Whidbey Island-Class Dock Landing Ship
The Whidbey Island class dock landing ship is a dock landing ship of the United States Navy. Introduced to fleet service in 1985, this class of ship features a massive well deck for the transport of four LCAC hovercraft for landing Marines.
All ships of the class are scheduled to undergo a midlife upgrade over the next five years 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.
Major elements of the upgrade package include diesel engine improvements, fuel and maintenance savings systems, engineering control systems, increased air conditioning and chill water capacity, and replacement of air compressors. The ships also replaced steam systems with all-electric functionality that will decrease maintenance effort and expense.
| Builders: | Lockheed Shipbuilding and Construction Company |
| Operators: |
 United States Navy |
| Preceded by: | Anchorage class |
| Succeeded by: | Harpers Ferry class |
| Cost: | $250m |
| In commission: | 1985 - Present |
| Planned: | 8 |
| Completed: | 8 |
| Active: | 8 |
| General characteristics | |
|---|---|
| Displacement: | 16,100 tons |
| Length: | 609 ft (186 m) |
| Beam: | 84 ft (26 m) |
| Draft: | 19 ft 6 in (5.0 m) |
| Propulsion: | 4 Colt Industries, 16-cylinder diesel engines, 2 shafts, 33,000 shp (25 MW) |
| Speed: | 20+ knots (37+ km/h) |
| Boats & landing craft carried: |
4 LCACs or 21 LCM-6s or up to 36 Amphibious Assault Vehicles AAV. |
| Capacity: | on deck: one LCM-6, two LCPL and one LCVP |
| Complement: |
22 officers, 391 enlisted Marine detachment: 500 |
| Armament: | 2 × 25 mm Mk 38 cannons 2 × 20 mm Phalanx CIWS mounts 1 / 2 × Rolling Airframe Missile 6 × .50 caliber M2HB machine guns |
| Aviation facilities: | Large helicopter platform aft, no hangar |
Ships
| Ship | Hull No. | Builder | Commissioned | Home Port | NVR Page |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Whidbey Island | LSD-41 | Lockheed, Seattle | 1985 | Little Creek, Virginia | |
| Germantown | LSD-42 | Lockheed, Seattle | 1986 | Sasebo, Japan | |
| Fort McHenry | LSD-43 | Lockheed, Seattle | 1987 | Little Creek, Virginia | |
| Gunston Hall | LSD-44 | Avondale, New Orleans | 1989 | Little Creek, Virginia | |
| Comstock | LSD-45 | Avondale, New Orleans | 1990 | San Diego, California | |
| Tortuga | LSD-46 | Avondale, New Orleans | 1990 | Sasebo, Japan | |
| Rushmore | LSD-47 | Avondale, New Orleans | 1991 | San Diego, California | |
| Ashland | LSD-48 | Avondale, New Orleans | 1992 | Little Creek, Virginia |
The Whidbey Island (LSD 41) and Tortuga (LSD 46) are to be decommissioned during the FYDP 2013-2018 and the remaining ships of the class are to be retired before the end of their service lives.
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