USS Makin Island (LHD-8), a -طراز amphibious assault ship, is the second ship of the United States Navy to be named for Makin Island, target of the Marine Raiders' Makin Island raid early on in the United States' involvement in World War II.

Makin Island's task is to embark, deploy, and land elements of a Marine landing force in an Amphibious Assault by helicopters, landing craft, and amphibious vehicles. The secondary or convertible mission for Makin Island is that of sea control and power projection.

التصميم والإنشاء

Makin Island is the eighth ship of the Wasp class, but features noteworthy technological advances. Changes from the previous LHD design include: gas turbine main propulsion engines, all-electric auxiliaries, an advanced machinery control system including throttle control from the bridge, water mist fire protection systems, and the navy’s most advanced command and control and combat systems equipment.

Makin Island was laid down on 14 February 2004 at Ingalls Shipbuilding, Pascagoula, Mississippi. The vessel has a light displacement of 28,176 طن كبيرs (28,628 t) and a full load displacement of 41,684 طن كبيرs (42,353 t) with a dead weight is 13,508 طن كبيرs (13,725 t). She has an overall length of 847 قدم (258 م) and a waterline length of 778 قدم (237 م). The extreme beam is 118 قدم (36 م) with the beam at the waterline being 106 قدم (32 م) and the draft is 28 قدم (8.5 م). The maximum speed is 28 عقدةs (52 كم/س; 32 ميل/س).

The ship's armament consists of two RIM-116 Rolling Airframe Missile (RAM) launchers, two RIM-7 Sea Sparrow surface-to-air missile launchers, three Mk 38 25-millimeter Close-in Guns, two Mk 15 Phalanx CIWS, four M2 Browning .50 caliber machine guns, and 1 ceremonial gun.

Makin Island is the eighth Wasp-class amphibious assault ships to be ordered for the U.S. Navy, but differs from her older sister ships in her system of propulsion . The previous Wasp-class vessels used steam boilers and steam turbines to drive the propellers while Makin Island is the first US Navy vessel to use a hybrid propulsion system consisting of a combined diesel electric or gas turbine propulsion system.

Makin Island has two 35,000 shaft حصان (26,000 kو) General Electric LM 2500+ gas turbines each connected to a separate 20:1 ratio main reduction gear which then drive two 16 قدم 6 بوصة (5.03 م) diameter Rolls Royce controllable pitch propellers. Gas turbines have a high power-to-weight ratio compared to steam or diesel power but are only efficient near their maximum power output. In Makin Island, the gas turbines are used to power the ship above 12 knots. Below 12 knots, ship propulsion is provided by two 5,000 shaft حصان (3,700 kو) AC electric motors connected to a second input shaft on the main reduction gears. When powered by the electric motors, the gas turbines are decoupled from the main reduction gear and braked to prevent spinning. When the gas turbines are engaged, the electric motors are similarly decoupled from the drive system. The propeller shafts can be driven at lower speeds by slowing down the electric motors. Variable drive speed is achieved with an Alstom variable frequency drive system. Power for the electric motors comes from the ship's service electrical system which is provided by six 4000 kW generators powered by Fairbanks Morse diesel engines.

In conventional Navy ships, the steam boiler drives both the propellers as well as ship service steam turbine generators (SSSTG) to provide electric power for the vessel. The boilers also provide steam to heat the ship in colder climates. Since Makin Island does not have steam boilers, she uses the diesel electric generators for all ship board power services. Specifically, instead of steam heating, she uses electric heating for laundry and hot water supply as well as for heating interior compartments in cold climates.

The gas turbine propulsion plant, with all electric auxiliaries, is a program first for large deck amphibious assault ships and provides significant savings in manpower and maintenance costs associated with traditional steam-powered amphibious ships. The ship carries four reverse-osmosis water-purification systems, each capable of processing 50,000 غالون أمريكيs (190,000 ل) of fresh water per day.

The same propulsion systems experimented with in Makin Island will also be used on the ، طراز amphibious assault ships.

She was christened on 19 August 2006, sponsored by Mrs. Silke Hagee, wife of General Michael Hagee, Commandant of the Marine Corps, and launched on 15 September 2006. In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, U.S. Navy officials announced that several ships under construction at Ingalls Shipbuilding had been damaged by the storm, including Makin Island and two ، طراز destroyers. The ship's completion was delayed due to rewiring during 2008 to repair incorrect wiring installation.

تاريخ الخدمة

ماكن آيلند سـُلـِّمت للبحرية الأمريكية في 16 أبريل 2009 ودُشـِّنت في پاسكاگولا، مسيسپي بدون احتفال في 26 يونيووكان الكابتن بوب كوپاس قائدها.

ماكن آيلند أُطلِقت فيعشرة يوليو2009 وأبحرت حول أمريكا الجنوبية عبر مضيق ماجلان، in which the crew continued to train, obtaining underway certifications in preparation for her arrival in San Diego. During the deployment, Makin Island conducted theater security cooperation (TSC) activities with Brazil, Chile and Peru, focusing on working closely with partner nation civil and maritime forces to share methods and training. She arrived in her home port of San Diego on 14 September 2009. Captain Kopas stated in an interview on local radio that Makin Island had saved about $2 million in fuel, compared with a conventional propulsion system, on her voyage from Mississippi around South America to San Diego.

Her formal commissioning ceremony took place on 24 October 2009 at Naval Air Station North Island, Coronado near San Diego. Six USMC veterans of the Makin Island raid attended the ceremony.

Damage to a turning gear delayed the ship's final check-out trials from August to September 2010.

Makin Island visited San Francisco in October 2010 as part of the city's 2010 Fleet Week festivities. She returned in 2012.

The ship was used in a failed December 2014 US hostage rescue operation in Yemen. In October 2016 Makin Island was deployed to search for missing Chinese sailor Guo Chuan, who was attempting to break the world record for solo sailing from San Francisco to Shanghai. Makin Island reached his yacht, , on 27 October, but found her adrift, with no sign of the sailor. The crew recovered his personal items and left the yacht for later salvage.

الدفع الكهربائي بالديزل

Makin Island departed on her maiden deployment, as the US Navy’s first hybrid-drive warship: part gas-turbine and part diesel-electric. About 70 percent of the time Makin Island can use diesel-electric propulsion, saving on fuel, as diesel engines are optimized for cruising and consume much less fuel than gas turbines. When she needs to travel quickly, at 12 knots or more, she uses her gas turbines. This arrangement is also known as combined diesel-electric or gas (CODLOG).

Once on station, the ship’s mission changes. Her job then is to launch Marines ashore in small boats and aircraft. While the Marines are ashore, the ship maneuvers in a small area at slow speed, the perfect scenario^[] for diesel-electric propulsion.

Fuel savings were said^[] to be "impressive". On an average day, Makin Island uses 15,000 غالون أمريكيs (57,000 ل) of fuel, versus 35,000 to 40,000 غالون أمريكيs (130,000–150,000 ل) on an older steam ship of its type, said Captain James Landers, commanding officer.

The downside is the logistical "tail," which means it takes a while to get parts. Further, the ship is software dependent, which is an independent source of failure.

Internal heating is provided by electrical instead of steam heaters and at temperatures above 20F there is excess heating capacity that can be reallocated for additional electric propulsion. The gas turbines are available for high speed or low temperature propulsion.

المراجع

ملاحظات

الهامش

وصلات خارجية

مشاع الفهم فيه ميديا متعلقة بموضوع [[commons:خطأ لوا في وحدة:WikidataIB على السطر 496: attempt to index field 'wikibase' (a nil value).|خطأ لوا في وحدة:WikidataIB على السطر 496: attempt to index field 'wikibase' (a nil value).]].

• Official website
• page on globalsecurity.org
• page on navsource.org
• USS Makin Island history page on USCarriers.net

نطقب:Wasp class amphibious assault ship