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General Characteristics Crew List Memorabilia Accidents aboard the Ship About the Name "Oak Hill" Image Gallery to end of page |  |
USS OAK HILL is the third HARPERS FERRY class Dock Landing Ship and the second ship in the Navy to bear the name.
| General Characteristics: | Keel laid: 1992 |
| Commissioned: June 8, 1996 | |
| Builder: Avondale Industries, New Orleans, Louisiana | |
| Propulsion system: four 16 cylinder Colt-Pielstick Diesel Engines | |
| Propellers: two | |
| Length: 610 feet (186 meters) | |
| Beam: 84 feet (25.6 meters) | |
| Draft: 20 feet (6 meters) | |
| Displacement: approx. 16,500 tons full load | |
| Speed: 22 knots | |
| Well deck capacity: two LCAC or one LCU or four LCM-8 or nine LCM-6 or 15 amphibious assault vehicles (AAV) | |
| Aircraft: none, but two landing spots allow for operation of aircraft as large as the CH-53E | |
| Crew: Ship: 24 officers, 328 enlisted | |
| Marine Detachment: 504 Marines | |
| Armament: two 20mm Phalanx CIWS, two Mk-38 Machine Guns, six .50 Machine Guns, two Rolling Airframe Missile Systems | |
| Cost: about $135 million | |
| Homeport: Little Creek, VA |
back to top go to the end of the pageCrew List:
This section contains the names of sailors who served aboard USS OAK HILL. It is no official listing but contains the names of sailors who submitted their information.
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Accidents aboard USS OAK HILL:
| Date | Where | Events |
|---|---|---|
| February 19, 2000 | off Morehead City, N.C. | The Norfolk-based dock landing ship OAK HILL ran aground and spent nearly eight hours on a mud bank off Morehead City, N.C., before tugs and a rising tide freed it. The ship sustained no significant damage and was allowed to continue to its overseas deployment. Its commanding officer has remained in command. |
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About the Ship’s Name:
USS OAK HILL honors the residence of the fifth President of the United States, James Monroe.
Oak Hill, located in Loudon County, Virginia, was constructed in 1820-1823 with the assistance of James Hoban, Irish architect of the white House and the protege of Thomas Jefferson. It is a brick mansion that stands at the head of an avenue of trees. The simple interior is ornamented by two very handsome mantels sent by the Marquis de Lafayette from Europe. Incidentally, Lafyette stayed at Oak Hill during his triumphal tour of the United States.
Monroe spent much time at Oak Hill making trips to and from the Capitol on horseback and carrying state papers in his saddle bags. While at Oak Hill, he penned the Monroe doctrine, a pronouncement he made in 1823 staking out the Western Hemisphere as an American hemisphere of influence. After retiring from public life in 1825, he remained at Oak Hill until Mrs. Monroe's death five years later, at which time he went to live with his daughter in New York.
Oak Hill passed out of the family in the years following Monroe's death in 1831. Confederate Colonel John W. Fairfax bought Oak Hill in 1854. His wife remained at the mansion to manage the plantation during the Civil War and was an unwilling hostess when Union General George G. Meade made it his headquarters during the Battle of Second Manassas.
Today it still remains as a private residence, the home of Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Delasmutt. The historic mansion is a fitting monument to an important part of American History and to President Monroe.
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USS OAK HILL Image Gallery:
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