Iwo Jima-class amphibious assault ship

USS Iwo Jima (LPH-2)
Class overview
Builders:	Puget Sound Naval Shipyard Philadelphia Naval Shipyard Ingalls Shipbuilding
Operators:	United States Navy
Preceded by:	Essex class (some ships converted)
Succeeded by:	Tarawa class
In commission:	1961–2002
Completed:	7
Active:	0
Laid up:	1
Retired:	7
General characteristics
Type:	Amphibious Assault Ship (LPH)
Displacement:	18,474 tons (full) 11,000 tons (light)
Length:	592 ft (180 m)
Beam:	84 ft (26 m)
Draft:	27 ft (8.2 m)
Propulsion:	2 × 600 psi (4.1 MPa) boilers, one geared steam turbine, one shaft, 22,000 shaft horsepower (16 MW)
Speed:	22 knots (41 km/h)
Troops:	2,157
Complement:	667
Armament:	Initially: 4 × 3-inch (76 mm) / 50 caliber AA guns Later: 2 × 3-inch (76 mm) / 50 caliber AA guns, 8 cell Sea Sparrow BPDMS launchers, 2 × Phalanx CIWS
Aviation facilities:	25 helicopters or AV-8 Harriers Flight deck width: 105 ft (32 m)

The Iwo Jima-class amphibious assault ships of the United States Navy were the first amphibious assault ships designed and built as dedicated helicopter carriers, capable of operating up to 20 helicopters to carry up to 1,800 marines ashore. They were named for battles featuring the United States Marine Corps, starting with the Battle of Iwo Jima. The first ship of the class was commissioned in 1961, and the last was decommissioned in 2002. Because these ships bore the hull classification of LPH they have often been referred to as "Landing Platform, Helicopter".

Ships of the class:

• USS Iwo Jima (LPH-2)
• USS Okinawa (LPH-3)
• USS Guadalcanal (LPH-7)
• USS Guam (LPH-9)
• USS Tripoli (LPH-10)
• USS New Orleans (LPH-11)
• USS Inchon (LPH-12)

Popular culture

One of the Iwo Jima class ships served as the fieldsite in Edwin Hutchins's classic cognitive science study Cognition in the Wild. Although Hutchins does not mention the ship class by name, on p.7 he characterizes it as a 603-foot-long (184 m) amphibious helicopter carrier.

References

• hazegray.org: Iwo Jima-class amphibious assault ships