Summary
USS Bougainville (LHA-8) is an America-class amphibious assault ship currently under construction for the United States Navy.[9] She will be the second Navy ship to be named Bougainville.[10][4]
 Graphical depiction of USS Bougainville (LHA-8)
| |
| History | |
|---|---|
 United States | |
| Name | Bougainville |
| Namesake | Bougainville Campaign[4] |
| Awarded | 30 June 2016[2] |
| Builder | Huntington Ingalls Industries[2][6] |
| Laid down | 14 March 2019[3] |
| Launched | 6 October 2023[1] |
| Sponsored by | Ellyn Dunford |
| Christened | 2 December 2023 |
| Identification | Hull number: LHA-8 |
| Status | Under construction[5] |
| Badge |  |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type | America-class amphibious assault ship |
| Displacement | 44,971 long tons (45,693 t) |
| Length | 844 ft (257 m) |
| Beam | 106 ft (32 m) |
| Draft | 26 ft (7.9 m) (7.9 meters) |
| Propulsion | Two marine gas turbines, two shafts, 70,000 bhp (52,000 kW), two 5,000 hp (3,700 kW) auxiliary propulsion motors. |
| Speed | Over 22 knots (41 km/h; 25 mph) |
| Boats & landing craft carried | |
| Complement |
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| Sensors and processing systems | |
| Electronic warfare & decoys |
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| Armament |
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| Aircraft carried | |
Design edit
The design of Bougainville is based on USS Makin Island, which is an improved version of the Wasp-class amphibious assault ship. While Makin Island has a well deck, the earlier two Flight 0 America-class ships USS America and USS Tripoli were designed and built without a well deck to make space for aircraft and aviation fuel.[11] Bougainville will be the first Flight I America-class ship,[4] and as such will include a well deck.[2] The design of the Flight I America-class ships, including that of Bougainville, adopts a compromise, incorporating a slightly smaller aircraft hangar as well as smaller medical and other spaces to fit a small well deck for surface connector operations.[2][12] The island structure will also be modified to free up more room on the flight deck to accommodate maintenance of V-22s, compensating for some of the lost aircraft hangar space.[12]
Bougainville will be the first of her class built with a redesigned and stronger main deck; the earlier America-class vessels America and Tripoli each required retrofitting in order to handle the strain of daily F-35B Lightning II flight operations.[13] In addition, Bougainville will incorporate the AN/SPY-6 Enterprise Air Surveillance Radar (EASR) volume air search radar in lieu of the AN/SPS-48G air search radar in America and Tripoli.[7] The Gerald R. Ford-class aircraft carriers starting with John F. Kennedy and the planned LX(R)-class amphibious warfare ships will also have this radar.[14]
Construction and career edit
Bougainville is being built by Huntington Ingalls Industries at their shipyard in Pascagoula, Mississippi[6] and is expected to be delivered to the U.S. Navy in 2025.[4]
Bougainville officially started fabrication on 16 October 2018.[5] The ship was first laid down on 14 March 2019.[15]
On 30 June 2023 a fire in the ship's superstructure was reported, there were six minor injuries, and reportedly minimal damage to the ship. The fire is being investigated by the Navy and Ingalls Shipbuilding.[16]
The Bougainville was christened on Saturday, December 2, 2023, by the ship's sponsor Ellyn Dunford. [17]
References edit
- ^ "HII's Ingalls Shipbuilding Launches Amphibious Assault Ship Bougainville (LHA 8)". HII. Retrieved 10 October 2023.
- ^ a b c d Eckstein, Megan (30 June 2016). "Ingalls Wins LHA-8 Contract, NASSCO To Build 6 Fleet Oilers". USNI News. U.S. Naval Institute. Retrieved 25 July 2016.
- ^ "Ingalls Shipbuilding Authenticates Keel of America-class Amphibious Warship Bougainville (LHA 8)" (Press release). Huntington Ingalls Industries. 13 March 2019. Retrieved 13 March 2019.
- ^ a b c d Eckstein, Megan (9 November 2016). "Mabus Names LHA-8 After Bougainville Island Campaign in World War II". USNI News. U.S. Naval Institute. Retrieved 9 November 2016.
- ^ a b "Huntington Ingalls Industries Starts Fabrication of Amphibious Assault Ship Bougainville (LHA 8)". newsroom.huntingtoningalls.com. 16 October 2018. Retrieved 12 June 2021.
- ^ a b LaGrone, Sam (22 August 2016). "Raytheon Awarded $92M Navy Contract for Future Carrier, Big Deck AESA Radars". USNI News. U.S. Naval Institute. Retrieved 9 November 2016.
- ^ "LHA 6 (formerly LHA(R)) New Amphibious Assault Ship" (PDF). dote.osd.mil. Archived from the original (PDF) on 21 October 2013. Retrieved 12 June 2021.
- ^ "Bougainville (LHA 8)". Naval Vessel Register. United States Navy. 10 November 2016. Retrieved 30 December 2016.
- ^ "SECNAV names next Amphibious Assault Destroyer" (Press release). U.S. Department of Defense. 9 November 2016. Retrieved 9 November 2016.
- ^ GAO-09-326SP 'Defense Acquisitions: Assessments of Selected Weapon Programs', U.S. Government Accountability Office, 30 March 2009
- ^ a b Freedberg, Sydney J. Jr. (3 October 2012). "Navy's Newest, LHA-6, A Dead End For Amphibious Ships?". Retrieved 9 November 2016.
- ^ LaGrone, Sam (22 March 2016). "USS America Back to Sea After Completing 10-Months of Deck Strengthening for F-35s". USNI News. U.S. Naval Institute. Retrieved 25 July 2016.
- ^ "Navy C4ISR and Unmanned Systems". Sea Power 2016 Almanac. Navy League of the U.S. January 2016. p. 91. Archived from the original on 12 January 2016.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link) - ^ Industries, Huntington Ingalls. "Ingalls Shipbuilding Authenticates Keel of Bougainville (LHA 8)". Huntington Ingalls Newsroom. Retrieved 27 August 2021.
- ^ "Ingalls, Navy Investigating Fire in Superstructure of Future Big Deck USS Bougainville". USNI News. 30 June 2023. Retrieved 10 August 2023.
- ^ "Bougainville Ship christened at Ingalls Shipbuilding". WXXV News 25. 4 December 2023. Retrieved 24 March 2024.
- This article includes information collected from the Naval Vessel Register, which, as a U.S. government publication, is in the public domain. The entry can be found here.
External links edit
- Huntington Ingalls Shipbuilding: America-class of Amphibious Assault Ships