Harpers Ferry class Dock Landing Ship - LSD
The Harpers Ferry-class is a class of dock landing ships completed in the early 1990s. Modified from the Whidbey Island class, it sacrifices landing craft capacity for more cargo space, making it closer to an amphibious transport dock type, but was not designated as such. Externally, the two classes can be told apart by the order of weapons. The Harper's Ferry type has the Phalanx CIWS mounted forward, and the RAM launcher on top of the bridge, while the Whidbey Island has the opposite arrangement. 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 National Steel and Shipbuilding Company 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. source: wikipedia
Ships:
Units			in service	Builder
LSD 49 USS Harpers Ferry			1995	Avondale Shipyards, New Orleans, Louisiana, USA
LSD 50 USS Carter Hall			1995	Avondale Shipyards, New Orleans, Louisiana, USA
LSD 51 USS Oak Hill			1996	Avondale Shipyards, New Orleans, Louisiana, USA
LSD 52 USS Pearl Harbor			1998	Avondale Shipyards, New Orleans, Louisiana, USA
Specifications:
Displacement:	16975 tons (full load)
Length:	185,6 meters
Beam:	26 meters
Draft:	5 meters
Max Speed:	20+ knots (= 37+ km/h)
Propulsion:	4 x Colt Industries 16-cylinder diesel-engines 33000 shp, total 2 shafts / 2 controllable pitch propellers
Aviation:	flight deck: 212 feet (64,6 meters) long / 83 feet (25,3 meters) wide 2 landing spots / no hangar
Well Deck:	220 feet (67 meters) long / 50 feet (15,25 meters) wide Landing force: 2 LCAC’s or 1 LCU
Complement:	Ship: 420 Marine Detachment: 402 plus 102 surge
Armament:	2 x Mk-49 launcher for RIM-116 Rolling Airframe Missile (RAM) 2 x Mk-15 Phalanx CIWS 2 x Mk-38 machine gun systems (MGS) 6 x .50 caliber (12,7 mm) machine guns
Armament (defensive):
detail images:
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