USS Belleau Wood (LHA-3)
USS Belleau Wood prepares to receive a Navy landing craft
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| History | |
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 United States
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| Name: | Belleau Wood |
| Namesake: | Battle of Belleau Wood |
| Ordered: | 15 November 1969 |
| Builder: | Ingalls Shipbuilding |
| Laid down: | 5 March 1973 |
| Launched: | 11 April 1977 |
| Commissioned: | 23 September 1978 |
| Decommissioned: | 28 October 2005 |
| Struck: | 28 October 2005 |
| Homeport: | San Diego, California |
| Fate: | Expended as a target, 13 July 2006 |
| Badge: |  |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type: | Tarawa-class amphibious assault ship |
| Displacement: | 40,000 tons |
| Length: | 820 ft (250 m) |
| Beam: | 106 ft (32 m) |
| Draft: | 26 ft (7.9 m) |
| Propulsion: | Steam turbine |
| Speed: | 24 knots (44 km/h; 28 mph) |
| Troops: | 2,000 Marines plus equipment |
| Complement: | 930 officers and sailors |
| Armament: |
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| Aircraft carried: | 30 helicopters and Harriers |
USS Belleau Wood (LHA-3), nicknamed "Devil Dog", was the second ship named after the Battle of Belleau Wood in World War I. Her keel was laid down on 5 March 1973 at Pascagoula, Mississippi, by Ingalls Shipbuilding. She was launched on 11 April 1977, and commissioned on 23 September 1978, with Captain T.C. Steele in command.
Belleau Wood was the third of five ships in a new class (Tarawa class) of general-purpose amphibious assault ships and combined into one ship type the functions previously performed by four different types: the amphibious assault ship (LPH/Landing Platform Helicopter), the amphibious transport dock (LPD), the amphibious cargo ship (LKA), and the dock landing ship (LSD). She was capable of landing elements of a United States Marine Corps battalion landing team and their supporting equipment by landing craft, helicopters, or a combination of both.
Homeported in NS San Diego, California in October 1978, Belleau Wood participated in her first full-scale operation in 1979 off the coast of Hawaii. In early 1979, she reported to Long Beach Naval Shipyard in Long Beach, California for a one-year engine overhaul.
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