USS ''Tripoli'' (LHA-7) is the second built for the United States Navy. On 7 May 2012, United States Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus announced the ship's name as ''Tripoli'', in honor of the US Marine Corps victory against

Tripoli Tripoli or Tripolis may refer to: Cities and other geographic units Greece *Tripoli, Greece, the capital of Arcadia, Greece * Tripolis (region of Arcadia), a district in ancient Arcadia, Greece * Tripolis (Larisaia), an ancient Greek city in ...

at the

Battle of Derna The Battle of Derna at Derna, Cyrenaica, was the decisive victory in April–May 1805 of a mercenary army recruited and led by United States Marines under the command of U.S. Army Lieutenant William Eaton, diplomatic Consul to Tripoli, and U ...

during the First Barbary War. This is the third US Naval ship to carry the name, the first being , an

escort carrier The escort carrier or escort aircraft carrier (U.S. hull classification symbol CVE), also called a "jeep carrier" or "baby flattop" in the United States Navy (USN) or "Woolworth Carrier" by the Royal Navy, was a small and slow type of aircraft ...

from World War II and the second being , an amphibious assault ship that served during the

Cold War The Cold War is a term commonly used to refer to a period of geopolitical tension between the United States and the Soviet Union and their respective allies, the Western Bloc and the Eastern Bloc. The term '' cold war'' is used because the ...

Design and construction

The design of ''Tripoli'' is based on , which is itself an improved version of the . Approximately 45% of the Flight 0 design is based on LHD-8, with the well deck removed to allow more room for aircraft and aviation fuel. The removal of the well deck for

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. Pr ...

allows for an extended hangar deck with two significantly wider high bay areas, each fitted with an overhead crane for aircraft maintenance. Other enhancements include a reconfigurable command and control complex, an on-board hospital, and numerous aviation support spaces. The design of ''Tripoli'' features an enlarged hangar deck, realignment and expansion of the aviation maintenance facilities, and a significant increase in her available stowage for parts and support equipment. She was intended to be the first LHA replacement ship to deliver fully ready to integrate the entire future air combat element of the

U.S. 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 comb ...

to include the

F-35B Lightning II The Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II is an American family of single-seat, single-engine, all-weather stealth multirole combat aircraft that is intended to perform both air superiority and strike missions. It is also able to provide elect ...

, but construction delays have pushed final F-35 capability installs until delivery. ''Tripoli'' was built by Ingalls Shipbuilding (Huntington Ingalls Industries) at the company's shipyard in Pascagoula, Mississippi. Fabrication of ship components began in July 2013, and the ship's keel was laid in a ceremony on 20 June 2014 in Pascagoula. ''Tripoli'' was launched on 1 May and later christened on 16 September 2017, with Lynne Mabus, wife of former Navy Secretary Ray Mabus, as her sponsor. By 2019, ''Tripoli'' was about a year behind production schedules. The ship was delivered to the Navy on 28 February 2020.

Covid pandemic

During the COVID-19 pandemic, on 17 April 2020, '' The Wall Street Journal'' reported that Navy officials had stated that at least 9 sailors assigned to the ship had tested positive for SARS-CoV-2. At the time, the ship was docked in Pascagoula. About 630 sailors were moved off the ship as a preventative measure, which resulted in the outbreak spreading to only "around a couple dozen sailors". As a result of the pandemic, the ship's public commissioning ceremony originally planned to occur at

NAS Pensacola Naval Air Station Pensacola or NAS Pensacola (formerly NAS/KNAS until changed circa 1970 to allow Nassau International Airport, now Lynden Pindling International Airport, to have IATA code NAS), "The Cradle of Naval Aviation", is a United State ...

in June was also cancelled. Subsequently, ''Tripoli'' was commissioned on 15 July 2020 in Pascagoula, Mississippi, where the ship was built.

Ship's history

In September 2020, ''Tripoli'' completed a homeport shift from Pascagoula, Mississippi to San Diego, California. On 2 May 2022, ''Tripoli'' departed

Naval Station San Diego Naval Base San Diego, also known as 32nd Street Naval Station, is the second largest surface ship base of the United States Navy and is located in San Diego, California. Naval Base San Diego is the principal homeport of the Pacific Fleet, cons ...

for the Western Pacific Ocean on her maiden deployment, taking on 20 F-35Bs at one point in a test of the "lightning carrier" concept. On 25 July 2022, she transitioned to an amphibious ready role by embarking the

31st Marine Expeditionary Unit The 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit (31st MEU) is one of seven Marine Expeditionary Units in existence in the United States Marine Corps. The Marine Expeditionary Unit is a Marine Air Ground Task Force with a strength of about 2,200 Marines and ...

at Naval Base Okinawa, Japan, before transiting the South China Sea to make a port call at Singapore's Changi Naval Base on 31 Aug 2022. She returned to San Diego on 29 November 2022.

Awards

* Admiral James Flatley Memorial Award for Naval Aviation Safety - (2022)

Etymology

''Tripoli'' is the third U.S. Navy ship named for the

Battle of Derne The Battle of Derna at Derna, Cyrenaica, was the decisive victory in April–May 1805 of a mercenary army recruited and led by United States Marines under the command of U.S. Army Lieutenant William Eaton, diplomatic Consul to Tripoli, and U. ...

in 1805. It was the decisive victory of a mercenary army led by a detachment of United States Marines and

soldiers A soldier is a person who is a member of an army. A soldier can be a conscripted or volunteer enlisted person, a non-commissioned officer, or an officer. Etymology The word ''soldier'' derives from the Middle English word , from Old French ...

against the forces of

during the First Barbary War. It was the first recorded land battle of the United States fought overseas. ''Fallujah'', after the Second Battle of Fallujah, was suggested as a name but was ultimately not chosen. This name was given to another ''America''-class ship, .

Gallery

File:Launch of USS Tripoli (LHA-7) at Pascagoula on 1 May 2017.JPG, ''Tripoli'' being launched at Pascagoula on 1 May 2017 File:USS Tripoli (LHA-7) underway in the Gulf of Mexico during builder’s trials, 15 July 2019 (190715-N-N0101-150).jpg, ''Tripoli'' in the Gulf of Mexico during her sea trial on 15 July 2019 File:USS Tripoli (LHA-7) underway in the Caribbean Sea on 3 August 2020 (200730-N-CD453-1035).JPG, ''Tripoli'' in the Caribbean Sea on 3 August 2020 File:USS Tripoli (LHA-7) navegando.jpg, USS ''Tripoli'' in the Argentine exclusive economic zone on 23 August 2020 File:USS Tripoli (LHA-7) with 20 F-35B Lightning II jets, 7 April 2022.jpg, ''Tripoli'' with 20

jets, 7 April 2022 File:USS Tripoli (LHA 7) conducts flight operations in the Philippine Sea. (52287804236).jpg, An MV-22 Osprey takes off from ''Tripoli'' in 2022

Notes

References

External links

Huntington Ingalls Shipbuilding: ''America''-class of Amphibious Assault Ships
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tripoli (LHA-7)

2017 ships Naval ships involved in the COVID-19 pandemic