About LHD 8
MAKIN ISLAND will be homeported in San
Diego, California.
The Pre-commissioning (PRECOM) crew is approximately 90% full.
MAKIN ISLAND is scheduled to deliver to the United States Navy in Spring 2009. Following initial training and certification, MAKIN ISLAND will transit to the West Coast and be Commissioned in San Diego, CA on October 24, 2009.
MAKIN ISLAND (LHD 8) is currently under construction at Northrop Grumman Shipbuilding in Pascagoula, Miss. She will be the final ship built in the LHD-1 WASP-class, but the first of the class built with Gas Turbine Engines and Electric Drive. Steam will not be used on board the ship for heating or water production as in previous LHD class ships. Other significant changes from previous LHD-class ships include Watermist Fire Suppression Systems, a fiber-optic Machinery Control System (which is also integrated with the Damage Control Systems), the SPQ-9B radar and Cooperative Engagement Capability (CEC). As the final member of the WASP Class LHD's, MAKIN ISLAND is emerging from previous U.S. Navy Amphibious Forces and setting the stage for the under-development successor to the Wasp Class, the LHA (R) Class of Amphibious Landing Ship.
