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USS Kearsarge (LHD 3)

USS KEARSARGE is the third ship in the WASP - class and the fourth ship in the Navy to bear the name.

General Characteristics:	Keel Laid: February 6, 1990
	Launched: March 26, 1992
	Commissioned: October 16, 1993
	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: 12 MV-22B, 4 CH-53E, 4 AH-1Z, 3 UH-1Y, 6 AV-8B, 3 MH-60S (approx. numbers, actual numbers depend on mission)
	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. $353 million
	Homeport: Norfolk, Va.

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Crew List:

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

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

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USS KEARSARGE Cruise Books:

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About the Construction of USS KEARSARGE:

Fabrication work for KEARSARGE began at Ingalls Shipbuilding in Pascagoula, Mississippi on March 6, 1989. Joseph J. Went, USMC, Assistant Commandant of the U.S. Marine Corps, authenticated KEARSARGE's keel laying on February 6, 1990, and LHD 3 was launched on March 26, 1992.

The design and construction of the LHD-class amphibious assault ship utilizes efficient preoutfitting modular construction techniques. They involve the most extensive engineering design and ship production coordination ever utilized U.S. Navy shipbuilding.

KEARSARGE's construction began with hundreds of smaller subassemblies in which piping sections, ventilation ducting and other shipboard hardware, as well as major machinery items, such as main propulsion equipment, generators, and electrical panels were installed. The preoutfitted subassemblies were then joined with others to form assemblies which were welded together to form five completed hull and superstructure modules.

These five giant ship modules, each weighing thousands of tons, were joined together on land to form the completed hull prior to launch, resulting in a ship 77 percent complete at launch. The ship's launching was just as innovative as her construction. LHD 3 was rolled from her construction area to Ingall's floating dry dock for haunch on a rail transfer system. The dry dock was then positioned over a deep-water pit and ballasted down, allowing the ship to float free. Following launch, KEARSARGE was taken to her outfitting pier for christening, final outfitting and dockside testing.

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USS KEARSARGE History:

USS KEARSARGE was built at Ingalls Shipbuilding in Pascagoula, Mississippi, with her keel laid on February 6, 1990, launched on March 26, 1992, christened on May 16, 1992, and commissioned at Norfolk on October 16, 1993. From delivery she was configured as a WASP-class amphibious assault ship capable of serving as an ARG flagship with a full MEU air combat element and sizable medical facilities, and she would spend the 1990s almost continuously in the Mediterranean and adjoining seas during NATO stabilization operations after the Cold War.

On her maiden deployment beginning March 22, 1995, KEARSARGE sailed for the Adriatic in support of NATO's enforcement of the no-fly zone over Bosnia (Operation Deny Flight). In the early hours of June 8, 1995, Marine aircraft and a tactical recovery team from the embarked 24th MEU launched from KEARSARGE and recovered downed USAF F-16 pilot Capt. Scott O'Grady ("Basher 52") from Bosnian Serb-held territory. The helicopters and escorts returned him to KEARSARGE later that morning, a mission that became emblematic of allied air policing in the Balkans.

KEARSARGE's second deployment began on April 15, 1997. After taking station off Central Africa she relieved USS NASSAU (LHA 4) for Operation Guardian Retrieval contingency duties off what had been Zaire, reflecting the region's political upheaval. Within days the focus shifted to Sierra Leone: following the May 25 coup in Freetown, U.S. European Command formed Joint Task Force Noble Obelisk under the 22nd MEU commander embarked in KEARSARGE to execute a non-combatant evacuation. Arriving off Freetown on May 28, the ship's aircraft conducted a series of extractions from May 31 into early June, lifting thousands of American and third-country nationals to KEARSARGE and subsequently transferring them to Conakry, Guinea. Contemporary State and naval accounts describe it as the largest single-day NEO since the fall of Saigon.

During the 1999 deployment amid the Kosovo crisis, KEARSARGE supported NATO's Operation Allied Force and its associated humanitarian effort, Operation Shining Hope, with aviation, logistics and afloat command-and-control. Later that summer she shifted to disaster relief after the August 1999 Izmit earthquake in Turkey, participating in Operation Avid Response to move medical teams and supplies into the affected Marmara region. Those movements reflected NATO's dual military-humanitarian posture in southeastern Europe at the end of the decade.

KEARSARGE made another Mediterranean cruise from April to October 2001, as NATO stabilized the Balkans and the U.S. Navy rebalanced forces following the September 11 attacks in 2001. She deployed again from January to July 2003, operating across the North Atlantic, Mediterranean, Indian Ocean and Persian Gulf during the onset of Operation Iraqi Freedom, with her ARG-MEU posture providing maritime security, theater cooperation and contingency amphibious capability as coalition forces moved into Iraq.

On a March-October 2005 Sixth Fleet deployment, KEARSARGE visited the Red Sea port of Aqaba for exercise activity with Jordan. On August 19, 2005, militants fired multiple rockets from ashore; the rounds missed U.S. ships - KEARSARGE and USS ASHLAND (LSD 48) - and struck a warehouse and vicinity near a hospital, killing a Jordanian soldier. Both U.S. ships sortied; no American personnel were injured. The incident illustrated the evolving littoral threat environment in ports during the Iraq War era.

After additional CENTCOM/INDO-PACOM work in 2007-2008, KEARSARGE entered Norfolk Naval Shipyard in January 2009 for her first dry-dock DPMA since commissioning, receiving upgrades that prepared her for the next decade's tempo of HA/DR and combat operations.

On August 27, 2010, the KEARSARGE Amphibious Ready Group - KEARSARGE with USS CARTER HALL (LSD 50) and USS PONCE (LPD 15), and the 26th MEU - deployed a month early to support U.S. humanitarian relief for Pakistan's catastrophic monsoon floods. By mid-September the ARG was on station, flying heavy-lift and medium-lift helicopter sorties to isolated areas. The Pakistan flood relief mission formally concluded on December 2, 2010.

As the Arab uprisings unfolded, KEARSARGE and PONCE transited the Suez Canal on March 2, 2011, to the Mediterranean. On March 19-20, 2011, AV-8B Harriers from the 26th MEU aboard KEARSARGE conducted the U.S. Marine Corps' first strikes of Operation Odyssey Dawn against Libyan regime air defenses and ground forces as coalition partners established a UN-mandated no-fly zone. On March 22, MV-22 Ospreys and escorts launched from KEARSARGE to recover a downed USAF F-15E crew in eastern Libya in a rapid TRAP operation. The rescued airmen were returned to KEARSARGE, and the ARG-MEU continued operations as the campaign transitioned to NATO's Operation Unified Protector. KEARSARGE returned to Norfolk on May 16, 2011.

KEARSARGE deployed again with the 26th MEU in 2013, departing March 11 for the Sixth Fleet and CENTCOM theaters. Through the summer and early autumn she provided visible amphibious presence in the Eastern Mediterranean during the Syria chemical-weapons crisis, operating with other forward U.S. naval forces as Washington weighed response options. Port calls included Cyprus and Eilat while the ARG maintained high readiness for contingency NEO or strike support. She returned later that year after an eight-month cruise.

On October 6, 2015, the KEARSARGE ARG - KEARSARGE, USS ARLINGTON (LPD 24), and USS OAK HILL (LSD 51) - deployed with the 26th MEU toward the Mediterranean and Middle East to support Operation Inherent Resolve and allied exercises. In late October, while under Sixth Fleet, KEARSARGE took part in the Turkish-led amphibious exercise Egemen 2015 in the Aegean, then proceeded into Fifth Fleet for maritime security and strike support. The ship conducted a scheduled port visit to Manama, Bahrain, November 24-30, 2015, followed by a Dubai call December 23, 2015. She completed a mid-deployment voyage repair in Bahrain by February 23, 2016, and continued operations, including additional port time in Jebel Ali. The ARG and 26th MEU departed Sixth Fleet on April 25 and returned to the East Coast by early May 2016.

In September-November 2017, KEARSARGE surged for domestic disaster relief after back-to-back Atlantic hurricanes, deploying to the U.S. Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico with Marine and Navy aviation and landing craft to clear ports, deliver aid, and support civil authorities alongside other U.S. ships.

KEARSARGE next formed the core of the 2018-2019 KEARSARGE ARG with ARLINGTON and USS FORT McHENRY (LSD 43) and the 22nd MEU, entering Sixth Fleet on December 26, 2018, for a deployment that ranged from the Mediterranean into Fifth Fleet. The ARG conducted a series of theater-security and crisis-response tasks, made a February 2019 Bahrain port visit, operated with the ABRAHAM LINCOLN (CVN 72) Carrier Strike Group in May, and transited the Strait of Hormuz that same month amid heightened tensions with Iran. FORT McHENRY's viral-illness quarantine curtailed her port schedule, while KEARSARGE and ARLINGTON continued regular operations. The ARG departed Sixth Fleet on July 8 and returned to Norfolk July 18, 2019.

Following a 13-month Selected Restricted Availability through late 2020 and a year of qualifications and exercises in 2021, KEARSARGE and the 22nd MEU deployed again in March 2022 for an extended European mission as the security environment in Northern Europe shifted after Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine. The ARG - KEARSARGE, ARLINGTON, and USS GUNSTON HALL (LSD 44), with destroyer USS ARLEIGH BURKE (DDG 51) in company - conducted NATO vigilance activity Neptune Shield in May, then moved into the Baltic for BALTOPS 22 in June after a port visit to Stockholm, where Amphibious Squadron SIX held a change of command aboard KEARSARGE on June 3. Across August-September the group made high-visibility port calls at Klaipeda, Lithuania, on August 20, and Gdynia, Poland, on September 14, underscoring U.S. commitment to Baltic allies while conducting advanced amphibious and mine-countermeasures training with regional navies. KEARSARGE also crossed the Arctic Circle in May, earning her crew the Arctic Service Ribbon. The ARG concluded its European deployment and returned home in October 2022.

Since returning from Europe, KEARSARGE has remained based in Norfolk conducting maintenance and local training while preparing for future tasking.

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Homeports of USS KEARSARGE:

Period	Homeport
commissioned at Norfolk, Va.
1993 - present	Norfolk, Va.

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USS KEARSARGE Image Gallery:

The photo below was taken by Karl-Heinz Ahles and shows the USS KEARSARGE at Naval Base Norfolk, Va., in September 1998.

The photo below was taken by Brian Barton when KEARSARGE (left) was at Naval Base Norfolk on July 23, 2002. The ship next to KEARSARGE is the USS IWO JIMA (LHD 7).

The photos below were taken by me and show the KEARSARGE at Naval Base Norfolk, Va., on May 6, 2012.

The photos below were taken by Michael Jenning and show the KEARSARGE at BAE Systems Norfolk Ship Repair Facility near the end of a five-month Phased Maintenance Availability (PMA). The photos were taken on May 8, 2014. Two days later, the ship left the shipyard.

The photos below were taken by Michael Jenning and show the KEARSARGE at Naval Base Norfolk, Va., on October 23, 2014.

The photos below were taken by Michael Jenning and show the KEARSARGE at BAE Systems Norfolk Ship Repair undergoing a Planned Maintenance Availability (PMA) on October 12, 2016.

The photos below were taken by Michael Jenning on May 25 and 27, 2017, during an open ship event aboard USS KEARSARGE (LHD 3) as part of Fleet Week New York.



			Click here for more Photos.

The photos below were taken by Michael Jenning and show the KEARSARGE at Naval Base Norfolk, Va., on December 26, 2021.

The photos below were taken by Michael Jenning and show the KEARSARGE undergoing a Drydocking Selected Restricted Availability (DSRA) at BAE Systems Norfolk Ship Repair in Norfolk, Va., on October 9, 2023.

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