The landing ship USS Kearsarge will dock in Gdynia!
The US landing ship USS Gunston Hall (LSD-44) is staying in Gdynia until Sunday. On Tuesday, a much larger and more spectacular 250-metre-plus landing ship – the USS Kearsarge (LHD-3) – will arrive in the Gdynia harbour.
The US landing ship USS Gunston Hall is docked in the Gdynia harbour. Arriving from Riga, the ship, which entered our port on Tuesday, first moored at the French Quay and then (while freeing space for a cruise ship) changed its berth to the jetty of the PGZ Naval Shipyard in Gdynia, where it was to undergo minor technical work. As reported by PGZ SW itself, measuring 185m in length, the vessel is the largest to call at PGZ Naval Shipyard (before that Naval Shipyard) in its 100-year history.
USS Gunston Hall is scheduled to leave Gdynia on Sunday 11 September, after 12:30 pm, to enter the port of Gdansk two days later, on Tuesday, after 9:00 am. She will stand at WOC quay 2, where she is likely to remain until 19 September.
Information on planned ship movements (dates and times) is preliminary and indicative, to the best of our knowledge at the time of publication of this material, and is subject to change.
After Gunston Hall, a much more spectacular ship will arrive in Gdynia – the USS Kearsarge. According to the information currently available, it is due to arrive on Tuesday, 13 September, after 9pm at the French Quay, where it will be moored until around midday, 19 September.
In addition to the – ever-present – mark of presence (in this case, a demonstration of the United States’ commitment to the Baltic NATO allies) and an opportunity to interact with the navy of a NATO ally, the ship’s visit is primarily technical and logistical in nature – intended, among other things, to resupply and rest the crew.
On both ships there are Marine infantry troops present, constantly in training, as – with regard to the USS Kearsarge – we have previously reported. The USS Kearsarge will bring a US Marine air group (infantry) to Gdynia on board, among others.
Agency care for the US ships visiting Tri-City ports during these days is provided by Schultz Shipping.
USS Kearsarge (LHD-3) is the third in a series of ‘Wasp’ type landing ships belonging to the US Navy fleet. The ship was built by the then Litton-owned Ingalls Shipbuilding Corporation shipyard in Pascagoula. Launching took place in March 1992, christening in May 1992 and induction into service on 16 October 1993.
On the Wasp ship, an assault support system coordinates the vertical and horizontal movement of troops, cargo and vehicles. The monorail (mono-rail) system, transports, at speeds of up to 3 m/s, cargo and supplies from storage and berthing areas throughout the ship to the 1,260 m² dock deck, which opens to the sea through a large gate in the transom (aft) of the ship.
On the dock deck, cargo, soldiers and vehicles are loaded onto landing craft, which are then transported to the beach. From the dry dock deck, landing craft can ‘fly out’ and, when it is flooded, conventional landing craft, such as boats, cutters or landing barges, can sail out of the dry dock deck on their way to the beach.
In the video below (and in two more, below the text, above the ship’s technical data), the ‘docking’ of the landing hovercrafts and their departure from the dock deck on the USS Kearsarge is shown.
