USS Harpers Ferry (LSD-49)

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The Harpers Ferry in Japan, 2002
The Harpers Ferry in Japan, 2002
Overview
Order 17th June 1988
Keel laying April 15, 1991
Launch January 16, 1993
1. Period of service flag
Commissioning January 7, 1995
Technical specifications
displacement

16,400 tons

length

185.6 m

width

25.4 m

Draft

6.4 m

crew

approx. 350, 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 Harpers Ferry (LSD-49) is a dock landing ship of the United States Navy and lead ship of the Harpers Ferry class named after it . The name is derived from the place Harpers Ferry in West Virginia .

history

LSD-49 was commissioned in 1988 and laid down at Avondale Shipyard in 1991 . In 1993 the ship was launched and was christened. At the beginning of 1995 the official commissioning into the US Navy took place.

In 1999 the Harpers Ferry was in service in the Persian Gulf . In 2002 it was relocated from San Diego to Yokosuka , Japan , where it replaced the USS Germantown (LSD-42) . In 2004 the ship took part from there in an exercise with the cruiser USS Cowpens (CG-63) and ships of the Royal Navy and the Russian Navy . In 2006 the Harpers Ferry took part in a humanitarian mission with the USS Essex (LHD-2) off Leyte , where a landslide had wreaked havoc. Later that year there was an exercise with the Philippine Navy.

In 2008, the ship was supposed to support the Essex relief mission off the coast of Burma , hit by Cyclone Nargis . However, after more than three weeks off the coast, the group was withdrawn after no permission was received to bring relief supplies into the country. In 2009 the Harpers Ferry moved with the Essex to the West Pacific. There she took part in a CARAT exercise with the Singapore Navy in June . After Typhoons Parma and Katsana hit the Philippines, the Harpers Ferry with USS Tortuga (LSD-46) and USS Denver (LPD-9) was sent to the area to support local disaster relief. On September 1, 2010 , the next laying in the Pacific began, again on the side of Essex . The program included exercises with allied nations, including Valiant Shield . In March 2011, the ship was sent off the coast of Japan to be ready for emergency aid after the Tōhoku earthquake .

Web links

Commons : USS Harpers Ferry  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files