Whidbey Island-class dock landing ship

USS Fort McHenry (LSD-43) conducting helicopter operations off the coast of Sumatra, (2005).
Class overview
Builders:	Lockheed Shipbuilding and Construction Company
Operators:	United States Navy
Preceded by:	Anchorage class
Succeeded by:	Harpers Ferry class
Cost:	$250m
In commission:	1985 – Present
Planned:	8
Completed:	8
Active:	8
General characteristics
Displacement:	16,100 tons
Length:	609 ft (186 m)
Beam:	84 ft (26 m)
Draft:	19 ft 6 in (5.0 m)
Propulsion:	4 Colt Industries, 16-cylinder diesel engines, 2 shafts, 33,000 shp (25 MW)
Speed:	20+ knots (37+ km/h)
Boats & landing craft carried:	4+1 LCACs or 21 LCM-6s or up to 36 Amphibious Assault Vehicles AAV or 3 LCUs.
Capacity:	on deck: one LCM-6, two LCPL and one LCVP
Complement:	30 officers, 300+ enlisted Marine detachment: up to 504
Armament:	2 × 25 mm Mk 38 cannons 2 × 20 mm Phalanx CIWS mounts 1 / 2 × Rolling Airframe Missile 6 × .50 caliber M2HB machine guns
Aviation facilities:	Large helicopter platform aft, no hangar

The Whidbey Island class dock landing ship is a dock landing ship of the United States Navy. Introduced to fleet service in 1985, this class of ship features a massive well deck for the transport of US Marine Corps vehicles and a large flight deck for the landing of helicopters or V-22 Ospreys. The well deck was designed to hold four LCAC hovercraft, five if the vehicle ramp is raised, for landing Marines. Recent deployments have instead filled the well deck with a combination of LCU(s), AAVs, Tanks, LARCs and other USMC vehicles and gear. The Whidbey Island class of ship also uniquely benefits from multiple cranes and a shallow draft that further make it ideal for participating in Amphibious operations.

As of 2009, all ships of the class are scheduled to undergo a midlife upgrade over the next five years to ensure that they remain in service through to 2038. The ships will be upgraded each year through 2013, and the last ship will be modernized in 2014. Ships homeported on the East Coast will undergo upgrades at Metro Machine Corp., while those on the West Coast will receive upgrades at General Dynamics National Steel and Shipbuilding Company in San Diego.

Major elements of the upgrade package include diesel engine improvements, fuel and maintenance savings systems, engineering control systems, increased air conditioning and chill water capacity, and replacement of air compressors. The ships also replaced steam systems with all-electric functionality that will decrease maintenance effort and expense.

Ships

Ship	Hull No.	Builder	Commissioned	Home Port	NVR Page
Whidbey Island	LSD-41	Lockheed, Seattle	1985	Little Creek, Virginia	LSD41
Germantown	LSD-42	Lockheed, Seattle	1986	Sasebo, Japan	LSD42
Fort McHenry	LSD-43	Lockheed, Seattle	1987	Mayport, Florida	LSD43
Gunston Hall	LSD-44	Avondale, New Orleans	1989	Little Creek, Virginia	LSD44
Comstock	LSD-45	Avondale, New Orleans	1990	San Diego, California	LSD45
Tortuga	LSD-46	Avondale, New Orleans	1990	Little Creek, Virginia	LSD46
Rushmore	LSD-47	Avondale, New Orleans	1991	San Diego, California	LSD47
Ashland	LSD-48	Avondale, New Orleans	1992	Sasebo, Japan	LSD48

The Whidbey Island (LSD 41) and Tortuga (LSD 46) are to be decommissioned during the FYDP 2013-2018 and the remaining ships of the class are to be retired before the end of their service lives. However, recent unofficial reports state that the Whidbey Island (LSD 41) decommissioning date has been changed to 2021.

Sources

• US Navy Type Information
• Hutchinson, R. (ed.) (2002) Jane's Warship Recognition Guide, London : HarperCollins, ISBN 0-00-713722-2
• This article includes information collected from the Naval Vessel Register, which, as a U.S. government publication, is in the public domain. The entry can be found here.

External links

• Federation of American Scientists (FAS): LSD-41 Whidbey Island class
• GlobalSecurity.org: LSD-41 Whidbey Island class