USS Wasp (LHD-1)

USS Wasp (LHD 1) is a U.S. Navy multipurpose amphibious assault ship. She is the tenth USN vessel to bear the name and was the flagship of the Second Fleet and the lead ship of her class. She was built by the Ingalls Shipbuilding division of Litton in Pascagoula, Mississippi. USS Wasp and her sister ships are the first specifically designed to accommodate new Landing Craft, Air Cushion (LCAC) for fast troop movement over the beach and Harrier II (AV-8B) Vertical/Short Take-Off and Landing (V/STOL) jets which provide close air support for the assault force. Wasp, which is 257 m with a beam of 32 m, also accommodates the full range of Navy and Marine Corps helicopters, conventional landing craft, and amphibious vehicles.

Since 2004, in a period when all the rest of the USN's flattops have been heavily tasked and often kept on lengthy deployments, the Wasp has never been on an extended deployment and the ship is currently assigned to JSF testing, for which it will not be needed again until the summer of 2013.

Specifications
To carry out its primary mission, USS Wasp has an assault support system that synchronizes the simultaneous horizontal and vertical flow of troops, cargo and vehicles throughout the ship. Two aircraft elevators service the hangar bay and flight deck. Six cargo elevators, each 4 by, are used to transport material and supplies from the 3000 m3 cargo holds throughout the ship to staging areas on the flight deck, hangar bay and vehicle storage area. Cargo is transferred to waiting landing craft docked within the ship's 12,000 ft2, 81 m well deck. Helicopters in the hangar bay or on the flight deck are cargo-loaded by forklift.

Wasp has medical and dental facilities capable of providing intensive medical assistance to 600 casualties, whether combat incurred or brought aboard ship during humanitarian missions. The corpsmen also provide routine medical/dental care to the crew and embarked personnel. Major medical facilities include four main and two emergency operating rooms, four dental operating rooms, x-ray rooms, a blood bank, laboratories, and patient wards. In addition, three battle dressing stations are located throughout the ship, as well as a casualty collecting area at the flight deck level. Medical elevators rapidly transfer casualties from the flight deck and hangar bay to the medical facilities.

For the comfort of the 1,075 crewmembers and 2,200 embarked troops, all manned spaces and berthing areas are individually heated and air conditioned. Berthing areas are subdivided to provide semi-private spaces without adversely affecting efficiency. Deck and wall coverings are decorative but also serviceable and easy to maintain. Messing areas facilitate rapid dining in a restaurant atmosphere. Onboard recreational facilities include a Library Multi-Media Resource Center with Internet access, a weight room,and satellite television capabilities.

USS Wasp's two steam propulsion plants — the largest currently in operation in the U.S. Navy — generate a total of 400 tons of steam per hour. The propulsion system develops 70,000 shaft horsepower (52 MW), powering the ship to speeds in excess of 22 knots (25.3 mph or 41 km/h). USS Wasp was built using more than 21,000 tons of steel, 400 tons of aluminum, 400 mi of electrical/electronic cables, 80 mi of piping and tubing of various types and sizes, and 10 mi of ventilation ducting. Wasp weighed more than 27,000 tons when moved onto the Ingalls floating dry-dock on 30 July 1987 for launch on 4 August 1987, becoming the largest man-made object rolled across land.

In 1996 ship was installed with Advanced combat direction system.

Ship's Coat of Arms
Dark blue and gold are the traditional colors of the US Navy. Blue alludes to the sea, the theater of Naval Operations. Gold is for excellence. The chevron, a traditional symbol for support, represents the amphibious assault mission of the ship. It resembles a wave move to shore and refers to the deployment of men, women and cargo. The wings highlight USS Wasp's aviation heritage and capabilities. The modern ship with crossed officers sword and enlisted cutlass adapted from the surface warfare emblems represents leadership, teamwork and the ship's mission in surface operations. The pile of a sharp pointed "V" shape is expressive of assault, combat readiness and victory. The wasp, with its well-developed wings and ability to administer painful stings, epitomizes quick striking power. The stars recall two of the previous ships named Wasp, CV-7 and CV-18, aircraft carriers that earned two and eight battle stars respectively for World War II service. The red disc or sun refers to World War II Japan and the Pacific Theater where these aircraft carriers saw heavy combat action. The tridents are symbolic of sea power and weaponry.

Fleet life
In February 1993, she left her port on an emergency deployment to Somalia to participate in the United Nations intervention: Operation Restore Hope. Joint Chiefs Chairman, Gen. Colin Powell landed on the ship that April for a discussion of military tactics taking place in and around Mogadishu. Following that, she assisted off the coast of Kuwait for another operation. She later made stops in Toulon, France and Rota, Spain, en route to her home port in Norfolk, Virginia.

In 1998, she won the Marjorie Sterrett Battleship Fund Award for the Atlantic Fleet.

Operation Enduring Freedom, Operation Iraqi Freedom
In February 2004, the USS Wasp set sail to take the Marines of 1/6 Marine Regiment and HMM-266 Rein to Afghanistan. They arrived at the end of March and offloaded the Marines. They then turned around and went back to the states to pick up the Marines from HMH-461 to take them to Djibouti. After offloading the HMH-461 in Djibouti, they picked up the Marines of HMM-266 Rein from Kuwait in August 2004, and returned to the coast of Norfolk, Virginia mid September 2004.

On 7 July 2006, Vice President Dick Cheney, visited the USS Wasp. He gave a speech honoring the efforts of the USS Nassau (LHA-4) Expeditionary Strike Group in Operation Iraqi Freedom. The Wasp was the principal attraction at Fleet Week 2007 and 2012 in New York City.

Current and other operations
In September 2007, the USS Wasp sailed to Nicaragua to offer help to the victims of Hurricane Felix.

USS Wasp was the first ship to deploy the V-22 Osprey, doing so in October 2007, by carrying VMM-263's ten MV-22B Ospreys to Iraq to participate in Operation Iraqi Freedom. The Wasp also served as the platform for the program's first Sea Trials in December 1990, involving the third and fourth Osprey prototypes.

On 4 October 2009, the USS Wasp deployed from its base at Norfolk Naval Station in Norfolk, Virginia on a three month voyage down the Atlantic coast, to the Caribbean as part of the Southern Partnership Station, amphibious with Destroyer Squadron 40 and an embarked security cooperation Marine Air-Ground Task Force. The 1,100 Sailors and 365 embarked Marines conducted operations and exercises in the U.S. 4th Fleet area of responsibility. The operation, called the Southern Partnership Station is part of "Partnership of the Americas" maritime strategy, which focuses on building interoperability and cooperation in the region to meet common challenges, specifically with matters involving the recent executive orders that United States President Barack Obama addressed on 22 January 2009 of the closing down of Guantanamo Bay detention camp in Cuba. The camp which holds hundreds of prisoners suspected of international terrorism is scheduled to close within a year.

In mid-October 2009, The USS Wasp set anchor at the Guantanamo Bay Naval Base in Cuba where the United States Marines that were on board, were assigned to training status for approx 3 months while the USS Wasp went underway.

Since Cuba, the USS Wasp has not docked in Jamaica, contrary to rumors, but has practiced further operations and exercises throughout the Caribbean. USS Wasp returned to Norfolk Naval Station on 22 December 2009.

On 29 June 2010, USS Wasp was one of the 18 international vessels taking part in the 100th anniversary celebrations of the Canadian Navy in Halifax, Nova Scotia. The Canadian and international warships were reviewed by Queen Elizabeth II, the Duke of Edinburgh, and Prime Minister Stephen Harper.

In 2011 the Wasp was modified for F-35B testing, including replacing a Sea Sparrow launcher with monitoring equipment. She returned to sea on 7 July 2011.

On 3 October 2011 the Wasp had its first F-35B land vertically on her decks during trials. On 5 October 2011 the Wasp successfully launched its first F-35B.

On 30 January 2012 the Wasp set sail for operation Bold Alligator, the largest amphibious exercise conducted by U.S. forces in the last decade and since it is based on real-world situations, the exercise will run in real time. The exercise took place 30 Jan. to 12 Feb. 2012 afloat and ashore in and around Virginia and North Carolina.

In July 2012 Wasp visited Boston for Fleet Week 2012 and Fourth of July festivities.

On 30 October 2012, the Wasp was sent towards the Hurricane Sandy impact area in case the USN was needed to support the disaster relief efforts.