 USS Saipan during Expeditionary Strike Group integration training in 2004
| |
| Class overview | |
|---|---|
| Name | Tarawa class |
| Builders | Ingalls Shipbuilding |
| Operators |  United States Navy |
| Preceded by | Iwo Jima class |
| Succeeded by | Wasp class |
| Built | 15 November 1971 – 3 May 1980 |
| In commission | 29 May 1976 – 31 March 2015 |
| Planned | 9 |
| Completed | 5 |
| Cancelled | 4 |
| Retired | 5 |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type | Amphibious assault ship/LHA |
| Displacement | 39,967 tonnes (39,336 long tons; 44,056 short tons) full load |
| Length | 834 feet (254 m) |
| Beam | 131.9 feet (40.2 m) |
| Draft | 25.9 feet (7.9 m) |
| Propulsion |
|
| Speed | 24 knots (44 km/h; 28 mph) |
| Range | 10,000 nautical miles (19,000 km; 12,000 mi) at 20 knots (37 km/h; 23 mph) |
| Boats & landing craft carried | |
| Troops | 1,703 |
| Complement | 56 officers, 874 sailors (1998) |
| Armament |
|
| Aircraft carried |
|
| Aviation facilities | 820-by-118.1-foot (249.9 by 36.0 m) flight deck with 2 aircraft lifts |
The Tarawa class is a ship class of Landing Helicopter Assault (LHA) type amphibious assault ships operated by the United States Navy (USN). Five ships were built by Ingalls Shipbuilding between 1971 and 1980; another four ships were planned, but later canceled; instead they were joined by the Wasp-class amphibious assault ships.
As of March 2015[update], all vessels had been decommissioned. The Tarawa class were replaced by the America-class amphibious assault ships from 2014 onward while the Wasp class remains in service.