The design of Tripoli is based on USS Makin Island, which is itself an improved version of the Wasp-class amphibious assault ship. Approximately 45% of the Flight 0 design is based on LHD-8, with the well deck removed to allow more room for aircraft and aviation fuel.[10] The removal of the well deck for landing craft allows for an extended hangar deck with two significantly wider high bay areas, each fitted with an overhead crane for aircraft maintenance.
Other enhancements include a reconfigurable command and control complex, an on-board hospital, and numerous aviation support spaces.[11] The design of Tripoli features an enlarged hangar deck, realignment and expansion of the aviation maintenance facilities, and a significant increase in her available stowage for parts and support equipment. She was intended to be the first LHA replacement ship to deliver fully ready to integrate the entire future air combat element of the U.S. Marine Corps to include the F-35B Lightning II, but construction delays have pushed final F-35 capability installs until delivery.[5][6]
Tripoli was built by Ingalls Shipbuilding (Huntington Ingalls Industries) at the company's shipyard in Pascagoula, Mississippi. Fabrication of ship components began in July 2013, and the ship's keel was laid in a ceremony on 20 June 2014 in Pascagoula.[5]Tripoli was launched on 1 May and later christened on 16 September 2017, with Lynne Mabus, wife of former Navy Secretary Ray Mabus, as her sponsor.[6]
By 2019, Tripoli was about a year behind production schedules.[12] The ship was delivered to the Navy on 28 February 2020.[2]
During the COVID-19 pandemic, on 17 April 2020, The Wall Street Journal reported that Navy officials had stated that at least 9 sailors assigned to the ship had tested positive for SARS-CoV-2.[13] At the time, the ship was docked in Pascagoula.[2][a] About 630 sailors were moved off the ship as a preventative measure, which resulted in the outbreak spreading to only "around a couple dozen sailors".[14] As a result of the pandemic, the ship's public commissioning ceremony originally planned to occur at NAS Pensacola in June was also cancelled. Subsequently, Tripoli was commissioned on 15 July 2020 in Pascagoula, Mississippi, where the ship was built.[15]
Tripoli is the third U.S. Navy ship named for the Battle of Derne in 1805. It was the decisive victory of a mercenary army led by a detachment of United States Marines and soldiers against the forces of Tripoli during the First Barbary War. It was the first recorded land battle of the United States fought overseas.[22]Fallujah, after the Second Battle of Fallujah, was suggested as a name but was ultimately not chosen.[23] This name was given to another America-class ship, LHA-9.[24]
^It is unclear whether the sailors had tested positive before or after delivery of the ship, with one source stating that "the ship was set to be delivered ... and hundreds of sailors moved aboard in mid-March".[2][14]
^Fleet, Commander, Naval Surface Force, U. S. Pacific. "USS Tripoli Arrives in San Diego". www.public.navy.mil. Retrieved 19 November 2020.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
This article includes information collected from the Naval Vessel Register, which, as a U.S. government publication, is in the public domain. The entry can be found here.
United States
This article includes information collected from the Naval Vessel Register, which, as a U.S. government publication, is in the public domain. The entry can be found here.
