Harpers Ferry-class dock landing ship

The Harpers Ferry class of the United States Navy is a class of dock landing ships completed in the early 1990s. Modified from the Whidbey Island class, the design sacrifices landing craft capacity for more cargo space, making it closer to an amphibious transport dock type, but was not designated as such. Externally, the two classes can be distinguished by the positions of weapons: The Harpers Ferry class has the Phalanx CIWS mounted forward, and the RAM launcher on top of the bridge, while the Whidbey Island has the opposite arrangement.

USS Carter Hall
Class overview
Name	Harpers Ferry class
Builders	Avondale Shipyard
Operators	United States Navy
Preceded by	Whidbey Island class
Succeeded by	LX(R) class
Cost	$324.2 million [1]
In commission	1995–present
Planned	4
Completed	4
Active	4
General characteristics
Type	Dock landing ship
Displacement	15,939 tons
Length	609 ft 7 in (185.8 m)
Beam	84 ft (26 m)
Draft	19 ft 6 in (5.94 m)
Propulsion	Four Colt Pielstick, 16-cylinder diesels twin turbo, two shafts, 33,000 shp (25,000 kW)
Speed	24.5 kn (45.4 km/h; 28.2 mph)
Boats & landing craft carried	2 LCACs or 1 LCU or four LCM-8 or 9 LCM-6[2]
Complement	24 officers, 397 enlisted sailors, Surge + 504 Marines
Armament	2 × 25 mm Mk 38 cannons 2 × 20 mm Phalanx CIWS mounts 2 × RIM-116 Rolling Airframe Missile (RAM) launchers 6 × .50 caliber M2HB machine guns

Stern view of USS Harpers Ferry

As of 2009, all ships of the class are scheduled to undergo a midlife upgrade to ensure they remain in service through 2038. The ships will be upgraded each year through 2013, and the last ship will be modernized in 2014. Ships homeported on the East Coast will undergo upgrades at Metro Machine Corp., and ships based on the West Coast will receive upgrades at General Dynamics National Steel and Shipbuilding Company in San Diego.^[3]

Major elements of the upgrade package include diesel engine improvements, fuel and maintenance savings systems, engineering control systems, increased air conditioning/chill water capacity, and replacement of air compressors. The ships also replaced steam systems with all-electric functionality that will decrease maintenance.^[3]

Harpers Ferry–class ships

Ship Name	Hull No.	Builder	Laid Down	Launched	Commissioned	Decommissioned	Homeport	Status
Harpers Ferry	LSD-49	Avondale Shipyard	15 April 1991	16 January 1993	7 January 1995	Proposed 2024[4]	Naval Base San Diego (CA)	Active
Carter Hall	LSD-50		11 November 1991	2 October 1993	30 September 1995	Proposed 2023[4]	Naval Amphibious Base Little Creek (VA)
Oak Hill	LSD-51		21 September 1992	11 June 1994	8 June 1996	Proposed 2025[4]
Pearl Harbor	LSD-52		27 January 1995	24 February 1996	30 May 1998	Proposed 2024[4]	Naval Base San Diego (CA)

Sources

1. "United States Navy fact file: Dock Landing Ship - LSD". Navy News Service. 12 September 2010. Retrieved 2 March 2011.
2. "United States Navy fact file: Dock Landing Ship - LSD". Navy News Service. 12 September 2010. Retrieved 2 March 2011.
3. "USS Gunston Hall Completes Sea Trials". Navy News Service. 29 May 2009. Retrieved 30 May 2009.
4. "Navy Plans to Retire 48 Ships During 2022-2026". seapowermagazine.org. 11 December 2020. Retrieved 7 October 2022.

• US Navy Type Information Archived 2011-03-11 at the Wayback Machine
• Hutchinson, R. (2002) Jane's Warship Recognition Guide Harper Collins: London, New York.