Landing Helicopter Dock (LHD)

A US Navy big-deck amphibious assault ship combining a full-length flight deck with a flooding well deck aft, giving it both heavy aviation and surface-landing-craft capacity. The hull symbol is LHD. The Wasp class (LHD-1, commissioned 1989) displaces about 41,000 tons full load, carries roughly 1,600 to 1,900 Marines, and operates F-35B/AV-8B jets, MV-22 tilt-rotors, helicopters, and up to three LCACs from its well deck. The LHD differs from the LHA mainly by retaining that well deck, making it the more balanced aviation-plus-surface assault platform.