Vehicle military sea ship wasp class amphibious assault ship. The wasp class is a class of landing helicopter dock lhd amphibious assault ships operated by the united states navy. Uss boxer lhd 4 is a wasp class amphibious assault ship of the united states navy. An amphibious assault ship also referred to as a commando carrier or an amphibious assault carrier is a type of amphibious warfare ship employed to land and support ground forces on enemy territory by an amphibious assault. A us wasp class amphibious assault ship performing a stern gate mating with a landing craft.
It is the sixth us. Lhds landing helicopter deck embark transport deploy command and fully support all elements of a marine expeditionary unit meu of 2000 marines inserting forces ashore via helicopters landing craft and amphibious vehicles. The lead ship uss wasp lhd 1 was commissioned in july 1989 in norfolk va. The united states navy constructed the tarawa class of five landing helicopter assault ships which began to enter service from the late 1970s and the wasp class of eight landing helicopter dock ships the first of which was commissioned in 1989.
These are the largest amphibious assault vessels ever built providing the us navy with an unrivalled ability to attack hostile shores around the world. Navy ship to bear the name and was named for the original hms boxer which had been. Navy amphibious assault ship to replace steam boilers with gas turbines and the first navy surface ship to be equipped with both gas turbines and an auxiliary propulsion system aps. Based on the tarawa class with modifications to operate more advanced aircraft and landing craft the wasp class is capable of transporting almost the full strength of a.
The wasp class lhds are currently the largest amphibious ships in the world. The wasp class is a class of landing helicopter dock lhd amphibious assault ships operated by the united states navybased on the tarawa class with modifications to operate more advanced aircraft and landing craft the wasp class is capable of transporting almost the full strength of a united states marine corps marine expeditionary unit meu and landing them in hostile territory via. The wasp class amphibious assault ships can also function as light aircraft carriers. Lha replacement or lhar is the next.
The united states navy is also designing a new class of assault ships. Uss wasp lhd 1 the lead ship of the navy first class of multi purpose amphibious assault ships uss wasp lhd 1 is a united states navy multipurpose amphibious assault ship and the lead ship.