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Naval Forces News - USA |
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USS America (LHA 6) amphibious assault ship set sail for Builder's Trials |
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The newest amphibious assault ship America (LHA 6) set sail this morning
for builder's trials. The ship was christened Oct. 20 2012 at a ceremony
in Pascagoula, Miss. The 844-foot ship will be a flexible, multi-mission
platform necessary to quickly respond to incidents worldwide and provide
forward presence and project power as part of joint, interagency, and
multinational maritime expeditionary forces.
America also marks the first of the Navy's newest class of amphibious
assault ships replacing the Tawara class. It is considered to be the
next generation "big-deck" amphibious ship. The new ship will
be more capable to support current and future aircraft such as the tilt-rotor
MV-22 Osprey and Joint Strike Fighter. |
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USS
America (LHA 6) amphibious assault ship, first ship of the class, set
sail for Builder's Trials
Picture: by Lance Davis / HII
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As an amphibious ship, its mission will include
embarking, transporting, controlling, inserting, sustaining and extracting
elements of a marine air-ground task force, and support forces by helicopters
and tilt-rotor aircraft.
This is the fourth ship in Navy history to be named America. The first
was a 74-gun ship-of-of-the-line that was used by the Continental Navy
that was then presented to the king of France as a gift in appreciation
for his country's support to the new nation. The preceding America was
a Kitty-Hawk class aircraft carrier that played key roles between the
Vietnam War and Operation Desert Storm.
Ingalls Shipbuilding in Pascagoula, Miss., laid the keel in July 2009.
The USS America will be homeported in San Diego.
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