USS Fort McHenry (LSD-43)
 The Fort McHenry 2007. Limbe, Cameroon |
|
| Overview | |
|---|---|
| Order | January 27, 1983 |
| Keel laying | June 10, 1983 |
| Launch | February 1, 1986 |
| 1. Period of service |
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|
| Commissioning | August 8, 1987 |
| Technical specifications | |
| displacement |
fully loaded 15,939 ts |
| length |
185.6 meters |
| width |
25.6 meters |
| Draft |
6.4 meters |
| crew |
22 officers, 391 men, up to 500 Marines |
| drive |
2 propellers, four diesel engines; 33,000 wave horsepower |
| speed |
20+ knots |
| Armament |
2 phalanx, 2 launchers for anti-aircraft missiles |
The USS Fort McHenry (LSD-43) is a dock landing ship of the United States Navy and belongs to the Whidbey Island class . It was named after Fort McHenry .
history
LSD-43 was commissioned in early 1983. In the same year the ship was laid at the Lockheed Shipbuilding and Construction Company . It was launched in 1986 and was baptized. Godmother was the politician Helen Delich Bentley . On August 8, 1987, Fort McHenry was put into service.
In 1988 Fort McHenry moved to the Pacific for the first time. In 1989 she helped with the cleaning work after the accident of the oil tanker Exxon Valdez off the coast of Alaska. In 1990/1991 the ship carried out its first war mission when she sailed in the Persian Gulf during the Gulf War . After a third relocation in 1992, a first overhaul followed. In 1994 Fort McHenry took part in Operation Restore Hope off the coast of Somalia. It was relocated to the Persian Gulf later that year to respond to Iraqi troop transfers to Kuwait as part of Operation Vigilant Warrior .
In 1995, Sasebo in Japan became the ship's new home port. From there the Fort McHenry relocated several times, its main task being maneuvers with Asian allies. After the seaquake in the Indian Ocean in 2004 , among other things, it was used for relief operations: Its helicopters and hovercraft were able to bring relief supplies to regions cut off from the infrastructure. In 2006, Fort McHenry finally swapped crew and home port with its sister ship USS Tortuga (LSD-46) and was thus stationed at Naval Amphibious Base Little Creek in Virginia . From there she moved several times to the Atlantic, including for exercises with African and European navies. In 2009 she relocated to the side of the USS Bataan (LHD-5) . With this and with the USS Carter Hall (LSD-50) she was sent off the coast of Haiti in 2010 to provide aid after the severe earthquake .
According to Jane's Information Group , the ship was originally due to be retired in fiscal 2013 or 2014 as part of savings. This decision was revised and since August 2014 Naval Station Mayport in Jacksonville has been the ship's new home port.
Web links
- Entry in the Naval Vessel Register (Engl.)
- Official Homepage (Engl.)