The ''Harpers Ferry'' class of the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...

is a class of

dock landing ship A dock landing ship (also called landing ship, dock or LSD) is an amphibious warfare ship with a well dock to transport and launch landing craft and amphibious vehicles. Some ships with well decks, such as the Soviet Ivan Rogov class, also hav ...

s completed in the early 1990s. Modified from the , the design sacrifices

landing craft Landing craft are small and medium seagoing watercraft, such as boats and barges, used to convey a landing force (infantry and vehicles) from the sea to the shore during an amphibious assault. The term excludes landing ships, which are larger. ...

capacity for more cargo space, making it closer to an

amphibious transport dock An amphibious transport dock, also called a landing platform dock (LPD), is an amphibious warfare ship, a warship that embarks, transports, and lands elements of a landing force for expeditionary warfare missions. Several navies currently oper ...

type, but was not designated as such. Externally, the two classes can be distinguished by the positions of weapons: The ''Harpers Ferry'' class has the Phalanx CIWS mounted forward, and the RAM launcher on top of the bridge, while the ''Whidbey Island'' has the opposite arrangement. As of 2009, all ships of the class are scheduled to undergo a midlife upgrade to ensure they remain in service through 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., and ships based on the West Coast will receive upgrades at General Dynamics

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

''Harpers Ferry''–class ships

Sources

US Navy Type Information
*Hutchinson, R. (2002) ''Jane's Warship Recognition Guide'' Harper Collins: London, New York. {{DEFAULTSORT:Harpers Ferry-class dock landing ship Amphibious warfare vessel classes Naval ships of the United States