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USS Bougainville (LHA 8)

Bougainville (LHA 8) is the second ship named in honor of Bougainville Island in the Solomons. The name commemorates a successful World War II campaign enabled by close coordination among the U.S. Navy, the U.S. Marine Corps and our allies. During the campaign, which lasted from 1943 to 1944, allied forces secured a strategic airfield from Japanese forces in the northern Solomon Islands, helping the allies break the Japanese stronghold in the South Pacific. The America-class LHA is a multi-functional and versatile ship that is capable of operating in a high density, multi-threat environment as an integral part of an expeditionary strike group, an amphibious task force or an amphibious ready group.

HII’s Ingalls Shipbuilding division christened the Navy’s third America-class amphibious assault ship Bougainville 02 December 2023. “Today is not only a day to celebrate our namesake, representatives of the successful outcome of a World War II campaign, but also the team work and collaboration of our United States Navy and Marine Corps that enabled it,” Ingalls Shipbuilding President Kari Wilkinson said. “To fulfill our mission here in the shipyard, our sailors and Marines serve as a stellar example of how this extended network works together to fulfill a bigger purpose.”

In his remarks, Major Gen. James Adams III, nominee for deputy commandant for Programs & Resources, Headquarters United States Marine Corps, honored the Americans who fought during the Bougainville campaign. “Bougainville’s christening symbolizes their enduring legacy – a legacy etched into the very soul of this vessel,” Adams said. “As was the case with Bougainville, the nation needs modern amphibious ships. They are the cornerstone of our nation’s global expeditionary crisis response force.”

Under Secretary of the Navy Erik Raven served as the keynote speaker. “(These) ships, like the future USS Bougainville, make our Navy and Marine Corps team a potent fight; providing forward-posture across the globe, ready to respond to crisis and disaster,” Raven said. He also addressed the Ingalls shipbuilders who have built Bougainville. “I see why the Department of the Navy has enjoyed such a long and successful relationship with this yard. You are special, and together you represent the finest qualities of our great nation. Please remember this and remember that what you do matters. You play a critical role in defending our way of life,” Raven said.

Bougainville is sponsored by Ellyn S. Dunford, wife of Gen. Joe Dunford Jr. 19th chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and he was also the 36th Commandant of the Marine Corps. Ellyn Dunford officially christened Bougainville by smashing a bottle of sparkling wine across the bow of the ship. She spoke proudly of the perseverance shown by the Navy and Ingalls Shipbuilding team the past few years of construction on Bougainville during the ceremony. “From naval architects and engineers to welders and the supply team, they experienced their own challenges, including a pandemic, and true to the spirit of those who fought at Bougainville, they all met the challenge with tenacity and overcame each challenge,” Dunford said.

Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus announced 09 November 2016 that the name of the next America-class amphibious assault ship will be USS Bougainville (LHA 8). The naming ceremony took place at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina. Bougainville (LHA 8) is scheduled to start construction in late 2018.

Amphibious assault ships maintain presence by serving as the cornerstone of amphibious readiness groups/expeditionary strike groups. Amphibious warships are designed to support the Marine Corps tenets of Operational Maneuver from the Sea (OMFTS) and Ship to Objective Maneuver (STOM). They must be capable of sailing into harm's way and enable rapid combat power buildup ashore in the face of opposition. Because of their inherent capabilities, these ships have been and will continue to be called upon to also support humanitarian and other contingency missions on short notice. The United States maintains the largest and most capable amphibious force in the world.

USS Bougainville is the first Flight I ship of the America class and will reincorporate a well deck to increase operational flexibility. Bougainville will be built by Huntington Ingalls Industries, Inc., in Pascagoula, Mississippi.

Ingalls Shipbuilding division announced the successful launch of the Navy’s third America-class amphibious assault ship Bougainville (LHA 8) from its floating dock into the Pascagoula River on October 06, 2023. “This launch is a significant accomplishment for our entire LHA shipbuilding team, and we are honored to be building such a versatile ship for our Navy and Marine Corps partners,” Ingalls Shipbuilding Amphibious Ship Program Manager Gene Miller said. “It is also a testament to the outstanding teamwork we see every day as our shipbuilders continue the critical work of preparing Bougainville for delivery.”

On Sept. 9, Bougainville was translated from land to the company’s floating dry dock using translation railcars to support the ship. While in the dry dock, the Ingalls team completed final prep work for launch. Bougainville is the first ship in the America class to be built with a well deck. The ship will retain aviation capabilities while adding the surface assault capability of a well deck and a larger flight deck configured for F-35B Joint Strike Fighter and MV-22 Osprey aircraft. These large-deck amphibious assault ships also include top-of-the-line medical facilities with full operating suites and triage capabilities.

The America class is a multi-functional and versatile ship that is capable of operating in a high density, multi-threat environment as an integral member of an expeditionary strike group, an amphibious task force or an amphibious ready group.

Ingalls has delivered 15 large-deck amphibious ships to the U.S. Navy. The shipyard delivered the first in the new America class of amphibious assault ships (LHA 6) in 2014. The second ship in the America class, USS Tripoli (LHA 7), was delivered to the Navy in early 2020. In addition to Bougainville, Fallujah (LHA 9) is also under construction, and the company authenticated the keel during a ceremony in September 2023.

Bougainville Namesake

LHA-8 will be the second ship to be named after Bougainville, an island in the northern Solomons, which was the location of a World War II campaign in 1943-1944 during which allies secured a strategic airfield from Japan. Success at Bougainville isolated all Japanese forces left in the Solomons. The Northern Solomons is one of the more unheralded of the U.S. Army campaigns of World War II, largely overshadowed by its predecessor, Guadalcanal, and by its more publicized successor, Leyte.

In March 1942 the Joint Chiefs of Staff divided the Pacific into two theaters. Each service received overall command in a theater. General Douglas MacArthur became commander of the Southwest Pacific Area (SWPA). Admiral Chester W. Nimitz commanded the second, the much larger Pacific Ocean Areas.

In the South and Southwest Pacific Areas, the port of Rabaul on the island of New Britain in the Bismarck Archipelago blocked any American offensive toward the Philippines or Japan. The bulwark of Japanese defenses in the area, Rabaul was fortified with a large garrison and a network of air bases that protected Japanese warships and merchant vessels in its great natural harbor. The Joint Chiefs had issued orders on 2 July 1942 directing the forces of the South Pacific Area (SPA) and SWPA "to begin the advance toward Rabaul."

The ultimate fate of Rabaul became an issue of debate. General MacArthur insisted that this Japanese bastion be conquered. Other American strategists disagreed, arguing that capturing Rabaul would cost too many lives and would require troops and ships slated for the U.S. Navy's Central Pacific offensive, which was scheduled to begin in mid-November 1943.

Imperial Japanese Army commanders, arguing that holding the islands south of Bougainville would be costly and ultimately futile, wanted to wait for the Allies to attack Bougainville and the northern Solomons. The Imperial Navy disagreed. Naval planners wanted to delay the Allied advance for as long as possible, maintaining that New Georgia and Santa Isabel constituted a vital forward line of defense. With no one to arbitrate, each service did as it wished: the navy assumed responsibility for land defense of the central Solomons (although the army had to provide troops to cover naval commitments), the army for the northern islands.

In May 1943, at the Trident Conference, the Allies hammered out European strategy but also decided to begin a central Pacific campaign. Boldly the Allies chose to mount two simultaneous advances in the Pacific. One operation in the southwest Pacific would move northwest from Guadalcanal up the Solomon Island chain thrusting toward the Japanese bastion of Rabaul. Termed Operation "Cartwheel", this particular operation was the responsibility of the Army and General Douglas MacArthur. The other operation in the central Pacific under the command of ADM Chester Nimitz targeted the capture of the Gilbert Islands. This two-division invasion of the Gilbert Islands was nicknamed Operation "Galvanic."

Bouganville Island, 75 miles northwest of Vella Lavella, is the most northwestern of the Solomon Island chain. The major goal was to secure a portion of the island and build a base to strike at the Japanese stronghold of Rabaul. In early October the Japanese had approximately 37,500 troops on Bougainville and nearby islands. For the Bouganville operation eight attack transports, four attack cargo ships, eleven destroyers, and 17 other destroyer-minesweepers, minelayers and fleet tugs assembled off Guadalcanal on 31 October 194. The initial landing force consisted of the reinforced 3rd Marine Division -- over 14,000 men.

The Allies landed in the middle of the western side of the island at Empress Augusta Bay. On November 1st, the invasion force arrived off the island, the boats of the transports went into the water with astonishing smoothness. Between seven and eight thousand marines went ashore in the first wave. The men landed on twelve predetermined beaches that stretched for over four miles. The boats went ashore with virtually no confusion and the first wave hit the beach about forty minutes after the transports arrived. But the steep beaches combined with moderate surf caused nearly 90 landing craft to broach or swamp.

Over a period of a couple of weeks more than 33,000 men landed and 23,000 tons of supplies went ashore. Coast Guard manned LSTs helped to move supplies ashore and evacuate the wounded. On one trip two Coast Guard manned LSTs each shot down a Japanese plane. By the end of 1943 the island was virtually in Allied hands. The capture of Bouganville and the islands in the immediate vicinity helped to accomplish the destruction of Japanese air strength in the area.

As part of a deception plan to mislead the Japanese as to where the main invasion would occur, the marines harassed the Japanese on the northern half of the island for twelve days before withdrawing. For the next two months, as the marines expanded their beachhead, the Japanese continued to believe that the main assault on Bougainville would come elsewhere. The Japanese had about 60,000 Army and Navy personnel in the Bouganville area but few where the Allies landed.

By March 1944 the Japanese had realized their error and assembled a counterattack force. This force, some 15,000 to 19,000 strong, moved across the mountains to attack what Japanese intelligence had reported to be 30,000 Americans and their airfields within the beachhead. The movement of Japanese troops and supplies from all over Bougainville toward Empress Augusta Bay had been detected, however, and attack plans learned from decrypted Japanese Army messages and captured documents. There would be no surprise. American manpower, combined with extensive defensive preparations and strong fire support, made the Japanese task almost hopeless.

American strategy skillfully achieved through sustained joint operations: the isolation and subsequent defeat in detail of Japanese forces. But American planners underestimated the task they faced, miscalculating both the strength of Japanese defenses and the severe hardships that jungle fighting would impose on American troops. This grave failure to identify, and prepare for, the two most important external influences on the American ground campaign can hardly be overemphasized in explaining the ground offensive's subsequent breakdown. Considering the earlier savage and lengthy fighting on Guadalcanal and at Buna, this seems an incomprehensible lapse. The deadly repulse of the Japanese counterattack on Bougainville showed an experienced army corps functioning efficiently at all levels.

At the "sharp end," troops learned to counter enemy defenses as well as reduce the jungle environment's physical and emotional toll by swiftly applying lessons learned in combat. Among those strength-sapping hardships that all soldiers endured were utter physical and mental exhaustion, malnourishment, and poor sanitation, along with a host of debilitating diseases-dysentery, malaria, and jungle rot, to name three that flourished in the pernicious climate of the Solomons. Not for the last time, American soldiers learned that tough terrain and a determined foe make a potent combination. Words fail to convey the demands placed on the men who served at the front.

The first Bougainville was an escort carrier - CVE 100 - that was launched in 1944, a year after the Bougainville campaign began. She was decommissioned for the first time in 1946, snf then brought back into service for five years before earning two battle stars for its service in World War II and being struck from the naval register in 1960.