Extending The 40 Year Service Lives

As part of efforts to increase the fleet size, the U.S. Navy is now exploring how to extend the service lives of its conventionally powered amphibious assault ships beyond the expected 40 years, to 46 or even 53 years. The USS Wasp was commissioned in 1989, and the five-year extension could see the flattop remaining in service until 2034.

However, keeping the ships operational is more than just pushing back their planned retirement dates.

As the Navy Times reported, the service’s fleet of amphibious combat ships has “faced numerous issues,” and three Wasp-class ships specifically encountered problems.

USS Boxer (LHD-4) has experienced significant and ongoing reliability issues since at least 2022, primarily centered on its engineering department and propulsion systems. The problem was so significant that in 2024, LHD-4 was forced to return to port just 10 days into a deployment due to rudder and engineering failures. That same year, USS Wasp faced engineering issues and was forced to return to port on a single shaft, also delaying a planned deployment.

Issues plague the entire amphibious fleet.

A 2024 report from the Government Accountability Office warned that half of the U.S. Navy’s 32 amphibious ships, including all of its LHD/LHAs and landing platform/dock ships (LPD/LSD), often remain in port due to maintenance backlogs, and that only half were generally deployment-ready.

Extending the service lives is now the exact opposite of what Navy officials suggested just two years ago.

“To save money, the Navy proposed early retirement for some ships and canceled critical maintenance on them. But the Navy is still relying on these ships—which haven't been well-maintained—while it waits for new ones to be built,” the D.C.-based watchdog explained.

Even as the U.S. Navy sought to retire the aging fleet, lawmakers had other plans.

Section 1023 of the fiscal year 2023 National Defense Authorization Act requires that the Department of the Navy must maintain a fleet of no fewer than 31 amphibious ships, including at least 10 LHA/LHD-type “big deck” ships, with the remainder being the LPD/LSD-type transport ships.

Facing delays with their replacement, the U.S. Navy is now forced to extend the service lives of the ships that they had sought to retire only a few years ago.

One factor is that as the U.S. Navy has a shortage of nuclear-powered supercarriers ready to deploy to global hotspots, the LHA/LHD-type amphibious assault ships are increasingly being used to help fill the void.

In March, the U.S. Navy's forward-deployed America-class amphibious assault ship USS Tripoli (LHA-7) was deployed to the Middle East to support Operation Epic Fury.

It was also in January that the Wasp-class USS Iwo Jima (LHD-7) aided in the transport of deposed Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro to New York City, highlighting the capabilities of the vessel. LHD-7 is set to begin a modernization program in Norfolk, Virginia, in June.

Floating Military Base

At 846 feet long with a beam of 104 feet, the current active USS Wasp is essentially a floating military base, equipped with six cargo elevators to move material and supplies from the cargo holds, as well as two aircraft elevators. In addition to a crew of some 1,075 sailors, the LHD can carry upwards of 1,600 to 1,900 embarked troops and their equipment.

Unlike a true aircraft carrier, the LHDs can also carry three Landing Craft Air Cushion, a dozen Landing Craft Mechanized, or upwards of forty Amphibious Assault Vehicles. The flight deck features nine helicopter landing spots.

USS Wasp can deploy nearly the full strength of a United States Marine Corps Marine Expeditionary Unit and land them in hostile territory via helicopters or landing craft.

Legacy of USS Wasp – From Schooner to Carrier to LHD

LHD-1 is the 10th warship to be named USS Wasp. The first was a merchant schooner purchased by the Continental Navy in 1775, only to be destroyed two years later. The second was a 14-gun sloop-of-war built at the Washington Navy Yard in 1806. She was captured during the War of 1812 and then served with the Royal Navy as the HMS Loup Cervier before being renamed HMS Peacock.

Multiple other sloops were named Wasp in the 19th century, followed by a steel-hulled motorboat in the early 20th century.

The first U.S. Navy flattop to be named USS Wasp was CV-7, a scaled-down, modified version of the Yorktown-class aircraft carriers. Built within the restrictions of the Washington Naval Treaty, she was 5,000 tons smaller than the Yorktown-class, and had lighter armor and significantly weaker torpedo protection. The carrier was initially employed in the Atlantic campaign after America’s entry into the Second World War.

However, CV-7 was transferred to the Pacific to replace losses following the battles of Coral Sea and Midway, a tragic mistake, as she was hit by torpedoes fired by the Japanese submarine I-19 in September 1942. Despite efforts to save the carrier, she was abandoned and scuttled. The wreck of CV-7 was discovered in 2019.

The most famous USS Wasp was arguably CV-18, an Essex-class aircraft carrier that earned eight battle stars in World War II and later served as the primary recovery ship for five Project Gemini space missions. After roughly 25 years in service across two active periods, CV-18 was decommissioned in 1972 and later scrapped.

LHD-1 is already the longest serving USS Wasp, and under the current plan, she could serve nearly twice as long as CV-18.