USS Okinawa (LPH-3)
- 2 × 2.0 cm phalanx
- 3 × AH- 1 Cobra
- 20 x CH -46 Sea Knight
- 10 x CH -53 Sea Stallion
- 3 × UH -1 Iroquois
The USS Okinawa ( LPH -3 ) was a helicopter carrier Iwo Jima class of the United States Navy. She was the second ship, which was named after the Battle of Okinawa in the Second World War.
Technology
The length over all was 184 m, the maximum width of 31.7 m. She pushed up to 18,474 tn.l. with a draft of 7.9 m.
2 as a drive Babcock vapor pressure boiler and a steam turbine having Westinghouse transmission were used. The power was 16,910 kW ( 22,000 WPS) and allowed a speed of 23 knots.
The crew consisted of 650 men, came to about 1,750 U.S. Marines that could be embarked with their equipment. If necessary, the Okinawa could hold up to 300 wounded in hospital board.
On board up to 36 helicopters of the USMC stationed, mostly about 30 transport helicopters (CH- 46 Sea Knight, CH -53 Sea Stallion, UH -1 Iroquois ) and some attack helicopters (AH- 1 Cobra ) to support the landing troops.
History
The keel was laid on 1 April 1960 at Philadelphia Naval Shipyard in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to the 15th Anniversary of the start of the Battle of Okinawa. The launch took place on 19 August 1961. On April 14, 1962, Okinawa was put into service with the U.S. Navy. The first years of service spent in the Caribbean and European waters, 1967, she was moved to the coast of Vietnam and served as a base for operations of the Marines.
On April 4, 1968, the Okinawa salvage vessel for the unmanned Apollo 6 was test flight. Three years later, on August 7, 1971, the Apollo 15 capsule of helicopters of Okinawa was salvaged.
In April 1975, Okinawa was involved during Operation Frequent Wind in the evacuation of American citizens from Saigon.
On 17 December 1992, Okinawa was decommissioned and stricken from the Navy ship registers. On 6 June 2002 she was sunk off the coast of Southern California as part of a maneuver by the submarine USS Portsmouth after they had served in the previous days as a target for bombs and missiles.