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Makin Island Keel Laying set for February 14, 2004

NAVSEA News Wire

Release Date: 2/06/2004

By Naval Sea Systems Command Public Affairs Office

WASHINGTON, DC -- The Navy's newest amphibious assault ship Makin Island (LHD 8) is scheduled for its Keel Laying Ceremony on Saturday February 14, 2004. The ceremony will take place at the Northrop Grumman Ship Systems shipbuilding facility in Pascagoula, MS, at 9:30 am CST. Makin Island. is the ship that will lead the way as the Navy transforms its "big deck" amphibs to a new generation of amphibious assault ships.

General Michael W. Hagee, USMC, Commandant of the Marine Corps, and his wife, Mrs. Silke Hagee, the ship's sponsor, will serve as the authenticators during the brief ceremony. Dignitaries at the event are expected to include Mississippi Senator Trent Lott; Rear Admiral Charles S. Hamilton, USN, Program Executive Officer Ships; Captain Richard W. Hooper, USN, Program Manager of the Navy's Amphibious Warfare Program Office, PMS377; Captain David W. Bella, USN, Supervisor of Shipbuilding, Conversion and Repair, Gulf Coast and Dr. Philip A. Dur, Corporate Vice President and President of Northrop Grumman Ship Systems.

Makin Island honors the daring raid carried out by Marine Corps Companies A and B, Second Raider Battalion, on Japanese-held Makin Island, in the Gilbert Islands, Aug. 17-18, 1942.

The raid, launched from the submarines USS Nautilus and USS Argonaut, succeeded in routing the enemy forces based there and gained valuable intelligence. The raid's leader, Marine Corps Lt. Col. Evan Carlson, was awarded the Navy Cross for his actions, while Marine Corps Sgt. Clyde Thompson was awarded the Medal of Honor for heroism and was the first enlisted Marine to be so honored during World War II.

In 2001, the bodies of 19 Marine Corps raiders, who either died during the operation or were executed after being captured, were recovered on the island of Kwajalein and returned to the United States for burial. Makin Island will be a multi-purpose amphibious assault ship designed to transport and land elements of a Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU), a force of almost 2,000 Marines, in an assault by helicopter, Landing Craft Air Cushion (LCAC) and amphibious assault vehicles. The ship will also have secondary missions of sea control and power projection by helicopter and fixed-wing vertical short take-off and landing (VSTOL) aircraft, command and control, and mission support, including a hospital with six operating rooms. Configuration changes from the previous LHD design include the following: gas turbine main propulsion engines, all electric auxiliaries, an advanced machinery control system, water mist fire protection systems, and the latest generation of C4I and self defense systems equipment. The gas turbine propulsion and all electric auxiliaries are a program first for large deck amphibious assault ships and should provide significant lifecycle savings in manpower and maintenance costs compared with the older steam powered predecessors of the LHD class. Delivery is planned for July 2007.