USS Nassau (LHA-4)
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USS Nassau in the Atlantic Ocean in November 2007
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| History | |
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 United States
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| Name: | USS Nassau |
| Namesake: | Battle of Nassau |
| Awarded: | 6 November 1970 |
| Builder: | Ingalls Shipbuilding |
| Laid down: | 13 August 1973 |
| Launched: | 21 January 1978 |
| Commissioned: | 28 July 1979 |
| Decommissioned: | 31 March 2011 |
| Homeport: | Naval Station Norfolk |
| Motto: | "First from the Sea" |
| Nickname(s): | LHA-4 = LynnHaven Anchorage 4ever; LHA = Leaving Home Again; LHA = Largest Hotel Afloat; LHA = Largest Hospital Afloat; NASSAU = Never A Set Schedule Always Underway; Big Nasty |
| Honors and awards: |
Awarded first Battle "E" November 1993 ? |
| Status: | Decommissioned |
| Badge: |  |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type: | Tarawa-class amphibious assault ship |
| Tonnage: | 25,884 tons |
| Displacement: | 39,300 tons |
| Length: | 833.34 ft (254.00 m) |
| Beam: | 106.6 ft (32.5 m) |
| Draft: | 26.25 ft (8.00 m) |
| Propulsion: | Steam turbine |
| Speed: | 24 knots (44 km/h; 28 mph)) |
| Troops: | 1,900+ Marines |
| Complement: | 82 officers, 882 enlisted men |
| Armament: |
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| Aircraft carried: | |
USS Nassau (LHA-4) is a decommissioned Tarawa-class amphibious assault ship. When active, she was capable of transporting more than 3,000 United States Navy and United States Marine Corps personnel. Ingalls Shipbuilding in Pascagoula, Mississippi, laid the ship's keel on 13 August 1973; she was commissioned on 28 July 1979. She was decommissioned on 31 March 2011.
Nassau had 1,400 compartments, nine elevators and two horizontal conveyors. She also had two boilers – the largest ever manufactured for the United States Navy. They could generate 400 tons of steam per hour and develop 140,000 horsepower (100 MW). Nassau's electrical power subsystem creates 14 MW to provide electrical power for the ship. She had air conditioning equipment rated at a total of 1,500 tons (5.3 MW) and could ballast 12,000 tons of seawater for trimming the ship to receive and discharge landing craft from the well deck.
She was constructed with more than 20,000 tons of steel, 3,000 tons of aluminum, 400 miles (640 km) of cable and 80 miles (130 km) of pipe. She had a 900-horsepower (670 kW) bow thruster for lateral movement at low speeds that could move the bow with 20,000 pounds of force (90 kN)—equivalent to half the pulling power of a diesel railroad locomotive. She had been fitted with a 300-bed hospital, four medical and three dental operating rooms. Her cargo areas were capable of holding tanks, trucks, artillery and large warfare supply needs.
USS Nassau was commissioned at Pascagoula, Mississippi on 28 July 1979. In October she deployed to reinforce Guantanamo base and earned the Navy Meritorious Unit Commendation just 70 days after commissioning.
In April 1981 the ship was deployed to Mediterranean to meet US commitment to have two carriers there. She operated for 10 consecutive weeks as an aircraft carrier, reinforcing Sixth Fleet carrier USS Saratoga. Marine Attack Squadrons 231 and 542 formed Marine Air Group 32, equipped with AV-8A planes. It was the first time US Navy operated an amphibious ship as Harrier carrier. Nassau was deployed to Beirut with the 24th Marine Amphibious Unit in February 1984, less than four months after the Beirut barracks bombing.
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Wikipedia