Amphibious Rump
This view shows the stern of the US Navy's USS Bataan (LHD-5), a 41,150-tonne Wasp-class amphibious assault ship, whilst she was pierside at Norfolk Naval Station, Virginia, in 2012. Her location on the map may be out by a pier or two. An interesting array of defensive weapon systems can be seen arrayed across her stern. From left to right (port to starboard) two decks below the flight-deck are a 20mm Phalanx close-in weapon system, a 25mm Bushmaster cannon on the centreline below a RIM-162 Enhanced Sea Sparrow System launcher one deck above, and finally, on the starboard quarter, a RIM-116 Rolling Airframe Missile system.
Bataan can support amphibious landings in two forms: by landing craft, or by helicopter. In the 81x15.2m well deck, it can carry three Landing Craft Air Cushion (LCAC), 12 Landing Craft Mechanised (LCM), or 40 amphibious assault vehicles (AAVs), with another 21 AAVs on the vehicle deck. The flight deck has nine helicopter landing spots, and can operate helicopters as large as the Sikorsky CH-53 Sea Stallion and Boeing Vertol CH-46 Sea Knight. Two aircraft elevators move aircraft between the flight deck and the hangar; in order to transit the Panama Canal, these elevators need to be folded in.
The size of the air group varies depending on the operation: a standard air group used to consist of six BAe Harriers and four Bell AH-1W SuperCobras for attack and support, 12 Sea Knights and four Sea Stallions for transport, and three or four Bell UH-1N Iroquois utility helicopters. For a full assault, the air group could be maxed out at 42 Sea Knights, while a Wasp operating in the sea control or 'Harrier carrier' configuration carries 20 Harriers (though some ships of the class have operated as many as 24), supported by six Sikorsky SH-60 Seahawk helicopters for anti-submarine warfare. By and large, the CH-46 has been replaced by the Bell Boeing MV-22 Osprey on a squadron-by-squadron basis, amongst active forces, but the anticipated full conversion within all aviation combat elements - primarily the Reserves - is not due until 2019.
In 2009, Bataan was the first US Navy ship to host a full operational squadron of 10 Ospreys, when VMM-263 deployed aboard her.
She is capable of hosting 1,894 personnel of the US Marine Corps; almost the full strength of a Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU) which contains around 2,200 Marines and sailors. Bataan can transport up to 2,860m2 of cargo, and another 1,858m2 is allocated for the MEU's vehicles, which typically consist of five M1 Abrams battle tanks, up to 25 AAVs, eight M198 155mm howitzers, 68 trucks, and up to 12 other support vehicles. An internal monorail is used to shift cargo from the cargo holds to the well deck.
Bataan has a hospital with 64 patient beds and six operating rooms. An additional 536 beds can be set up in an "Overflow Casualty Ward" as needed. In this role, Bataan was deployed to New York City immediately after the 11 September 2001 terrorist attack, but returned to Norfolk after it became clear that the numbers of injured were within the city's own capabilities. In 2010 she was again deployed in this role, this time for almost three months, to Haiti following a devastating earthquake.
Amphibious Rump
This view shows the stern of the US Navy's USS Bataan (LHD-5), a 41,150-tonne Wasp-class amphibious assault ship, whilst she was pierside at Norfolk Naval Station, Virginia, in 2012. Her location on the map may be out by a pier or two. An interesting array of defensive weapon systems can be seen arrayed across her stern. From left to right (port to starboard) two decks below the flight-deck are a 20mm Phalanx close-in weapon system, a 25mm Bushmaster cannon on the centreline below a RIM-162 Enhanced Sea Sparrow System launcher one deck above, and finally, on the starboard quarter, a RIM-116 Rolling Airframe Missile system.
Bataan can support amphibious landings in two forms: by landing craft, or by helicopter. In the 81x15.2m well deck, it can carry three Landing Craft Air Cushion (LCAC), 12 Landing Craft Mechanised (LCM), or 40 amphibious assault vehicles (AAVs), with another 21 AAVs on the vehicle deck. The flight deck has nine helicopter landing spots, and can operate helicopters as large as the Sikorsky CH-53 Sea Stallion and Boeing Vertol CH-46 Sea Knight. Two aircraft elevators move aircraft between the flight deck and the hangar; in order to transit the Panama Canal, these elevators need to be folded in.
The size of the air group varies depending on the operation: a standard air group used to consist of six BAe Harriers and four Bell AH-1W SuperCobras for attack and support, 12 Sea Knights and four Sea Stallions for transport, and three or four Bell UH-1N Iroquois utility helicopters. For a full assault, the air group could be maxed out at 42 Sea Knights, while a Wasp operating in the sea control or 'Harrier carrier' configuration carries 20 Harriers (though some ships of the class have operated as many as 24), supported by six Sikorsky SH-60 Seahawk helicopters for anti-submarine warfare. By and large, the CH-46 has been replaced by the Bell Boeing MV-22 Osprey on a squadron-by-squadron basis, amongst active forces, but the anticipated full conversion within all aviation combat elements - primarily the Reserves - is not due until 2019.
In 2009, Bataan was the first US Navy ship to host a full operational squadron of 10 Ospreys, when VMM-263 deployed aboard her.
She is capable of hosting 1,894 personnel of the US Marine Corps; almost the full strength of a Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU) which contains around 2,200 Marines and sailors. Bataan can transport up to 2,860m2 of cargo, and another 1,858m2 is allocated for the MEU's vehicles, which typically consist of five M1 Abrams battle tanks, up to 25 AAVs, eight M198 155mm howitzers, 68 trucks, and up to 12 other support vehicles. An internal monorail is used to shift cargo from the cargo holds to the well deck.
Bataan has a hospital with 64 patient beds and six operating rooms. An additional 536 beds can be set up in an "Overflow Casualty Ward" as needed. In this role, Bataan was deployed to New York City immediately after the 11 September 2001 terrorist attack, but returned to Norfolk after it became clear that the numbers of injured were within the city's own capabilities. In 2010 she was again deployed in this role, this time for almost three months, to Haiti following a devastating earthquake.