USS Gunston Hall (LSD-44)
 The 2010 Gunston Hall off Haiti |
|
| Overview | |
|---|---|
| Order | November 21, 1983 |
| Keel laying | May 26, 1986 |
| Launch | June 27, 1987 |
| 1. Period of service |
.svg){kind=small}
|
| Commissioning | April 22, 1989 |
| 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 Gunston Hall (LSD-44) is a dock landing ship of the United States Navy and belongs to the Whidbey Island class . It was named after Gunston Hall , founding father George Mason's estate in Mason Neck , Virginia .
history
LSD-44 was commissioned in 1983. In 1986 the ship was laid down at Avondale Shipyard . In 1987 it was launched and was baptized. The Gunston Hall was commissioned in 1989. In 1990, the Gunston Hall transported military equipment and soldiers to the Persian Gulf as part of Operation Desert Shield . In late 1994, she moved alongside the USS Nassau (LHA-4) to the Mediterranean, where the group took part in exercises and visited numerous European ports.
In 1999 Gunston Hall took part in NATO's Operation Allied Force in the Mediterranean . In 2002 she moved with the USS Bataan (LHD-5) as part of Operation Enduring Freedom . Then in 2003 she sailed in the waters of the Middle East during Operation Iraqi Freedom, which was beginning . Among other things, it was used as a base for minesweepers to monitor international shipping routes. For this purpose, inflatable pools were set up on the ship's load deck, each with a dolphin. These had been trained in mine detection in the United States Navy Marine Mammal Program . Also in 2005, Gunston Hall was in the Persian Gulf, where she took part in the Nautical Union exercise. The next relocation followed in 2007, on the side of the USS Kearsarge (LHD-3) the target was again the Persian Gulf. After the return, the ship was docked in Norfolk and thoroughly overhauled and modernized for a year.
In 2010, Gunston Hall was to take part in Africa Partnership Station, a series of exercises and port visits to numerous West African countries. However, after the severe earthquake in Haiti earlier this year, she was sent offshore near the Killick Haitian Coast Guard Base . There the seamen brought food, drinking water and medical supplies ashore. In January 2011, the ship moved to the waters of Central and South America, where it took part in exercises with Allied navies. In 2012 she sailed alongside the USS Iwo Jima (LHD-7) in the Mediterranean.
Web links
- Entry in the Naval Vessel Register (Engl.)
- Official Homepage (Engl.)
Individual evidence
- ↑ navy.mil: Picture of pool (Engl.)