USS Tarawa (LHA 1)

USS TARAWA is the lead ship of the Navy’s first class of amphibious assault ships able to incorporate the best design features and capabilities of several amphibious assault ships currently in service: the Amphibious Assault Ship (LPH), Amphibious Transport Dock (LPD), Amphibious Cargo Ship (LKA), and Dock Landing Ship (LSD). USS TARAWA is scheduled to be decommissioned on March 31, 2009.

General Characteristics:

Keel Laid: 1971

Launched: December 1, 1973

Commissioned: May 29, 1976

Builder: Ingalls Shipbuilding, West Bank, Pascagoula, Miss.

Propulsion system: two boilers, two geared steam turbines

Propellers: two

Aircraft elevators: two

Length: 833,34 feet (254 meters)

Flight Deck Width: 132,2 feet (40.3 meters)

Beam: 106,6 feet (32.5 meters)

Draft: 26,25 feet (8 meters)

Displacement: approx. 39,300 tons full load

Speed: 24 knots

Aircraft: (depends upon mission)

6 AV-8B Harrier attack planes	or	6 AV-8B Harrier attack planes
4 AH-1W Super Cobra attack helicopters		12 CH-46 Sea Knight helicopters
12 CH-46 Sea Knight helicopters		9 CH-53 Sea Stallion helicopters
9 CH-53 Sea Stallion helicopters
4 UH-1N Huey helicopters

Crew: Ship: 82 officers, 882 enlisted Marine Detachment: 1,900+

Armament: two Rolling Airframe Missile Systems (RAM), four 25mm Mk 38 Gun Mounts, two Phalanx CIWS, five .50 Cal. Mounts

Homeport: San Diego, CA

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Crew List:

This section contains the names of sailors who served aboard USS TARAWA. It is no official listing but contains the names of sailors who submitted their information.

Click here to view the list.

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Click here to see which USS TARAWA memorabilia are currently for sale on ebay.

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Accidents aboard USS TARAWA:

Date	Where	Events
1998	Naval Station San Diego, Ca., Pier 13	USS TARAWA overloaded pier cleats at NAVSTA San Diego Pier 13 due to overloading as the tide rose (also pier fittings were undersized). Damage was $200,000.
July 7, 2003	560 miles northeast of Hawaii	A Marine assigned to the 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit is safely recovered by a CH-46 helicopter after falling overboard. The Marine had gone overboard at 11 p.m. (local time) and was rescued 75 minutes later.

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Notes of Interest:

USS TARAWA can ballast 12,000 tons of seawater for trimming the ship to receive and discharge landing craft from the well deck.
USS TARAWA has a 900 horsepower bow thruster for lateral movement at low speeds that can move the bow with 20,000 lbs. of force - equivalent to half the pulling power of a diesel-electric locomotive.
USS TARAWA has a 300 bed hospital, four medical operating rooms, and three dental operating rooms.
USS TARAWA has 1,200 tons of air conditioning equipment - sufficient to environmentally control a 42 story office building or 500 average size homes.
USS TARAWA has an electrical power subsystem developing 14,000 kilowatts to provide electrical power for the ship - adequate electrical power to light 11,500 homes for 50,000 people.
USS TARAWA has two boilers - the largest ever manufactured for the United States Navy. They can generate a total of 400 tons of steam per hour, and develop 140,000 HP - equivalent to the horsepower of 700 average automobiles.
USS TARAWA has 9 elevators and two horizontal conveyors - more than most major department stores.

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USS TARAWA Patch Gallery: