USS Tarawa (LHA-1)
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|
|
| Overview | |
|---|---|
| Order | May 1st 1969 |
| Keel laying | 15th November 1971 |
| Launch | 1st December 1973 |
| 1. Period of service |
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|
| Commissioning | May 29, 1976 |
| Decommissioning | March 31, 2009 |
| Whereabouts | Reserve fleet |
| Technical specifications | |
| displacement |
39,925 long tons or |
| length |
249.9 meters |
| width |
32.3 meters |
| Draft |
8.2 meters |
| crew |
82 officers, 882 sailors, up to 1,894 marines |
| drive |
2 propellers, driven by 2 steam turbines; 70,000 hp |
| speed |
24 knots |
| Range |
10,000 nautical miles at 20 knots |
| Armament |
2 starters for first RIM-7 Sea Sparrow , then RIM-116 Rolling Airframe Missile ; various guns |
The USS Tarawa (LHA-1) is an amphibious assault ship of the United States Navy and namesake of the Tarawa-class . She is the second ship of the US Navy named after Tarawa Island , a site of the Battle of the Gilbert Islands . The first such ship was the aircraft carrier USS Tarawa (CV-40) .
prehistory
The keel was laid on November 15, 1971 at Ingalls Shipbuilding in Pascagoula , Mississippi . It was launched on December 1, 1973. Audrey B. Cushman, wife of Commandant of the Marine Corps Robert E. Cushman, named the Tarawa. The ship was put into service on May 29, 1976. Captain James H. Morris was the first in command.
The ship left Pascagoula on July 7, 1976 and set course for the Panama Canal . It passed the Canal on July 16 and arrived in San Diego , California on August 6 , after a short vacation in Acapulco , Mexico . For the remainder of 1976, the Tarawa crew carried out exercises, trials and functional tests off the coast of California. In the first half of 1977 the Tarawa took part in training missions there.
On August 13, 1977 she entered the Long Beach Naval Shipyard , where she was equipped for readiness for use. The ship was finally completed on July 15, 1978. The next four and a half months were trained with the Marines stationed on the Tarawa. Since December 1, 1978, the Tarawa has been anchored ready for action in her home port of San Diego.
Calls
The Tarawa was first deployed in 1979, when experiments with the vertical take-off ground attack aircraft McDonnell Douglas AV-8 were successfully carried out and later around 400 Vietnamese refugees were rescued from the South China Sea .
Her second mission was in 1980. During her third mission in 1983, the Tarawa was deployed in the Mediterranean Sea in support of the United Nations Interim Force stationed in Beirut , Lebanon . Further missions followed.
In December 1990, the Tarawa was the flagship of the 13-strong amphibious support fleet for Operation Desert Storm . She took part in the "Sea Soldier IV" landing exercise in January 1991, which was considered the dress rehearsal for a landing in Kuwait . On February 24, 1991, marines landed in Saudi Arabia south of the Kuwaiti border.
In May 1991 the Tarawa went to Bangladesh as part of a humanitarian mission , where it delivered rice and a water treatment plant to victims of a typhoon .
In 1992 the Tarawa visited Hong Kong , Singapore , the Persian Gulf , Somalia and Australia.
In October 2000, the Tarawa belonged to the support group that rushed to aid the USS Cole (DDG-67) in the port of Aden , Yemen , where the Cole was badly damaged as a result of an Islamist bomb attack. The association to which the Tarawa belonged helped repair and supply the Cole's crew.
Post-history
On December 4, 2008, a solemn retirement ceremony for the Tarawa was held in San Diego. The United States Navy officially decommissioned them on March 31, 2009. Since April 1, 2009, the USS Tarawa (LHA-1) has been part of the reserve fleet.
Efforts have been made since 2014 to keep the ship as a museum.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ USS Tarawa (LHA-1) Amphibious Assault Ship Museum. August 27, 2014, accessed July 31, 2020 .