USS Makin Island (LHD-8)
_transits_the_Caribbean_Sea.jpg) The Makin Island 2009 in the Caribbean |
|
| Overview | |
|---|---|
| Order | April 19, 2002 |
| Keel laying | February 14, 2004 |
| Launch | September 22, 2006 |
| 1. Period of service |
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|
| Commissioning | October 24, 2009 |
| Technical specifications | |
| displacement |
41,772 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 gas turbines; 70,000 wave horsepower |
| speed |
20+ knots |
| Armament |
2 starters RAM , 2 starters Sea Sparrow , various guns |
The USS Makin Iceland (LHD-8) is an amphibious assault ship of the Wasp-class amphibious assault ship . The naming of the Makin Island is to be seen as a memory of the Makin Atoll . An elite unit of the US Marine Corps , the Marine Raiders, took the atoll on August 17, 1942 with 220 men.
technology
The Makin Island is the newest of the eight ships in its class to date; Changes have been made to it beyond the normal further developments. In particular, the conversion to a gas turbine drive (as opposed to the previously common oil boiler / steam turbine drive system) has made extensive changes to the deckhouse necessary in order to accommodate the large-volume supply and exhaust air shafts of the two gas turbines.
The Makin Iceland is the first gas turbine-driven flight deck ship of the US Navy. The two LM-2500 + gas turbines from General Electric allow the ship to accelerate much faster with performance values similar to those of their predecessors. At low speeds of less than 12 knots, the ship is powered exclusively by two 5000 HP electric motors, which should save up to 25% operating time of the gas turbines and thus over 1.5 million liters of fuel. Energy generation has also been converted; instead of steam generators, six diesel generators generate a maximum output of 24 megawatts. Over the planned 40-year service life, this should save US $ 250 million in fuel costs.
history
The Makin Island had been under construction since May 22, 2003 in the Ingalls Shipbuilding yard in Pascagoula on the Mississippi River . In 2006 the ship was launched and was christened. Godmother was Mrs. Silke Hagee, the wife of the then Commandant of the Marine Corps , General Michael W. Hagee . Originally, she was to be handed over to the United States Navy in November 2008, according to this schedule, the commissioning should follow in spring 2009. In April 2008, however, shipyard workers discovered problems with the wiring of the electrical systems. It took about six months to clean up and the total cost of $ 326 million borne by Northrop Grumman as the owner of Ingalls. At the beginning of 2009, Makin Island completed the shipyard test drives, and in April the Navy accepted the ship.
The commissioning took place on October 24, 2009 in San Diego, which is also the home port of Makin Island . After test drives, an overhaul period took place at the General Dynamics NASSCO shipyard in San Diego until July 2010 , during which any problems found were rectified. During tests on the pier in San Diego in August 2010, Navy personnel discovered problems with the transmission gears of the propulsion system. Because of this, the last manufacturer test drives had to be postponed; the repairs lasted until mid-September. The manufacturer's last test drives took place at the end of October, while the Navy checked in the Board of Inspection and Survey whether the ship was ready for use. The ship and crew passed this four-day inspection.
In November 2011, the Makin Island moved for the first time in a combat group with USS Pearl Harbor (LSD-52) and USS New Orleans (LPD-18) in the Pacific.
The ship served as an evacuation target when the hostages Luke Somers and Pierre Korkie were unsuccessful on December 6, 2014 in Yemen .
See also
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Makin Island transforms 'Big Deck' amphibious force ( Memento from March 9, 2005 in the Internet Archive ), from Surface Warfare Vol. 28 No. 5 (english)
- ↑ Makin Island Completes INSURV Special Trials . Navy News Stand
- ↑ Northrop Grumman: First Quarter 2008 Financial Results , April 24, 2008 (English)
- ↑ Hagel: US hostage 'murdered' in Yemen , The Washington Post, December 6, 2014.