The ''Whidbey Island''-class dock landing ship is a

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 ...

of 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 ...

. Introduced to fleet service in 1985, this class of ship features a large

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 ...

for transporting

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 ...

(USMC) vehicles and a large flight deck for landing helicopters or V-22 Ospreys. The well deck was designed to hold four

LCAC LCAC may refer to: Hovercraft * A generic term for an air cushioned landing craft, taken from US Navy designation "Landing Craft, Air Cushion". ** Landing Craft Air Cushion, a US Navy hull classification symbol for the Landing Craft Air Cushion-c ...

hovercraft, five if the vehicle ramp is raised, for landing Marines. Recent deployments have used a combination of LCU(s), AAVs, tanks, LARCs and other USMC vehicles. The ''Whidbey Island'' class of ship also uniquely benefits from multiple cranes and a shallow

draft Draft, The Draft, or Draught may refer to: Watercraft dimensions * Draft (hull), the distance from waterline to keel of a vessel * Draft (sail), degree of curvature in a sail * Air draft, distance from waterline to the highest point on a vesse ...

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 2038. The ships will be upgraded annually 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 National Steel and Shipbuilding Company, commonly referred to as NASSCO, is an American shipbuilding company with three shipyards located in San Diego, Norfolk, Virginia, Norfolk and Mayport (Jacksonville), Mayport. It is a division of General Dy ...

in San Diego. New Orleans USS Tortuga Katrina Sept 5

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

''Whidbey Island'' and ''Tortuga'' were scheduled to be decommissioned during the FYDP 2013-2018, and the remaining ships of the class were scheduled to be retired before the end of their service lives. However, the Navy reversed its plan to decommission ''Whidbey Island'', and in 2015

Assistant Secretary of the Navy Assistant Secretary of the Navy (ASN) is the title given to certain civilian senior officials in the United States Department of the Navy. From 1861 to 1954, the Assistant Secretary of the Navy was the second-highest civilian office in the Depar ...

Sean Stackley Sean Gerard Joseph Stackley (born August 7, 1957) is an American engineer and former naval officer who served as the Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Research, Development and Acquisition from July 2008 to August 3, 2017. He also served as the ...

informed Congress of the Navy's plans to modernize ''Whidbey Island'', ''Tortuga'', and ''Germantown'' to extend them each to a 44-year total service life. As of March 2015, the first ''Whidbey Island''-class LSD to be retired will be ''Fort McHenry'' in FY 2027.

Sources

US Navy Type Information
*Hutchinson, R. (ed.) (2002) ''Jane's Warship Recognition Guide'', London : HarperCollins, *

External links

* ttp://www.globalsecurity.org/military/systems/ship/lsd-41.htm GlobalSecurity.org: LSD-41 Whidbey Island class {{DEFAULTSORT:Whidbey Island-class dock landing ship Amphibious warfare vessel classes Naval ships of the United States Cold War amphibious warfare vessels of the United States Amphibious warfare vessels of the United States Ships built by Lockheed Shipbuilding and Construction Company