The America-class LHA ships are a variant of the extremely successful Wasp-class LHD amphibious assault ships that are presently serving as workhorses in the U. S. Navy fleet.
Also known as “Large Deck amphibious ships,” they are the centerpieces of amphibious ready groups and a U. S. Marine Corps Air-Ground Task Force. They provide unparalleled sea basing capabilities including unequaled command and control and hospital capacities.
Large deck amphibious assault ships launch forces from air and sea, utilizing interior well decks and flight decks to conduct missions across the spectrum of operations that range from humanitarian assistance and disaster relief to full combat force.
The large deck amphibious ships are capable of supporting the most advanced Marine Corps aircraft, including the MV-22 Osprey and the F-35B Joint Strike Fighter.
Two large supermodules have been joined ahead of schedule at Ingalls Shipbuilding in Pascagoula, Miss., to form the large deck amphibious assault ship Bougainville (LHA 8). Supermodule One, which was the bow, weighed around 8,000 tons and was completed earlier 2022. The second supermodule weighed more than 15,000 tons. Each were moved nearly 240 feet. After the movement was completed, the Hull team aboard LHA 8 joined the supermodules into a single structure.
Like their LHD predecessors, LHAs are 844 feet long with a 106-foot beam displacing more than 44,000 tons. These capital ships take more than five years to build. USS America (LHA 6) is the first ship in its class built without a well deck but with a larger hangar and aviation storage, focusing on purely aviation-related capacity.The ships have a crew of 1,204 and can transport up to 1,800 troops and their equipment. America (LHA 6) is nearly three football fields in length and is 20 stories high from its keel to the top of her deckhouse.
The flight deck dimension is more than two acres for launching, landing and stowing aircraft.With a typical air combat element embarked, an LHA Amphibious Assault Ship can be equipped with:
The 844-foot LHA 6 America class amphibious assault ship takes approximately five years to build. Its construction consists of 216 structural units, requiring 170 erection lifts, including grand blocks, plus two lifts to set the deckhouse on board (the main house, followed by smaller forward section). These blocks are built on land, starting with the ship’s midsection, and later moved to drydock for launch by translation cars.
Two main turbines provide 70,000 shaft horsepower. Additionally, LHA 6 has a separate source of propulsion, a unique electrical auxiliary propulsion system (APS) that was designed for fuel efficiency. The APS uses two induction-type auxiliary propulsion motors powered from the ship’s electrical grid. America-class ships include 1,000 miles of electrical cable, 431,000 feet of pipe and enough hull insulation to cover 40 acres.
Ingalls has delivered 2 America-class amphibious assault ships to the U.S. Navy:
America (LHA 6) – 4/10/2014
Tripoli (LHA 7) – 2/28/2020
4101 Washington Ave.
Newport News, VA 23607
4101 Washington Ave
Newport News, VA 23607
1000 Jerry St. Pe’ Highway
Pascagoula, MS 39568
8350 Broad Street, Suite 1400
McLean, VA 22102
2451 Crystal Drive, Suite 1100
Arlington, VA 22202
