Welcome to DU!
The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards.
Join the community:
Create a free account
Support DU (and get rid of ads!):
Become a Star Member
Latest Breaking News
General Discussion
The DU Lounge
All Forums
Issue Forums
Culture Forums
Alliance Forums
Region Forums
Support Forums
Help & Search
America Sets Sail: New Amphib, LHA-6, Leaves Shipyard
http://breakingdefense.com/2014/07/america-sets-sail-new-class-of-amphib-lha-6-leaves-shipyard/LHA-6, the future USS AMERICA, leaves its shipyard in Pascagoula.
America Sets Sail: New Amphib, LHA-6, Leaves Shipyard
By Sydney J. Freedberg Jr. on July 11, 2014 at 4:58 PM
After five years in the shipyard, the first of a new class of Navy amphibious warship set sail today from its Pascagoula, Miss. birthsite for San Francisco, headed for the fleet. LHA-6 will be commissioned as the USS America this October.
America has been controversial in the military and on this website. Ive argued the LHA-6 is a dead end in naval design, because in order to carry more aircraft MV-22 Osprey tiltrotors, F-35B Joint Strike Fighter jump-jets it sacrifices the well deck required to launch landing craft and amtracs, which sort of takes the amphibious out of amphibious warship. Regular contributor and recognized expert Robbin Laird has argued that the classs increased airpower is well worth the trade-off and makes it invaluable for missions like 2011′s raids on Libya, which were launched by amphibs in absence of a full-sized aircraft carrier.
Whos right? Maybe both of us. The Navy is building only one more ship to the exact LHA-6 design, the still-under-construction USS Tripoli (price: $2.4 billion). After that, theyre putting back the well deck but theyre incorporating other features from the America design to increase the capacity for aircraft, too.
Regardless, the America remains an impressive feat of engineering and an important addition to the Navy-Marine Corps amphibious fleet, a unique and sometimes underappreciated national asset. So, as an antidote to all the airplane porn pouring out of the Farnborough International Airshow, we thought wed greet the weekend with some ship pics of LHA-6 leaving its shipyard home for the wider world. Photos are all courtesy of Americas manufacturer, leading amphib builder Huntington-Ingalls Industries.
InfoView thread info, including edit history
TrashPut this thread in your Trash Can (My DU » Trash Can)
BookmarkAdd this thread to your Bookmarks (My DU » Bookmarks)
3 replies, 1278 views
ShareGet links to this post and/or share on social media
AlertAlert this post for a rule violation
PowersThere are no powers you can use on this post
EditCannot edit other people's posts
ReplyReply to this post
EditCannot edit other people's posts
Rec (3)
ReplyReply to this post
3 replies
= new reply since forum marked as read
Highlight:
NoneDon't highlight anything
5 newestHighlight 5 most recent replies
America Sets Sail: New Amphib, LHA-6, Leaves Shipyard (Original Post)
unhappycamper
Jul 2014
OP
Ghost Dog
(16,881 posts)1. USS Tripoli? How did they come up with that name?
Are there USSs Kabul, Baghdad, Damascus, Teheran, Kiev, Beijing, etc. planned?
Angleae
(4,484 posts)2. Tripoli has a long history with the marines, going back to the very early 19th century.
Keep in mind, it's part of the marine corps hymn.
Ghost Dog
(16,881 posts)3. Aha. Tradition's ok. n/t