USS Essex (LHD-2)
 The Essex off Subic Bay |
|
| Overview | |
|---|---|
| Order | September 10, 1986 |
| Keel laying | March 20, 1989 |
| Launch | February 23, 1991 |
| 1. Period of service |
|
| Commissioning | 17th October 1992 |
| Technical specifications | |
| displacement |
40,650 tons |
| length |
257.2 meters |
| width |
33.5 meters |
| Draft |
8.2 meters |
| crew |
104 officers, 1004 sailors, up to 1894 troops |
| drive |
2 propellers, driven by 2 steam turbines; 70,000 wave horsepower |
| speed |
20+ knots |
| Armament |
2 starters RAM , 2 starters Sea Sparrow , various guns |
The USS Essex (LHD-2) is an amphibious assault ship for amphibious warfare for the United States Navy ; she belongs to the Wasp class and was named after Essex County , Massachusetts .
history
LHD-2 was commissioned in 1986 and laid down at Ingalls Shipbuilding in Pascagoula , Mississippi , in 1989 . After less than two years of construction, the Essex was launched and christened. Godmother was Lynne Cheney , the wife of then Defense Secretary Dick Cheney . The commissioning took place on October 17, 1992.
The Essex was initially stationed in San Diego . In 1995 she supported the withdrawal of the blue helmets from Somalia . Then she was involved in various exercises in the Pacific and Persian Gulf until 1998 . She also took part at times in Operation Southern Watch .
Sasebo has been her home port in Japan since July 2000 . The Essex's previous crew switched to the USS Belleau Wood (LHA-3) , which returned from Japan to the US coast, and vice versa. In 2005 the Essex was withdrawn from a transfer from the Persian Gulf to provide disaster relief to the victims of the Indian Ocean earthquake .
In May 2008 the Essex was deployed off Burma to help the victims of Cyclone Nargis . She was in a combat group with the USS Harpers Ferry (LSD-49) and the USS Juneau (LPD-10) . In addition, the destroyer USS Mustin (DDG-89) was off the coast. However, after the ships had been refused permission for weeks to position themselves off the coast and bring relief supplies ashore by helicopter, they left the region in early June. The next relocation to the Pacific began on September 1, 2010. The program included exercises with allied nations, including Valiant Shield .
In March 2011, the Essex was sent off the coast of Japan to be ready for emergency aid after the Tōhoku earthquake . In April 2014, a 3D printer was installed on the Essex as the first aircraft carrier in the United States Navy as part of maintenance work , which enables soldiers to print required spare parts on board.
On September 27, 2018, F-35B multi -role fighter aircraft of the 13th Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU) flew from Essex for attacks in Afghanistan for the first time .
Trivia
In the Battlefield series from EA Games , the Essex is the model for the aircraft carrier present in the game.
Web links
- Official Homepage (English)
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