Iwo Jima-class amphibious assault ship
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![]() USS Iwo Jima (LPH-2)
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Class overview | |
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Builders | |
Operators | ![]() |
Preceded by | Template:Sclass- (some ships converted) |
Succeeded by | Template:Sclass- |
In commission | 1961–2002 |
Completed | 7 |
Active | 0 |
Laid up | 1 |
Retired | 7 |
General characteristics | |
Type | Amphibious Assault Ship (LPH) |
Displacement | |
Length | 592 ft (180 m) |
Beam | 84 ft (26 m) |
Draft | 27 ft (8.2 m) |
Propulsion |
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Speed | 22 knots (41 km/h) |
Troops | 2,157 |
Complement | 667 |
Armament |
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Aviation facilities |
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The Iwo Jima-class amphibious assault ships of the United States Navy were the first amphibious assault ships designed and built as dedicated helicopter carriers, capable of operating up to 20 helicopters to carry up to 1,800 marines ashore. They were named for battles featuring the United States Marine Corps, starting with the Battle of Iwo Jima. The first ship of the class was commissioned in 1961, and the last was decommissioned in 2002. Because these ships bore the hull classification of LPH they have often been referred to as "Landing Platform, Helicopter".
Ships of the class:
Name | Hull number | Builder | Laid down | Launched | Commissioned | Fate |
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Iwo Jima | LPH-2 | Puget Sound Naval Shipyard, Bremerton | 2 April 1959 | 17 September 1960 | 26 August 1961 | Broken up at Brownsville, 1996 |
Okinawa | LPH-3 | Philadelphia Naval Shipyard, Philadelphia | 1 April 1960 | 19 August 1961 | 14 April 1962 | Sunk as target, 6 June 2002 |
Guadalcanal | LPH-7 | 1 September 1961 | 16 March 1963 | 20 July 1963 | Sunk as target, 19 May 2005 | |
Guam | LPH-9 | 15 November 1962 | 22 August 1964 | 16 January 1965 | Sunk as target, 16 October 2001 | |
Tripoli | LPH-10 | Ingalls Shipbuilding, Pascagoula | 15 June 1964 | 31 July 1965 | 6 August 1966 | Converted to missile trial launch platform |
New Orleans | LPH-11 | Philadelphia Naval Shipyard, Philadelphia | 1 March 1966 | 3 February 1968 | 16 November 1968 | Sunk as target, 10 July 2010 |
Inchon | LPH-12 | Ingalls Shipbuilding, Pascasgoula | 8 April 1968 | 24 May 1969 | 20 June 1970 | Sunk as target, 5 December 2004 |
Popular culture
One of the Iwo Jima class ships served as the fieldsite in Edwin Hutchins's classic cognitive science study Cognition in the Wild.[1] Although Hutchins does not mention the ship class by name, on p. 7 he characterizes it as a 603-foot-long (184 m) amphibious helicopter carrier.
References