New Inspection Technology for Warships Enhances Safety and Lowers Costs
By Gretchen Jacobson
The U.S. Navy's amphibious warships are specially designed to support assault operations from the sea against defended positions ashore. These combined-arm, crisis-response vessels are the primary landing ships for Marine expeditionary units. Flexible and adaptive, they are used to embark, transport, and land Marines and equipment during warfare and other missions.
 |
| The USS Whidbey Island, headed to the Arabian Gulf in September 2006, is one of three amphibious ships installed with a new wireless corrosion monitoring system for ballast tanks. Photo by Mass Communications Specialist Christopher L. Clark, U.S. Navy. |
The USS Whidbey Island, an amphibious dock landing ship commissioned in 1985, is one such ship. In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, the Navy deployed it to bring badly needed military personnel and supplies to the devastated Gulf Coast.
To transport people and equipment from these warships, the Navy uses air-cushion and landing craft or amphibious vehicles, as well as helicopters and aircraft distinguished for their vertical takeoff and landing capabilities.
These assault vessels feature a flight deck and a well deck that can be ballasted and de-ballasted to support landing craft or adjust for other load shifts as needed.
More . . .
|
