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The ''Tarawa'' class is a
ship class A ship class is a group of ships of a similar design. This is distinct from a ship type, which might reflect a similarity of tonnage or intended use. For example, is a nuclear aircraft carrier (ship type) of the (ship class). In the course ...
of Landing Helicopter Assault (LHA) type
amphibious assault ship An amphibious assault ship is a type of amphibious warfare ship employed to land and support ground forces on enemy territory by an amphibious assault. The design evolved from aircraft carriers converted for use as helicopter carriers (and, as ...
s operated by the
United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...
(USN). Five ships were built by
Ingalls Shipbuilding Ingalls Shipbuilding is a shipyard located in Pascagoula, Mississippi, United States, originally established in 1938, and now part of Huntington Ingalls Industries, HII. It is a leading producer of ships for the United States Navy, and at 12,500 ...
between 1971 and 1980; another four ships were planned, but later canceled; instead they were joined by the s. , all vessels had been decommissioned. The ''Tarawa'' class were replaced by the s from 2014 onward while the ''Wasp'' class remains in service.


Design

The vessels have a full load displacement of .Sharpe (ed.), ''Jane's Fighting Ships 1998–99'', p. 822 Each ship is long, with a beam of , and a draft of . Propulsion is provided by two
Combustion Engineering Combustion Engineering (C-E) was a multi-national American-based engineering firm that developed nuclear steam supply power systems in the United States. Originally headquartered in New York City, C-E moved its corporate offices to Stamford, Connec ...
boilers, connected to two Westinghouse turbines. These supply to the ship's two propeller shafts. A ''Tarawa''-class vessel can reach a maximum speed of , and has a maximum range of at . In addition to the main propulsion system, the ships are fitted with a
bow thruster Manoeuvering thruster (bow thruster or stern thruster) is a transversal propulsion device built into, or mounted to, either the bow or stern, of a ship or boat to make it more manoeuvrable. Bow thrusters make docking easier, since they allow th ...
. As of 1998, the ships' armament consisted of a Mark 49 RAM surface-to-air missile system, two
Vulcan Phalanx The Phalanx CIWS (often spoken as "sea-wiz") is a gun-based close-in weapon system to defend military watercraft automatically against incoming threats such as aircraft, missiles, and small boats. It was designed and manufactured by the Gene ...
close-in weapons systems, six Mark 242 25 mm automatic cannons, and eight 12.7 mm machine guns. Previously, the amphibious warships were fitted with 2 Mark 25
Sea Sparrow RIM-7 Sea Sparrow is a U.S. ship-borne short-range anti-aircraft and anti-missile weapon system, primarily intended for defense against anti-ship missiles. The system was developed in the early 1960s from the AIM-7 Sparrow air-to-air missile as a ...
missile systems (which were replaced by the Phalanx units), and three 5-inch (127 mm) Mk 45 lightweight guns in bow and starboard aft
sponson Sponsons are projections extending from the sides of land vehicles, aircraft or watercraft to provide protection, stability, storage locations, mounting points for weapons or other devices, or equipment housing. Watercraft On watercraft, a spon ...
s (the guns were removed across the class during 1997 and 1998). Countermeasures and decoys include four
Mark 36 SRBOC The BAE Systems Mark 36 Super Rapid Bloom Offboard Countermeasures Chaff and Decoy Launching System (abbreviated as SRBOC or "Super-arboc") is an American short-range decoy launching system (DLS) that launches radar or infrared decoys from naval ve ...
launchers, a
SLQ-25 Nixie The AN/SLQ-25 Nixie and its variants are towed torpedo decoys used on US and allied warships. It consists of a towed decoy device (TB-14A) and a shipboard signal generator. The decoy emits signals to draw a torpedo away from its intended targe ...
towed torpedo decoy, a
Sea Gnat The Seagnat Control System (sometimes spelled SeaGnat or Sea Gnat) is a British decoy system produced by System Engineering & Assessment (SEA) Ltd firing rounds produced by Chemring Countermeasures Ltd used on many NATO warships to safeguard agains ...
unit, SLQ-49 chaff decoys. The number of helicopters carried by each vessel was up to 19
Sikorsky CH-53 Sea Stallion The CH-53 Sea Stallion (Sikorsky S-65) is an American family of heavy-lift transport helicopters designed and built by the American manufacturer Sikorsky Aircraft. It was originally developed in response to a request from the United States N ...
s, 26
Boeing Vertol CH-46 Sea Knight The Boeing Vertol CH-46 Sea Knight is a medium-lift tandem-rotor transport helicopter powered by twin turboshaft engines. It was designed by Vertol and manufactured by Boeing Vertol following Vertol's acquisition by Boeing. Development of th ...
, or a mix of the two. The flight deck is fitted with two aircraft lifts, and up to nine Sea Stallions or 12 Sea Knights can be operated simultaneously. With a small amount of modification, the ships could carry and operate up to six
McDonnell Douglas AV-8B Harrier II The McDonnell Douglas (now Boeing) AV-8B Harrier II is a single-engine ground-attack aircraft that constitutes the second generation of the Harrier family, capable of vertical or short takeoff and landing (V/STOL). The aircraft is primari ...
jump-jets. The ''Tarawa''-class ships are designed to embark a reinforced battalion of the
United States Marine Corps The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for conducting expeditionary and amphibious operations through combi ...
and their equipment. Onboard accommodation is provided for up to 1,703 marines, while is provided for the battalion's vehicles, and is allocated for stores and other equipment. As well as deploying by helicopters, personnel and equipment can be embarked or offloaded via a
well deck In traditional nautical use, well decks were decks lower than decks fore and aft, usually at the main deck level, so that breaks appear in the main deck profile, as opposed to a flush deck profile. The term goes back to the days of sail. Late-20 ...
in each ship's stern. Up to four LCU 1610 landing craft can be transported in and operated from the well deck, along with other designs and combinations of landing craft (two LCU and two
LCM-8 The LCM-8 ("Mike Boat") is a river boat and mechanized landing craft used by the United States Navy and Army during the Vietnam War and subsequent operations. They are currently used by governments and private organizations throughout the world. ...
, or 17
LCM-6 The landing craft mechanized (LCM) is a landing craft designed for carrying vehicles. They came to prominence during the Second World War when they were used to land troops or tanks during Allied An alliance is a relationship among people ...
, or 45
LVT LVT may refer to: * Land value tax, a levy on the value of land * Landing Vehicle Tracked, an amphibious military vehicle * Leasehold valuation tribunal A leasehold valuation tribunal (LVT) was a statutory tribunal in England which determined var ...
). The ''Tarawa'' design was later repeated for the s, with some changes.Bishop & Chant, ''Aircraft Carriers'', p. 230 The main changes to the latter eight-ship class include the lower placement of the ship's
bridge A bridge is a structure built to span a physical obstacle (such as a body of water, valley, road, or rail) without blocking the way underneath. It is constructed for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle, which is usually somethi ...
aboard the ''Wasp''s, the relocation of the command and control facilities to inside the hull, modifications to allow the operation of Harrier jump-jets and
Landing Craft Air Cushion The Landing Craft Air Cushion (LCAC) is a class of air-cushioned landing craft (hovercraft) used by the United States Navy and the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force (JMSDF). They transport weapons systems, equipment, cargo and personnel from shi ...
hovercraft, and removal of the 5-inch guns and their sponsons to increase the overall size of the flight deck.


Construction

All five
warship A warship or combatant ship is a naval ship that is built and primarily intended for naval warfare. Usually they belong to the armed forces of a state. As well as being armed, warships are designed to withstand damage and are usually faster a ...
s were built by
Ingalls Shipbuilding Ingalls Shipbuilding is a shipyard located in Pascagoula, Mississippi, United States, originally established in 1938, and now part of Huntington Ingalls Industries, HII. It is a leading producer of ships for the United States Navy, and at 12,500 ...
, at this company's
shipyard A shipyard, also called a dockyard or boatyard, is a place where ships are built and repaired. These can be yachts, military vessels, cruise liners or other cargo or passenger ships. Dockyards are sometimes more associated with maintenance a ...
in
Pascagoula, Mississippi Pascagoula ( ) is a city in Jackson County, Mississippi, United States. It is the principal city of the Pascagoula Metropolitan Statistical Area, and is part of the Gulfport–Biloxi–Pascagoula Combined Statistical Area. The population was 22 ...
. ''Tarawa'' was approved for construction during
fiscal year A fiscal year (or financial year, or sometimes budget year) is used in government accounting, which varies between countries, and for budget purposes. It is also used for financial reporting by businesses and other organizations. Laws in many ...
1969, with two more ships of this class ordered by
Congress A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of a ...
in the 1970 and 1971 fiscal years. Design problems emerged early in the LHA program and contrary to the intent of the
Total Package Procurement Total Package Procurement (TPP or alternatively TPPC) was a major systems acquisition policy introduced in the United States Department of Defense in the mid-1960s by Secretary of Defense Robert MacNamara. It was conceived by Assistant Secretary ...
concept, the Navy became heavily involved in the design process. Nine ships were originally contracted for the ''Tarawa'' class, but that number was reduced to five in January 1971. The other four ships were never built for the Navy. Work on the first warship of this class, , began on 15 November 1971, and she was commissioned into the Navy on 29 May 1976. The last of the five ships, , was completed on 3 May 1980.


Decommissioning and replacement

The ''Tarawa''s began leaving service in 2005. By April 2011, four of the five amphibious assault ships had been decommissioned, leaving only ''Peleliu'' in active service. ''Peleliu'' was decommissioned on 31 March 2015 in San Diego. The ''Tarawa'' class is to be replaced by the .Wertheim (ed.), ''The Naval Institute Guide to Combat Fleets of the World'', p. 921 The first ''America''-class vessel was delivered and commissioned in 2014.


Ships in class


Citations


References

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External links


The USS Tarawa (LHA-1) Amphibious Assault Ship Museum
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tarawa Class Amphibious Assault Ship Amphibious warfare vessel classes Helicopter carrier classes