USS Iwo Jima (LHD-7)
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| Image:USS Iwo Jima;10080709.jpg Iwo Jima (LHD-7) pulls into pier 88 after sailing up the Hudson River to kick off Fleet Week 2002 in New York City, 22 May 2002. | |
| Career | Image:Dtomjack large.png |
|---|---|
| Ordered: | 28 February 1995 |
| Laid down: | 12 December 1997 |
| Launched: | 25 March 2001 |
| Commissioned: | 30 June 2001 |
| Decommissioned: | |
| Fate: | Active in service as of 2005. |
| Homeport: | Norfolk, Virginia |
| Struck: | |
| General Characteristics | |
| Displacement: | 40530 tons |
| Length: | 844 ft (257 m) |
| Beam: | 110 ft (34 m) |
| Draught: | 30 ft (9.1 m) |
| Propulsion: | Geared Steam Turbines |
| Speed: | 22 knots (41 km/h) |
| Range: | |
| Complement: | 73 Officers, 1009 Enlisted (with 1897 Marines embarked) |
| Armament: | Sea Sparrow Missiles, Rolling Airframe Missiles, Phalanx CIWS, 50 caliber (~12.7 mm) gun, 25 mm chain gun |
| Aircraft: | Mix of 30 helicopters, 6-8 AV/ 8B Harrier II |
| Motto: | Uncommon Valor |
USS Iwo Jima (LHD-7) is a Wasp-class amphibious assault ship.
Fabrication work for Iwo Jima began at Ingalls shipyard on 3 September 1996, and the ship's keel was laid on 12 December 1997. She was launched on 4 February 2000. USS Iwo Jima was christened by her sponsor, Mrs. Zandra Krulak, wife of General Charles C. Krulak, the former Commandant of the Marine Corps, in Pascagoula, Mississippi on 25 March 2000. The commissioning crew moved aboard in April of 2001, and made the ship's maiden voyage (accompanied by more than 2,000 World War II veterans—many of them survivors of the Battle of Iwo Jima) on 23 June 2001. She was commissioned a week later in Pensacola, Florida, on 30 June 2001.
Shortly thereafter, the ship and crew began an accelerated Inter Deployment Training Cycle, which tested virtually every system onboard in realistic combat conditions. Iwo Jima was also the first ship on the waterfront open to the public after the tragedy on September 11th.
Iwo Jima and the Marines of the 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU) deployed 4 March 2003 in support of Operation Enduring Freedom.
The ship's motto, "Uncommon Valor," is based on Fleet Admiral Chester W. Nimitz's words when he spoke eloquently of Sailors and Marines who fought at Iwo Jima: "Among the Americans who served on Iwo Island uncommon valor was a common virtue."
In 2004, Iwo Jima participated at the annual Fleet Week in New York City.
USS Iwo Jima currently serves as the 2nd Fleet flagship, based out of Norfolk, Virginia.
On August 31, 2005, Iwo Jima's Amphibious Ready Group made steam for the hurricane-stricken city of New Orleans.
See USS Iwo Jima for other US Navy ships of this name.
This article includes text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships.
External link
| Wasp-class amphibious assault ship |
| Wasp | Essex | Kearsarge | Boxer | Bataan | Bonhomme Richard | Iwo Jima | Makin Island |
| List of amphibious assault ships of the United States Navy |
