USS Wasp (LHD-1)

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The Wasp during testing of the new MV-22 Osprey
The Wasp during testing of the new MV-22 Osprey
Overview
Order February 28, 1984
Keel laying May 30, 1985
Launch 4th August 1987
1. Period of service flag
Commissioning July 29, 1989
Technical specifications
displacement

40,650  tons l.

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 Wasp (LHD-1) is an amphibious assault ship of the United States Navy and namesake of the Wasp-class .

history

The USS Wasp was built by Ingalls Shipbuilding in Pascagoula , Mississippi . The keel was laid on May 30, 1985 and the launch took place on August 4, 1987. The USS Wasp entered service in July 1989 and was assigned to the Atlantic Fleet.

On April 20, 1993, the ship ran 3.5 miles south of the Somali coast onto a shallow reef . The keel and screw scraped over the reef, but no one was injured. The USS Wasp was able to continue its mission at that time. The navigator and the commanding officer were dismissed from their posts following this incident.

Two years later, on March 29, 1995, the USS Wasp collided with the USS Seattle (AOE-3) . The damage caused by the collision was only minor.

As part of the global fight against terrorism , the USS Wasp operated in 2004 in the Red Sea , the Persian Gulf and the Indian Ocean . She then returned to her home port in Norfolk, Virginia in September 2004 . She stayed there until spring 2005. Since then (as of 2012) the Wasp has not moved any more. The reason given by the US Navy was that the Advanced Combat Direction System (ACDS) was no longer state-of-the-art; it should be replaced by 2014.

Since January 13, 2011, the Wasp in Portsmouth has been converted for testing with the Lockheed Martin F-35B in order to become the first Navy carrier for the new fighter aircraft. The decision in favor of the Wasp was also made because it cannot be actively used anyway due to the outdated ACDS and can therefore serve as a test ship without other carriers having to be removed from the operational routine.

In 2015 and 2016, the USS Wasp was involved in Operation Odyssey Lightning in support of countering targets of the Islamic State (IS) terrorist militia in Libya .

In 2017 the ship was due to be relocated to Japan and left its home port of Norfolk on August 30th . However, due to Hurricanes Irma and Maria , plans were changed and the ship supported disaster relief in the US Virgin Islands , Dominica and Puerto Rico .

Web links

Commons : USS Wasp (LHD-1)  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Dan Lamothe: Navy sending another combat ship to hurricane-ravaged Puerto Rico. In: The Virginian Pilot. September 29, 2017, accessed September 30, 2017 .
  2. ↑ Courtney Mabeus: USS Oak Hill returning to Virginia Beach after helping with hurricane relief. In: pilotonline.com. The Virginian-Pilot, October 26, 2017, accessed October 30, 2017 .