Harpers Ferry-class dock landing ship

The Harpers Ferry class of the United States Navy is a class of dock landing ships completed in the early 1990s. Modified from the Whidbey Island class, the design sacrifices landing craft capacity for more cargo space, making it closer to an amphibious transport dock type, but was not designated as such. Externally, the two classes can be distinguished by the positions of weapons: The Harpers Ferry class has the Phalanx CIWS mounted forward, and the RAM launcher on top of the bridge, while the Whidbey Island has the opposite arrangement.

USS Carter Hall
Class overview
Name: Harpers Ferry class
Builders: Avondale Shipyard
Operators:  United States Navy
Preceded by: Whidbey Island class
Succeeded by: LX(R) class
Cost: $324.2 million [1]
In commission: 1995–present
Planned: 4
Completed: 4
Active: 4
General characteristics
Type: Dock landing ship
Displacement: 15,939 tons
Length: 609 ft 7 in (185.8 m)
Beam: 84 ft (26 m)
Draft: 19 ft 6 in (5.94 m)
Propulsion: Four Colt Pielstick, 16-cylinder diesels twin turbo, two shafts, 33,000 shp (25,000 kW)
Speed: 24.5 kn (45.4 km/h; 28.2 mph)
Boats & landing
craft carried:		 2 LCACs[2]
Complement: 22 officers, 391 enlisted
Armament:

As of 2009, all ships of the class are scheduled to undergo a midlife upgrade to ensure they remain in service through 2038. The ships will be upgraded each year through 2013, and the last ship will be modernized in 2014. Ships homeported on the East Coast will undergo upgrades at Metro Machine Corp., and ships based on the West Coast will receive upgrades at General Dynamics National Steel and Shipbuilding Company in San Diego.[3]

Major elements of the upgrade package include diesel engine improvements, fuel and maintenance savings systems, engineering control systems, increased air conditioning/chill water capacity, and replacement of air compressors. The ships also replaced steam systems with all-electric functionality that will decrease maintenance.[3]

Harpers Ferry–class ships
Ship Name Hull No. Builder Laid Down Launched Commissioned Homeport
Harpers Ferry LSD-49 Avondale Shipyard 15 April 1991 16 January 1993 7 January 1995 Naval Base San Diego (CA)
Carter Hall LSD-50 11 November 1991 2 October 1993 30 September 1995 Naval Amphibious Base Little Creek (VA)
Oak Hill LSD-51 21 September 1992 11 June 1994 8 June 1996 Naval Amphibious Base Little Creek (VA)
Pearl Harbor LSD-52 27 January 1995 24 February 1996 30 May 1998 Naval Base San Diego (CA)

Sources
  1. "United States Navy fact file: Dock Landing Ship - LSD". Navy News Service. 2010-09-12. Retrieved 2011-03-02.
  2. "United States Navy fact file: Dock Landing Ship - LSD". Navy News Service. 2010-09-12. Retrieved 2011-03-02.
  3. "USS Gunston Hall Completes Sea Trials". Navy News Service. 29 May 2009. Retrieved 30 May 2009.
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