Huntington Ingalls Industries’ (HII) Ingalls Shipbuilding division launched the amphibious assault ship USS Tripoli (LHA-7) from its floating dry dock on Monday, May 1. The launch was accomplished 13 weeks ahead of the original construction schedule.

«Ingalls has been the Navy’s large-deck amphibia builder since the early 1970s», said Ingalls Shipbuilding President Brian Cuccias. «Our vast knowledge and experience in the design and construction of these great ships is paying dividends – not only for the American taxpayer, but also for the Navy-Marine Corps team and the sailors and Marines who will be operating these important warships in defense of our country».

Tripoli, the second of the America-class amphibious assault ships, was translated to the company’s floating dry dock on April 8 and, after some prep work on the ship’s hull, was launched on Saturday, April 29. The next ship in the class, USS Bougainville (LHA-8), is scheduled to start construction in late 2018.

Ingalls is currently the sole builder of large-deck amphibious ships for the U.S. Navy. The shipyard delivered its first amphibious assault ship, the Iwo Jima-class USS Tripoli (LPH-10), in 1966. Ingalls has since built five Tarawa-class (LHA-1) ships, eight Wasp-class (LHD-1) ships and the first in a new class of ships, USS America (LHA-6).

 

General Characteristics

Builder	Huntington Ingalls Industries Inc., Ingalls Operations, Pascagoula, Mississippi
Date Deployed	Delivered to the fleet in on April 10, 2014
Propulsion	Two marine gas turbines, two shafts, 70,000 total brake horsepower/52,199 kW, two 5,000 horsepower/3,728 kW auxiliary propulsion motors
Length	844 feet/257.3 m
Beam	106 feet/32.3 m
Displacement	Approximately 43,745 long tons full load/44,449 metric tons
Speed	20+ knots/23+ mph/37+ km/h
Crew	1,059 (65 officers)
Load	1,687 troops (plus 184 surge)
Armament	2 RAM (Rolling Airframe Missile) launchers
	2 NATO Sea Sparrow launchers with ESSM (Evolved Sea Sparrow Missile)
	2 20-mm Phalanx CIWS (Close-In Weapon System) mounts
	7 twin 12,7-mm/.50 cal. machine guns
Aircraft	9 F-35B Lightning II Joint Strike Fighters (JSF) STOVL (Short Take-Off and Vertical Landing) aircraft
	4 AH-1Z Viper attack helicopters
	4 CH-53E Super Stallion helicopters
	12 MV-22B Osprey VTOL (Vertical Take-Off and Landing) tiltrotors
	2 MH-60S Sea Hawk Search and Rescue (SAR) helicopters
	UH-1Y Huey helicopters

 

Ships

Ship	Laid down	Launched	Commissioned	Homeport
USS America (LHA-6)	07-17-2009	06-04-2012	10-11-2014	San Diego, California
USS Tripoli (LHA-7)	06-22-2014	05-01-2017
USS Bougainville (LHA-8)

USS Tripoli (LHA-7) Launched at Ingalls Shipbuilding