USS Makin Island (LHD-8)
41 772 tonnes
257.2 meters
33.5 meters
8.2 meters
64 officers, 994 sailors, up to 1894 troops
2 propellers, 2 gas turbines driven; 70,000 shaft horsepower
20 nodes
2 Starter RAM, 2 starters Sea Sparrow, various gun
The USS Makin Iceland (LHD -8) is an amphibious assault ship of the Wasp class. The naming of the Makin Iceland is seen as a reminder of the Makin Atoll. An elite unit of the U.S. Marine Corps, the Marine Raiders, which took Atoll on 17 August 1942, 220 men a.
Technology
The Makin Iceland is the last ship of her class, her beyond changes were beyond the normal advancements made. In particular, the transition to a gas turbine engine ( as opposed to the usual oil-fired boiler / steam turbine power plant ) have made extensive changes to the deckhouse made necessary to accommodate the large volume increases and Abluftschäfte of the two gas turbines.
History
The Makin Iceland was since 22 May 2003 in Pascagoula on the Mississippi River Shipyard Ingalls Shipbuilding located in the building. 2006, the ship ran from the pile and was baptized. Godmother was Mrs. Silke Hagee, wife of the former Commandant of the Marine Corps, Gen. Michael W. Hagee. Initially, they should be handed over to the United States Navy in November 2008, according to this schedule should be followed in the spring of 2009, the entry into service. In April 2008, shipyard workers presented but fixed problems with the wiring of electrical installations. The removal took about six months to complete and drew a total cost of $ 326 million after that went by Northrop Grumman as the owner of Ingalls. In early 2009 completed the Makin Iceland, the yard test drives, in April, the Navy took off the ship.
The commissioning took place on 24 October 2009 in San Diego, which is also the home port of the Makin Iceland. After sea trials took place until July 2010 an overhaul period in the General Dynamics NASSCO shipyard in San Diego instead, have been fixed in the detected problems. In tests at the pier in San Diego in August 2010, the Navy personnel discovered problems with the transmission gears of the drive system. Because of these, the last manufacturer test drives had to be postponed; the repairs lasted until mid-September. The end of October took place the last test drives of the manufacturer, at the same time checked the Navy 's Board of Inspection and Survey, whether the ship is ready for use. This four-day inspection passed the ship and crew.
In November 2011, the Makin Iceland moved for the first time in a combat group with USS Pearl Harbor ( LSD 52) and USS New Orleans (LPD -18) in the Pacific.