USS Belleau Wood (LHA-3)

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USS Belleau Wood (LHA-3), nicknamed "Devil Dog", was a Tarawa-class amphibious assault ship and the second ship named after the World War I Battle of Belleau Wood. Her keel was laid down on 5 March 1973 at Pascagoula, Mississippi, by Ingalls Shipbuilding. She was launched on 11 April 1977, and commissioned on 23 September 1978. Belleau Wood was the third of five ships in a new class (Tarawa class) of general-purpose amphibious assault ships, which combined into one ship type the functions previously performed by four different types: the landing platform helicopter (LPH), the amphibious transport dock (LPD), the amphibious cargo ship (LKA), and the dock landing ship (LSD). She was capable of landing elements of a United States Marine Corps Marine expeditionary unit (MEU) and their supporting equipment by landing craft, helicopters, or a combination of both.

Read on Wikipedia · Image U.S. Navy photo by Photographer’s Mate 2nd Class Daniel R. Mennuto, Public domain