An amphibious assault ship (also known as an amphibious assault carrier or commando carrier) is a type of helicopter carrier employed to land and support ground forces on enemy territory by an amphibious assault.
As a large through-deck surface warship with a shape similar to an aircraft carrier, the amphibious assault ship is being welcomed by more and more countries. At present, the countries that equip and build amphibious assault ships in the world include 9 ships from United States , 3 ships in France, 3 ships in the East, 1 ship in Spain, 1 ship in Italy, 2 ships in Australia, 2 ships in South Korea, 2s hips in China, and while both Russia and Turkey building two-ship each.
Japan and Brazil are equipped with amphibious transport ships and helicopter carriers similar to amphibious assault ships, 7 and 1 respectively. Italy also has 3 “San Giorgio” class amphibious transport ships In addition, Singapore, Malaysia, India and other countries have proposed their own development plans for amphibious assault ships.
Recently, some defence enthusiasts have made a picture, with a satellite perspective and a height of 230 meters, put together the world’s major amphibious assault ships and helicopter carriers, and compare the length and width of their flight decks, which is very intuitive. Today we will use this picture to talk about the ranking of amphibious assault ships and helicopter carriers in various countries.
America-class amphibious assault ship
The first place is undoubtedly the “American” class of the US Navy. Its flight deck is 257 meters long, 32 meters wide, and has a displacement of 45,693 tons. From the data measured on the satellite map, its flight deck width. In fact, it reaches 36.3 to 36.4 meters, and the length is 250.3 meters. American class amphibious is the biggest amphibious assault ships in the world.
The “American” class is used as an aircraft carrier in the US Marine Corps, so there are no docking cabins for the two ships that have been in service. Currently, two ships are in active service, while two others will join by 2024.
Wasp class amphibious assault ship
Ranked second is the “Wasp”-class amphibious assault ship, with a total of 8 in service. Since the Goodman Richard burned down in July 2020, only seven remain. The data of this type of ship is 257 meters long, 31.8 meters wide, and has a displacement of 40,500 tons. From the data measured on the satellite image, its flight deck is 249.5 meters long, ranking second in the world, not counting the floating lift, and its width is also 35.9 meters.
Izumo-class & Trieste LHD
There is no doubt about the ranking of the championship and runner-up, but when it comes to the third place, the competition is a bit fierce. Judging from the satellite pictures, the Japanese “Izumo” class and the Italian “Trieste” class have the potential to become the third runner-up. Judging from the length of the flight deck, the data marked by netizens is that the “Izumo” class is 245.2 meters, and the “Trieste” class is 232 meters.
As for the flight deck width, the “Trieste” class is 35.3 meters, 44 meters width, the “Izumo” class is 37.2 meters, and with the floating lift, the widest point even reaches 46.4 meters, even more than the “American” class. To wide, is a well-deserved champion. It is not surprising to think that its real positioning is aimed at the aircraft carrier.
Speaking of which, many people have some misunderstandings about the displacement of the “Izumo” class. The official data is that the standard displacement is 19,500 tons and the full-load displacement is 27,000 tons. From the satellite comparison pictures, it is almost as big as the “American” class.
In fact, the displacement of the “Izumo” class of 27,000 tons must be concealed, but it will not reach 45,000 tons, because its original design has no docking cabin, and the hull section is a relatively sharp inverted trapezoid. The hull section of the amphibious assault ship is generally square, so the “Izumo” class is greatly expanded from bottom to top, especially the flight deck, which floats a bit exaggeratedly. It is estimated that the actual displacement of the “Izumo” class should be in about 30,000 tons.
And such a design also brought some troubles to the “Izumo” class. For example, there was a set of pictures showing that when the “Izumo” ship and the British aircraft carrier sailed in formation at the same speed, its wake far exceeded that of the “Queen Elizabeth”. it is estimated that it is caused by the inverted trapezoidal hull section and the deep draft.
However, considering that the Italian “Trieste” class and the Japanese “Izumo” class can carry the F-35B, the third and fourth place should be the two of them, while the French “Mistral” class has a comparatively comprehensive combat capability. At the back, it may only be stronger than Brazil’s “Ocean”, South Korea’s “Dokdo” class and Japan’s “Hyuga” class.