker Siddeley P.1127 in...
aircraft and Landing Craft Air Cushion (LCAC) hovercraft, making the Wasp class the first ships specifically designed to operate these. The main physical changes between the two designs are the lower placement of the ship's bridge
Bridge (ship)
The bridge of a ship is the room or platform from which the ship can be commanded. When a ship is underway the bridge is manned by an OOW aided usually by an AB acting as lookout...
aboard the Wasps, the relocation of the command and control facilities to inside the hull, the removal of the 5-inch Mk 45 naval guns and their sponson
Sponson
Sponsons are projections from the sides of a watercraft, for protection, stability, or the mounting of equipment such as armaments or lifeboats, etc...
s 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 41150 metric tons (40,500 LT) at full load, is 253.2 metres (830.7 ft) long, has a beam of 31.8 metres (104.3 ft), and a draft of 8.1 metres (26.6 ft). 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. This allows the LHDs to reach speeds of 22 knots (12 m/s), with a range of 9500 nautical miles (17,594 km) at 18 knots (9.8 m/s). The last ship of the class, , was instead fitted with two General Electric LM2500
General Electric LM2500
-External links:* .* *...
geared gas turbine
Gas turbine
A gas turbine, also called a combustion turbine, is a type of internal combustion engine. It has an upstream rotating compressor coupled to a downstream turbine, and a combustion chamber in-between....
s. The ship's company consists of 1,208 personnel. The ships are the largest amphibious warfare vessels in the world.
Amphibious operations
The LHDs can support amphibious landings in two forms: by landing craft, or by helicopter. In the 81 by well deckWell deck
A well deck or well dock is a hangar-like deck located at the waterline in the stern of some amphibious warfare ships. By taking on water the ship can lower its stern, flooding the well deck and allowing boats and amphibious landing craft to dock within the ship. This facilitates moving cargo...
, the LHDs can carry three Landing Craft Air Cushion, twelve Landing Craft Mechanised, or 40 Amphibious Assault Vehicle
Amphibious Assault Vehicle
The Assault Amphibious Vehicle —official designation AAV-7A1 is a fully tracked amphibious landing vehicle manufactured by U.S. Combat Systems .The AAV-7A1 is the current amphibious troop transport of the United States Marine Corps...
s (AAVs), with another 21 AAVs in the vehicle deck. The flight deck
Flight deck
The flight deck of an aircraft carrier is the surface from which its aircraft take off and land, essentially a miniature airfield at sea. On smaller naval ships which do not have aviation as a primary mission, the landing area for helicopters and other VTOL aircraft is also referred to as the...
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. 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 to four Bell UH-1N Iroquois utility helicopters. 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
Anti-submarine warfare
Anti-submarine warfare is a branch of naval warfare that uses surface warships, aircraft, or other submarines to find, track and deter, damage or destroy enemy submarines....
. The CH-46 is being replaced by the MV-22 Osprey on a squadron-by-squadron basis, with expected full conversion within all aviation combat element
Aviation combat element
In the United States Marine Corps, the aviation combat element or air combat element is the air arm of the Marine Air-Ground Task Force . It provides rotary-wing, tiltrotor, and fixed-wing aircraft, support equipment, pilots, maintenance personnel, as well as command and control assets to the...
s by 2019. Two aircraft elevators move aircraft between the flight deck and the hangar; in order to transit the Panama Canal
Panama Canal
The Panama Canal is a ship canal in Panama that joins the Atlantic Ocean and the Pacific Ocean and is a key conduit for international maritime trade. Built from 1904 to 1914, the canal has seen annual traffic rise from about 1,000 ships early on to 14,702 vessels measuring a total of 309.6...
, these elevators need to be folded in.
United States Marine Corps
The United States Marine Corps is a branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for providing power projection from the sea, using the mobility of the United States Navy to deliver combined-arms task forces rapidly. It is one of seven uniformed services of the United States...
; almost the full strength of a Marine Expeditionary Unit
Marine Expeditionary Unit
A Marine expeditionary unit , formerly called Marine amphibious unit , is the smallest Marine air-ground task force in the United States Fleet Marine Force...
(MEU). A Wasp-class vessel can transport up to 2860 square metres (3,420.5 sq yd) of cargo, and another 1858 square metres (2,222.1 sq yd) is allocated for the MEU's vehicles, which typically consists of 5 M1 Abrams
M1 Abrams
The M1 Abrams is a third-generation main battle tank produced in the United States. It is named after General Creighton Abrams, former Army Chief of Staff and Commander of US military forces in Vietnam from 1968 to 1972. The M1 is a well armed, heavily armored, and highly mobile tank designed for...
battle tanks, up to 25 AAVs, eight M198 howitzer
M198 howitzer
The M198 howitzer is a medium-sized, towed artillery piece, developed for service with the United States Army and Marine Corps. It was commissioned to be a lightweight replacement for the WWII era M114 155mm howitzer. It was designed and prototyped at the Rock Island Arsenal in 1969 with firing...
s, 68 trucks, and up to 12 other support vehicles. An internal monorail is used to shift cargo from the cargo holds to the well deck.
Each Wasp-class ship has a hospital with 600 patient beds and six operating rooms.
Armament and sensors
The armament of the first four Wasp class consists of two Mark 29 octuple launchers for RIM-7 Sea SparrowRIM-7 Sea Sparrow
RIM-7 Sea Sparrow is a US ship-borne short-range anti-aircraft and anti-missile weapon system, primarily intended for defense against anti-ship missiles...
missiles, two Mark 49 launchers for RIM-116 Rolling Airframe Missile
RIM-116 Rolling Airframe Missile
The RIM-116 Rolling Airframe Missile is a small, lightweight, infrared homing surface-to-air missile in use by the American, German, South Korean, Greek, Turkish, Saudi and Egyptian navies. It was intended originally and used primarily as a point-defense weapon against anti-ship cruise missiles...
s, three 20 mm Phalanx CIWS
Phalanx CIWS
The Phalanx CIWS is an anti-ship missile defense system. It is a close-in weapon system and was designed and manufactured by the General Dynamics Corporation, Pomona Division...
systems, four 25 mm
25 mm caliber
The 25x137 mm caliber/.98425 inch is one of the standard sizes of cannon and autocannon ammunition for NATO forces. The round itself has a length of approximately 223 mm .-Usage:...
Mark 38 chain gun
Chain gun
A chain gun is a type of machine gun or autocannon that uses an external source of power, rather than diverting energy from the cartridge, to cycle the weapon, and does so via a continuous loop of chain similar to that used on a motorcycle or bicycle. "Chain gun" is a registered trademark of...
s, and four .50 BMG
.50 BMG
The .50 Browning Machine Gun or 12.7×99mm NATO is a cartridge developed for the Browning .50 caliber machine gun in the late 1910s. Entering service officially in 1921, the round is based on a greatly scaled-up .30-06 cartridge...
machine guns. The next three ships, , , and , have a slightly reduced weapons outfit to their preceding sister ships, with one Phalanx and one Mark 38 gun removed.
Countermeasures fitted to the ships include four to six Mark 36 SRBOC
Mark 36 SRBOC
The BAE Systems Mark 36 Super Rapid Blooming Offboard Chaff is a short-range mortar that launches chaff or infrared decoys from naval vessels to foil anti-ship missiles...
launchers, an AN/SLQ-25 torpedo decoy
AN/SLQ-25 Nixie
The AN/SLQ-25 Nixie and its variants are towed torpedo decoys used on US and allied warships. It consists of a towed decoy device and a shipboard signal generator...
, AN/SLQ-49 chaff buoys
AN/SLQ-49 Chaff Buoy Decoy System
The AN/SLQ-49 Chaff Buoy Decoy System, commonly referred to as "Rubber Duck", consists of inflatable radar-reflecting decoy buoys. Used by the U.S. Navy, Royal Navy, and other NATO countries, the decoy is designed to seduce radar-guided anti-ship missiles by simulating the radar cross section of a...
, a Sea Gnat missile decoy, and an AN/SLQ-32 Electronic Warfare Suite.
The sensor suite fitted to each ship is made up of an AN/SPS-48
AN/SPS-48
The AN/SPS-48 is a US naval phased array three-dimensional air search radar system manufactured by ITT Corporation. It was a key component of the New Threat Upgrade and is still used on some US Navy ships such as s, s and s...
or AN/SPS-52
AN/SPS-52
The AN/SPS-52 is a United States Navy three-dimensional, long range air search radar that is capable of providing contact bearing, range and altitude. It was used on Brooke class frigates, Charles F...
air-search radar backed up by an AN/SPS-49
AN/SPS-49
The AN/SPS-49 is a United States Navy two-dimensional, long range air search radar built by Raytheon that can provide contact bearing and range. It is a primary air-search radar for numerous ships in the U.S...
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.
Construction
All Wasp-class ships were been built by Ingalls ShipbuildingIngalls Shipbuilding
Ingalls Shipbuilding is a shipyard located in Pascagoula, Mississippi, USA, originally established in 1938, and is now part of Huntington Ingalls Industries...
, at Pascagoula, Mississippi
Pascagoula, Mississippi
Pascagoula is a city in Jackson County, Mississippi, United States. It is the principal city of the Pascagoula, Mississippi Metropolitan Statistical Area, as a part of the Gulfport–Biloxi–Pascagoula, Mississippi Combined Statistical Area. The population was 26,200 at the 2000 census...
. The first ship of the class, , was commissioned on 29 July 1989.
The fifth ship of the class, , was constructed through a process of modular assembly and pre-fitting out, which meant that the LHD was almost 75% complete when launched. Bataan was also the first LHD built to house female personnel (as opposed to modified after completion), with dedicated berths for up to 450 female Navy or Marine personnel.