USS Bataan (LHD-5)
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Career | ![]() |
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Ordered: | 20 December 1991 |
Laid down: | 22 June 1994 |
Launched: | 15 March 1996 |
Commissioned: | 20 September 1997 |
Status: | Template:Ship fate box active in service |
General characteristics | |
Displacement: | 40,358 tons fully loaded (41,006 metric tons) |
Length: | 844 ft (253.2 m) |
Beam: | 106 ft (31.8 m) |
Draft: | 27 ft (8.2 m) |
Propulsion: | Geared Steam Turbines |
Speed: | 20+ knots (23.5+ mph, 37+ km/h) |
Range: | |
Complement: | 104 officers, 1,004 enlisted Marine Detachment: 1,894 |
Armament: | • Two RAM launchers; • two NATO Sea Sparrow launchers; • two 20 mm Phalanx CIWS mounts; • four .50 cal. machine guns; • three 25 mm Mk 38 machine guns |
Aircraft: | variable by mission: • 12 CH-46 Sea Knight helicopters; • 4 CH-53E Super Stallion helicopters; • 6 AV-8B Harrier attack aircraft; • 3 UH-1N Huey helicopters; • 4 AH-1W Super Cobra helicopters; and (planned capability to embark MV-22 Osprey VTOL tiltrotor aircraft) |
Motto: | Courage, Commitment, Honor |
USS Bataan (LHD-5) is a Wasp-class amphibious assault ship commissioned in 1997.
Dr. John P. White, Deputy U.S. Secretary of Defense, delivered the principal address at the christening ceremonies of Bataan (LHD-5) at Ingalls Shipbuilding, Pascagoula, Mississippi.
LHD 5 is named to honor the heroic defense of the Bataan Peninsula on the western side of Manila Bay in the Philippines during the early days of World War II. Ship's Sponsor, Linda Sloan Mundy, wife of former Marine Corps Commandant Gen. Carl E. Mundy, Jr., christened the new ship "in the name of the United States and in honor of the heroic defenders of Bataan."
More than 100 members of veterans groups associated with the defense of Bataan and the subsequent infamous "Death March", the battle of Corregidor, and the aircraft carrier USS Bataan (CVL-29) were at the christening ceremony.
Iraqi Freedom
The Bataan was one of many vessels in the Middle East region at the beginning of Operation Iraqi Freedom on or about March 20, 2003. She has done two deployments to the region since the beginning of Iraqi Freedom. Currently participating on her third, she has just joined the Fifth Fleet in the Gulf region, transiting the Suez canal into the Red Sea on 30 January 2007.
Hurricane Katrina
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/6d/LCU_1656_USS_Bataan_%28LHD_5%29_August_31%2C_2005.jpg/200px-LCU_1656_USS_Bataan_%28LHD_5%29_August_31%2C_2005.jpg)
Bataan provided relief to the victims of Hurricane Katrina. She was positioned near New Orleans prior to Katrina making landfall, and began relief operations on August 30. The ship's helicopters were among the first to provide damage assessment. They went on to transport over 1600 displaced persons. Bataan delivered more than 100,000 pounds (45 metric tons) of cargo and 8000 U.S. gallons (30,000 liters) of fresh water to the area. The ship served as a base for two fly-away medical teams, consisting of 84 medical professionals, who provided emergency medical care in New Orleans.
V-22 Osprey
The Bataan has taken part in OPEVAL II report on operational and live fire test, and evaluation of the V-22 Osprey tiltrotor aircraft in September of 2005 with 8 Ospreys.
See also
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External links
- USS Bataan Homepage
- Maritimequest USS Bataan LHD-5 Photo Gallery
- LHD-5 Personnel Roster at HullNumber.com
- OPEVAL II testing report in pdf form
- The case of the Taliban American CNN
- Navy ship nearby underused Chicago Tribune 4 Sept 2005
- Harrier carrier: Strike force for freedom
- USS Bataan history at U.S. Carriers
- USS Bataan Osprey testing Video hosted at YouTube.com
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USS Bataan in the port of Lisbon, summer 2003.