USS Ashland (LSD-48)
Encyclopedia
USS Ashland (LSD-48) is a Whidbey Island-class
dock landing ship
of the United States Navy
. She was the second
Navy ship to be named for Ashland
, the home of Henry Clay
, in Lexington
, Kentucky
.
Ashland was laid down on 4 April 1988,
by the Avondale Shipyards, New Orleans, La.
; launched
and christened on 11 November 1989, sponsored by Mrs. Kathleen Foley, wife of Admiral Sylvester R. Foley, Jr. (Ret.); and commissioned
on 9 May 1992, at New Orleans. As of 2005, Ashland is homeported at NAB Little Creek
, Virginia
, and assigned to Amphibious Group 2.
were targeted by three Katyusha rockets while in port in Aqaba
, Jordan
. The vessels were not hit, but one Jordanian soldier was killed and another was wounded after two rockets hit nearby docks. The third rocket landed on a taxi near the Eilat airport in Israel
but did not explode. Responsibility was claimed by the Abdullah Azzam Shaheed Brigade
, which states that it is associated with the al-Qaeda
terrorist group.
to conduct antiterrorist operations as part of the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower
task force.
On 31 May 2008 The Guardian
reported that the human rights group Reprieve said up to seventeen US Naval vessels may have been used to covertly hold captives.
Reprieve expressed the concern the Ashland had been used as a receiving ship for up to 100 captives taken in East Africa.
In April 2008, Ashland visited Antsiranana
, Madagascar
.
On April 10, 2010, seven suspected pirates
on a skiff
shot at the Ashland approximately 330 nautical miles (611.2 km) off the coast of Djibouti
. Ashland fired two rounds at the skiff from her MK-38 Mod 2, 25mm gun. The people on board the skiff abandoned ship as it became engulfed in flames. Rigid-hulled inflatable boat
s from the Ashland rescued the six surviving individuals and brought them aboard the ship for medical treatment. The Ashland was not damaged and there were no injuries to the crew. The piracy charges were later dropped, although other charges remain in effect. In late August 2010, one of the pirates, Jama Idle Ibrahim, and five others, pleaded guilty to attacking to plunder a vessel, engaging in an act of violence against people on a vessel, and using a firearm during a crime of violence. They agreed to a 30 year prison term, and currently face a sentencing hearing on 29 November 2010. On November 29, 2010 Jama Idle Ibrahim was sentenced at a federal courthouse in Norfolk, Virginia to 30 years in prison for his involvement in the April piracy attacks against the Ashland. "Today marks the first sentencing in Norfolk for acts of piracy in more than 150 years," said U.S. Attorney Neil H. MacBride.
USS Ashland is in dry dock at Metro Machine Corp. in Norfolk, Virginia for mid-life extension work that includes normal repair and refurbishment, as well as major alterations to several ship systems. Improvements to the ship’s diesel engines, onboard networks, engineering control systems, and power management, and improved capacity for air conditioning and chilled water distribution are being made. The biggest long-term change, however, will involve the replacement of high-maintenance steam systems with all-electric functionality. With work planned for completion by February 2012, the Ashland, one of eight active ships in its class, is expected to remain in service and mission-capable to 2038.
USS Ashland (LSD-48) command histories – Naval History & Heritage Command
Whidbey Island class dock landing ship
The Whidbey Island class dock landing ship is a dock landing ship of the United States Navy. Introduced to fleet service in 1985, this class of ship features a massive well deck for the transport of four LCAC hovercraft for landing Marines....
dock landing ship
Dock landing ship
A Dock landing ship or Landing ship is a form of amphibious warship designed to support amphibious operations. These amphibious assault ships transport and launch amphibious craft and vehicles with their crews and embarked personnel...
of the United States Navy
United States Navy
The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...
. She was the second
Navy ship to be named for Ashland
Ashland (Henry Clay home)
Ashland is the name of the plantation of the nineteenth-century Kentucky statesman Henry Clay, located in Lexington, Kentucky, in the central Bluegrass region of the state...
, the home of Henry Clay
Henry Clay
Henry Clay, Sr. , was a lawyer, politician and skilled orator who represented Kentucky separately in both the Senate and in the House of Representatives...
, in Lexington
Lexington, Kentucky
Lexington is the second-largest city in Kentucky and the 63rd largest in the US. Known as the "Thoroughbred City" and the "Horse Capital of the World", it is located in the heart of Kentucky's Bluegrass region...
, Kentucky
Kentucky
The Commonwealth of Kentucky is a state located in the East Central United States of America. As classified by the United States Census Bureau, Kentucky is a Southern state, more specifically in the East South Central region. Kentucky is one of four U.S. states constituted as a commonwealth...
.
Ashland was laid down on 4 April 1988,
by the Avondale Shipyards, New Orleans, La.
New Orleans, Louisiana
New Orleans is a major United States port and the largest city and metropolitan area in the state of Louisiana. The New Orleans metropolitan area has a population of 1,235,650 as of 2009, the 46th largest in the USA. The New Orleans – Metairie – Bogalusa combined statistical area has a population...
; launched
Ship naming and launching
The ceremonies involved in naming and launching naval ships are based in traditions thousands of years old.-Methods of launch:There are three principal methods of conveying a new ship from building site to water, only two of which are called "launching." The oldest, most familiar, and most widely...
and christened on 11 November 1989, sponsored by Mrs. Kathleen Foley, wife of Admiral Sylvester R. Foley, Jr. (Ret.); and commissioned
Ship commissioning
Ship commissioning is the act or ceremony of placing a ship in active service, and may be regarded as a particular application of the general concepts and practices of project commissioning. The term is most commonly applied to the placing of a warship in active duty with its country's military...
on 9 May 1992, at New Orleans. As of 2005, Ashland is homeported at NAB Little Creek
Naval Amphibious Base Little Creek
The Naval Amphibious Base, Little Creek is the major operating base for the Amphibious Forces in the United States Navy's Atlantic Fleet. The base comprises four locations in three states, including almost 12,000 acres of real estate. Its Little Creek location in Virginia Beach, Virginia totals...
, Virginia
Virginia
The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...
, and assigned to Amphibious Group 2.
2005 rocket attack
On 19 August 2005, the Ashland and the USS KearsargeUSS Kearsarge (LHD-3)
USS Kearsarge is the third of the United States Navy. She is the fifth ship to be named in honor of the USS Kearsarge, a sloop-of-war that gained fame during the American Civil War, which was in turn named for Mount Kearsarge in New Hampshire.-Construction:Kearsarges keel was laid down on 6...
were targeted by three Katyusha rockets while in port in Aqaba
Aqaba
Aqaba is a coastal city in the far south of Jordan, the capital of Aqaba Governorate at the head of the Gulf of Aqaba. Aqaba is strategically important to Jordan as it is the country's only seaport. Aqaba is best known today as a diving and beach resort, but industrial activity remains important...
, Jordan
Jordan
Jordan , officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan , Al-Mamlaka al-Urduniyya al-Hashemiyya) is a kingdom on the East Bank of the River Jordan. The country borders Saudi Arabia to the east and south-east, Iraq to the north-east, Syria to the north and the West Bank and Israel to the west, sharing...
. The vessels were not hit, but one Jordanian soldier was killed and another was wounded after two rockets hit nearby docks. The third rocket landed on a taxi near the Eilat airport in Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
but did not explode. Responsibility was claimed by the Abdullah Azzam Shaheed Brigade
Abdullah Azzam Shaheed Brigade
Abdullah Azzam Brigades is an Islamist militant group affiliated with Al-Qaeda and the global jihad movement. The group, which began operating in 2009, has local networks in various countries., The Meir Amit Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center 01-09-2010 It is named after the late Sheikh...
, which states that it is associated with the al-Qaeda
Al-Qaeda
Al-Qaeda is a global broad-based militant Islamist terrorist organization founded by Osama bin Laden sometime between August 1988 and late 1989. It operates as a network comprising both a multinational, stateless army and a radical Sunni Muslim movement calling for global Jihad...
terrorist group.
Later service
In January 2007, the warship was sent to the coast of SomaliaSomalia
Somalia , officially the Somali Republic and formerly known as the Somali Democratic Republic under Socialist rule, is a country located in the Horn of Africa. Since the outbreak of the Somali Civil War in 1991 there has been no central government control over most of the country's territory...
to conduct antiterrorist operations as part of the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower
USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN-69)
USS Dwight D. Eisenhower is an aircraft carrier currently in service with the United States Navy. Commissioned in 1977, the ship is the second of the ten Nimitz-class supercarriers currently in service, and is the first ship named after the thirty-fourth President of the United States, Dwight D....
task force.
On 31 May 2008 The Guardian
The Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
reported that the human rights group Reprieve said up to seventeen US Naval vessels may have been used to covertly hold captives.
Reprieve expressed the concern the Ashland had been used as a receiving ship for up to 100 captives taken in East Africa.
In April 2008, Ashland visited Antsiranana
Antsiranana
Antsiranana , named Diego-Suarez prior to 1975, is a city at the northern tip of Madagascar.Antsiranana is the capital of Diana Region.-Transports:...
, Madagascar
Madagascar
The Republic of Madagascar is an island country located in the Indian Ocean off the southeastern coast of Africa...
.
On April 10, 2010, seven suspected pirates
Piracy in Somalia
Piracy off the coast of Somalia has been a threat to international shipping since the second phase of the Somali Civil War in the early 21st century...
on a skiff
Skiff
The term skiff is used for a number of essentially unrelated styles of small boat. The word is related to ship and has a complicated etymology: "skiff" comes from the Middle English skif, which derives from the Old French esquif, which in turn derives from the Old Italian schifo, which is itself of...
shot at the Ashland approximately 330 nautical miles (611.2 km) off the coast of Djibouti
Djibouti
Djibouti , officially the Republic of Djibouti , is a country in the Horn of Africa. It is bordered by Eritrea in the north, Ethiopia in the west and south, and Somalia in the southeast. The remainder of the border is formed by the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden at the east...
. Ashland fired two rounds at the skiff from her MK-38 Mod 2, 25mm gun. The people on board the skiff abandoned ship as it became engulfed in flames. Rigid-hulled inflatable boat
Rigid-hulled inflatable boat
A rigid-hulled inflatable boat, or rigid-inflatable boat is a light-weight but high-performance and high-capacity boat constructed with a solid, shaped hull and flexible tubes at the gunwale. The design is stable and seaworthy...
s from the Ashland rescued the six surviving individuals and brought them aboard the ship for medical treatment. The Ashland was not damaged and there were no injuries to the crew. The piracy charges were later dropped, although other charges remain in effect. In late August 2010, one of the pirates, Jama Idle Ibrahim, and five others, pleaded guilty to attacking to plunder a vessel, engaging in an act of violence against people on a vessel, and using a firearm during a crime of violence. They agreed to a 30 year prison term, and currently face a sentencing hearing on 29 November 2010. On November 29, 2010 Jama Idle Ibrahim was sentenced at a federal courthouse in Norfolk, Virginia to 30 years in prison for his involvement in the April piracy attacks against the Ashland. "Today marks the first sentencing in Norfolk for acts of piracy in more than 150 years," said U.S. Attorney Neil H. MacBride.
USS Ashland is in dry dock at Metro Machine Corp. in Norfolk, Virginia for mid-life extension work that includes normal repair and refurbishment, as well as major alterations to several ship systems. Improvements to the ship’s diesel engines, onboard networks, engineering control systems, and power management, and improved capacity for air conditioning and chilled water distribution are being made. The biggest long-term change, however, will involve the replacement of high-maintenance steam systems with all-electric functionality. With work planned for completion by February 2012, the Ashland, one of eight active ships in its class, is expected to remain in service and mission-capable to 2038.
External links
- USS Ashland official website
- history.navy.mil: USS Ashland
- navsource.org: USS Ashland
- nvr.navy.mil: USS Ashland
- navysite.de: USS Ashland
- 1995 command history – Naval History & Heritage Command
USS Ashland (LSD-48) command histories – Naval History & Heritage Command