The 2011 USS America LHA-6 will be the first of the America-class amphibious assault ships for the U.S. Navy, and she will be the fourth American warship to bear this name.The America-class will replace the last of the Tarawa-class amphibious assault ships. Based upon the USS Makin Island design, America will be a gas-turbine powered warship capable of carrying a Marine Expeditionary Brigade with the capacity for carrying many Marine helicopters, V-22 Osprey tilt-rotor aircraft, and F-35B V/STOL Joint Strike Fighters. This warship is due to be delivered to the Navy in 2012. At a displacement of 45,000 tons, and carrying a complement of F-35 Joint Strike Fighters, it will be able to serve in the role of a small aircraft carrier, as demonstrated by Landing Helicopter Dock operations in Operation Iraqi Freedom.A keel authentication ceremony for the future 2011 USS America LHA-6 was held July 17, 2009, at Northrop Grumman Shipbuilding’s Ingalls shipyard in Pascagoula, Miss.It is time to begin manning USS America and we are looking for our Navy's best and brightest talent to join the team that will set the watch, man the rails and return AMERICA to sea.LHA 6 will be the fourth U.S. Navy ship to bear the name America. The first America, 2011 USS America LHA-6a 74-gun ship-of-the-line, was first built for use by the Continental Navy. However, before having a chance to serve the fledgling U.S. Navy, the ship was presented as a gift to the king of France to show appreciation for his country's service to the new nation. The second 2011 USS America LHA-6 was used to transport troops during World War I. The third ship to bear the name was a Kitty-Hawk class aircraft carrier in commission 1965-1996. Among other notable accomplishments, the carrier America made three deployments to Vietnam and launched air strikes on Iraq during the opening days of Operation Desert Storm.
