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General Characteristics

Crew List

Memorabilia

Cruise Books

Accidents aboard the Ship

USS Essex History

Homeports of USS Essex

Image Gallery

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USS Essex (LHD 2)

ESSEX is the second ship in the WASP - class of multipurpose amphibious assault ships and the fifth ship of the Navy to bear the name.

General Characteristics:	Awarded: September 10, 1986
	Keel laid: March 20, 1989
	Launched: February 23, 1991
	Commissioned: October 17, 1992
	Builder: Ingalls Shipbuilding , West Bank, Pascagoula, Miss.
	Propulsion system: two boilers, two geared turbines
	Propellers: two
	Aircraft elevators: two
	Length: 840 feet (256 meters)
	Flight Deck Width: 140 feet (42.6 meters)
	Beam: 106 feet (32,.3 meters)
	Draft: 26,5 feet (8.1 meters)
	Displacement: approx. 40,500 tons full load
	Speed: 23 knots
	Aircraft: 30+ (including V-22 Osprey, AH-1Z Viper and AH-1W Super Cobra, F-35B, CH-53K Sea Stallion, MH-60S Naval Hawk)
	Crew: Ship: 73 officers, 1,009 enlisted Marine Detachment: 1,894
	Armament: two Mk-29 NATO Sea Sparrow launchers, two 20mm Phalanx CIWS, eight Mk-33 .50 cal. machine guns, two Rolling Airframe Missile Systems
	Cost: approx. $403 million
	Homeport: San Diego, Calif.

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Crew List:

This section contains the names of sailors who served aboard USS ESSEX. It is no official listing but contains the names of sailors who submitted their information.

Click here to view the list.

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Click here to see which USS ESSEX memorabilia are currently for sale on ebay.

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USS ESSEX Cruise Books:

WestPac Cruise Book 1994-95

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Accidents aboard USS ESSEX:

Date	Where	Events
June 7, 2005	western Pacific	A DC2 dies June 27, 2005 from complications following inhaling hydrogen sulfide (H2S) while conducting system maintenance on June 7. The accident occurred during routine training involving aqueous film forming foam.
May 16, 2012	120 miles west of San Diego, Calif.	USS ESSEX collides with the USNS YUKON (T-AO 202) during an underway replenishment off southern California. The collision happened approx. 9:20 am after a steerage malfunction aboard ESSEX. Both ships received only minor damage and no injuries were reported. ESSEX's starboard aircraft elevator was scraped and dented and parts of the railing and catwalks were damaged. YUKON suffered structural damage to her flight deck, lifeboats and davits.
August 9, 2018	Sulu Sea	A Marine assigned to the USS ESSEX is reported missing at 9:40 a.m. while the ship is operating west of the Philippines. The missing Marine is believed to be gone overboard prompting a five-day search involving more than 110 flight of US aircraft searching an area of more than 13,000 square miles in the Sulu Sea, the Mindanao Sea and the Surigao Strait. The missing Marine couldn't be found.

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History of USS ESSEX:

USS ESSEX was built at Ingalls Shipbuilding in Pascagoula, Mississippi, her keel laid on March 20, 1989, launched on February 23, 1991, and commissioned while moored at Naval Air Station North Island, San Diego, on October 17, 1992. Following shakedown and post-commissioning work in 1993, she entered her first Western Pacific deployment in October 1994, with the 13th Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU). In early 1995, the ship shifted from Persian Gulf presence operations to support Operation United Shield, the United Nations-mandated withdrawal of the multinational force from Mogadishu, Somalia. She provided aviation and amphibious lift, command-and-control, and maritime security during the staged extraction in February-March before returning to San Diego later that spring.

After a short maintenance period and RIMPAC workups, ESSEX departed San Diego on October 10, 1996, for a second WESTPAC with the 11th MEU and Amphibious Squadron Five, conducting maritime security and bilateral exercises in the Arabian Gulf with Qatar, Oman, and Kuwait. In early 1997, she took part in TANDEM THRUST '97, the large U.S.-Australian combined exercise in Queensland, operating alongside USS CLEVELAND (LPD 7) and USS HARPERS FERRY (LSD 49), with associated port calls on Australia's east coast as the exercise concluded. She returned to California in April 1997.

ESSEX began her third WESTPAC on June 22, 1998, with the 15th MEU and PHIBRON FIVE, conducting Exercises Sea Soldier and Red Reef and practicing non-combatant evacuation (NEO) procedures with the U.S. Embassy in Kuwait. The deployment also included support to Operation Southern Watch, enforcing the UN-mandated no-fly regime over southern Iraq, before the ship completed her return to the U.S. the following year.

In July 2000, ESSEX arrived in Sasebo, Japan, and conducted what was then the Navy's largest "hull/crew swap", relieving USS BELLEAU WOOD (LHA 3) to assume the permanently forward-deployed amphibious assault ship role for the Seventh Fleet. From Sasebo she led the forward-deployed Amphibious Ready Group (ARG), cycling the 31st MEU across the region and regularly participating in the RSOI/Key Resolve/Foal Eagle series around the Korean Peninsula. In March-April 2003, she executed FOAL EAGLE tasking with the 31st MEU amid heightened tensions on the peninsula, reflecting the exercise's deterrent and readiness aims.

In 2004-2005, ESSEX carried the 31st MEU to the Arabian Gulf as U.S. operations in Iraq intensified. While the MEU's ground combat element pushed ashore for Operation Phantom Fury in Fallujah, ESSEX remained at sea as the afloat sea base and theater mobility platform. When the Indian Ocean tsunami struck on December 26, 2004, the ship was retasked to Indonesia for Operation Unified Assistance, flying relief sorties and moving supplies ashore around Banda Aceh before returning to re-embark the MEU for the transit back to Japan - an illustration of the ARG/MEU's utility in rapid humanitarian response without losing its amphibious core mission.

Across the forward-deployed decade, ESSEX continued theater security cooperation and humanitarian roles. In May-June 2008, she took station off Burma (Myanmar) with USS JUNEAU (LPD 10) and USS HARPERS FERRY (LSD 49) for Operation Caring Response following Cyclone Nargis. After weeks waiting offshore for permission to deliver aid, the group was ordered to resume its schedule when access did not materialize, underscoring the political limits that can bound naval humanitarian operations. In February 2010, as Cobra Gold concluded, ESSEX visited Laem Chabang, Thailand. Later that year she supported disaster relief on Luzon after Super Typhoon Megi (local name Juan) made landfall.

When the Tohoku earthquake and tsunami struck Japan on March 11, 2011, ESSEX and her ARG shifted rapidly to the disaster zone for Operation Tomodachi. Operating initially off Akita before repositioning to the northeast coast, the ship flew assessment and relief missions, moved heavy equipment and personnel ashore, and helped clear ports and roads. Navy and Marine aircraft from the ARG delivered well over a hundred thousand pounds of supplies during nearly three weeks on station before the ship returned to routine patrols.

In spring 2012, ESSEX's long forward-deployed chapter closed. On April 23, 2012, she was relieved in Sasebo by USS BONHOMME RICHARD (LHD 6) and began the transit back to California. En route to subsequent maintenance the ship collided with the fleet oiler USNS YUKON (T-AO 202) during a replenishment approach off Southern California on May 16. There were no injuries, but the commanding officer was later relieved, and ESSEX entered an extended depot period in San Diego beginning September 18, 2012, for upgrades and repair before returning to sea for trials in April 2014 and re-certifying flight operations in May.

Back in the Pacific Fleet, ESSEX deployed from San Diego on May 11, 2015, with the 15th MEU, USS ANCHORAGE (LPD 23), and USS RUSHMORE (LSD 47). After a first foreign port call at Hong Kong from June 5-10, she operated in the Fifth Fleet theater through the late summer and fall - including support to Operation Inherent Resolve - before exiting the Middle East on November 1 and returning to San Diego on December 15. The ARG/MEU deployment pattern reflected concurrent coalition operations against ISIS, maritime security in key chokepoints, and persistent presence across Seventh Fleet waters.

In October 2017, ESSEX served as a centerpiece ship for San Francisco Fleet Week, leading the Parade of Ships, hosting public tours, and conducting amphibious demonstrations that highlight the ARG/MEU's role in humanitarian assistance and disaster response as well as amphibious warfare.

ESSEX departed again in July 2018, as flagship of an ARG with ANCHORAGE and RUSHMORE, embarking the 13th MEU and VMFA-211's F-35B detachment. In September the ARG entered U.S. Central Command waters, and on September 27, 2018, an F-35B from ESSEX conducted the type's first U.S. combat strike, a precision mission against a Taliban target. The ship later anchored in Jebel Ali, United Arab Emirates, in December and worked alongside JOHN C. STENNIS (CVN 74) Carrier Strike Group units during integrated operations before returning her ARG units to home port in late February-early March 2019.

After the pandemic era workups, ESSEX got underway with the 11th MEU in 2021 for a deployment spanning the Western Pacific and Indian Ocean. She returned to Southern California on March 4, 2022. That spring she was a headline ship for Los Angeles Fleet Week and later participated in the 2022 iteration of RIMPAC, reflecting the renewed emphasis on large-scale maritime exercises with allies and partners following the peak of COVID-19 restrictions.

In August 2023, a machinist's mate assigned to ESSEX was arrested in San Diego on federal espionage and export-control charges tied to the transmission of sensitive ship and fleet information to a Chinese intelligence officer. The sailor was convicted by a jury in August 2025. While a legal matter separate from ship operations, the case underscored the counterintelligence environment surrounding forward-deployable high-value platforms. Through 2024-2025, ESSEX has continued stateside operations, maintenance, and local training evolutions from San Diego consistent with the amphibious force's cycle of readiness, while remaining configured for F-35B operations as required by evolving MEU aviation packages.

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Homeports of USS ESSEX:

Period	Homeport
commissioned at San Diego, Calif.
1992 - 2000	San Diego, Calif.
2000 - 2012	Sasebo, Japan
2012 - present	San Diego, Calif.

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USS ESSEX Image Gallery:

The photos below were taken by me and show the ESSEX at Naval Base San Diego, Calif., on October 3 and 11, 2012.

The photo below was taken by Lydia Perz and shows the ESSEX at Naval Base San Diego, Calif., on May 3, 2014.

The photos below were taken by Michael Jenning and show the ESSEX at Naval Base San Diego, Calif., on December 27, 2014.

The photos below were taken by Shiu On Yee and show the USS ESSEX during a port visit to Hong Kong on June 7, 2015. The ship arrived at Hong Kong on June 5. The ESSEX departed San Diego for a scheduled deployment on May 11.

The photos below were taken by Michael Jenning and show the ESSEX during a Phased Maintenance Availability (PMA) at Naval Base San Diego, Calif., on April 18, 2016.

The photos below were taken by Michael Jenning and show the ESSEX during her Phased Maintenance Availability (PMA) at Naval Base San Diego, Calif., on October 6, 2016.

The photos below were taken by Sebastian Thoma and show the ESSEX during a Phased Maintenance Availability (PMA) at Naval Base San Diego, Calif., on December 20, 2016.

The photos below were taken by Shiu On Yee during one of the open ship events aboard USS ESSEX as part of Fleet Week San Francisco on October 3, 2017.



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The photos below were taken by Michael Jenning and show the ESSEX during the Parade of Ships as part of Fleet Week San Francisco on October 6, 2017.

The photos below were taken by Michael Jenning during one of the open ship events aboard USS ESSEX as part of Fleet Week San Francisco on October 7, 2017.



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The photos below were taken by Michael Jenning and show the ESSEX returning to San Diego, Calif., on October 12, 2017, after participating in Fleet Week San Francisco.

The photo below was taken by Sebastian Thoma and shows the ESSEX at Naval Base San Diego, Calif., on November 10, 2017.

The photos below were taken by Michael Jenning and show the ESSEX at Naval Air Station North Island, Calif., on March 2, 2019 - one day after returing from an 8-month deployment to the western Pacific and Middle East. On September 27, 2018, USS ESSEX made history when she launched the US Navy's first-ever F-35B Joint Strike Fighter airstrike. During the strike, F-35B aircraft assigned to VMFA-211 attacked a fixed Taliban target in Afghanistan. Note the homecoming lei on the bow.

The photos below were taken by Michael Jenning during one of the open ship events aboard USS ESSEX as part of Fleet Week Los Angeles at San Pedro, Calif., on May 28, 2022.