USS Iwo Jima (LHD-7)
_transits_the_Gulf_of_Oman.jpg) The Iwo Jima 2009 in the Gulf of Oman |
|
| Overview | |
|---|---|
| Order | February 28, 1995 |
| Keel laying | December 12, 1997 |
| Launch | March 25, 2001 |
| 1. Period of service |
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|
| Commissioning | June 30, 2001 |
| 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 Iwo (LHD-7) is a amphibious assault vessel of the Wasp class .
history
Work on the Iwo Jima began on the Ingalls shipyard site on September 3, 1996, the keel was laid on December 12, 1997, and the ship was launched on February 4, 2000 . The USS Iwo Jima was christened on March 25, 2000 in Pascagoula , Mississippi by Mrs. Zandra Krulak, wife of General Charles C. Krulak , a former Commandant of the Marine Corps . After the commissioning crew went on board in April 2001, the ship left for its maiden voyage on June 23, 2001. 2000 World War II veterans from the Battle of Iwo Jima accompanied them. The actual commissioning took place a week later, on June 30, 2001 in Pensacola , Florida . Her home port was previously Naval Station Norfolk and has been Naval Station Mayport in Jacksonville since August 2014 .
The Iwo Jima and the Marines of the 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU) departed on March 14, 2002 in support of Operation Enduring Freedom . In 2004 the Iwo Jima took part in the annual Fleet Week in New York City . On August 31, 2005, the Iwo Jima amphibious group left Norfolk to provide relief in the disaster area of Hurricane Katrina . After a stopover in Little Creek, where additional landing craft and transport helicopters were loaded, the ships set course for the US Gulf Coast. After the rescue work was completed, the group stayed in New Orleans until mid-September and returned to Norfolk on October 2.
In June 2006, the Iwo Jima Expeditionary Strike Group, consisting of seven ships and the Marines of the 24th MEU (SOC), set sail for a six-month mission in the Middle East. On July 15, they received orders to move from the Red Sea off the coast of Lebanon in order to assist in the evacuation of US citizens from the country after leaving Lebanon became increasingly difficult after attacks by Israeli forces on the infrastructure had become. In 2009 and 2010 the Iwo Jima again took part in the New York Fleet Week. In November 2010, the Iwo Jima helicopter took off off the coast of Haiti to bring relief supplies to regions devastated by Hurricane Tomas . In 2012 she was the flagship of the Iwo Jima Amphibious Ready Group in the Mediterranean.
