USS Bataan (LHD-5)

For other ships of the same name, see USS Bataan.

Career
Name:	USS Bataan
Namesake:	the defense of the Bataan Peninsula
Ordered:	20 December 1991
Builder:	Ingalls Shipbuilding
Laid down:	22 June 1994
Launched:	15 March 1996
Christened:	18 May 1996
Commissioned:	20 September 1997
Homeport:	Norfolk, Virginia
Motto:	Courage, Commitment, Honor
Nickname:	"Big 5" or "Dirty Nickel"
Status:	in active service, as of 2012
Badge:
General characteristics
Class and type:	Wasp-class amphibious assault ship
Displacement:	40,358 long tons (41,006 t) full load
Length:	844 ft (257 m)
Beam:	106 ft (32 m)
Draft:	27 ft (8.2 m)
Propulsion:	Geared Steam Turbines
Speed:	20 knots (23 mph; 37 km/h)+
Troops:	1,894 Marines
Complement:	104 officers, 1,004 enlisted
Armament:	• 2 × NATO Sea Sparrow missile systems • 2 × Rolling Airframe Missile systems • 2 × Phalanx CIWS • 3 × 25 mm Mk 38 cannons • 4 × .50-cal machine guns
Aircraft carried:	Variable by mission: • • 4 × CH-53E Super Stallion helicopters • 6 × AV-8B Harrier attack aircraft • 3 × UH-1N Huey helicopters • 4 × AH-1W Super Cobra helicopters • 8 × MV-22 Osprey VTOL tiltrotor aircraft • 2 × MH-60S KnightHawk helicopters

USS Bataan (LHD-5) is a Wasp-class amphibious assault ship commissioned in 1997. She is named to honor the defense of the Bataan Peninsula on the western side of Manila Bay in the Philippines during the early days of US involvement in World War II.

Christening

Ship's Sponsor, Linda Sloan Mundy, wife of former Marine Corps Commandant Gen. Carl E. Mundy, Jr., christened the new ship "in the name of the United States and in honor of the heroic defenders of Bataan." at Ingalls Shipbuilding, Pascagoula, Mississippi. More than 100 members of veterans groups associated with the defense of Bataan and the subsequent infamous "Death March", the Battle of Corregidor, and the aircraft carrier USS Bataan (CVL-29) were at the christening ceremony.

Missions

2003 to 2007 Iraq War

The Bataan was one of many vessels in the Middle East region at the beginning of the Iraq war on or about 20 March 2003. After delivering her attack and transport helicopters, troops, and vehicles she was employed as a "Harrier Carrier" with primary duties supporting two Marine AV-8B Harrier II Squadrons along with USS Bonhomme Richard (LHD-6). She has made two deployments to the region since the invasion. For her third deployment, she joined the Fifth Fleet in the Gulf region, transiting the Suez Canal into the Red Sea on 30 January 2007.

Bataan provided relief to the victims of Hurricane Katrina. She was positioned near New Orleans prior to Katrina making landfall, and began relief operations on 30 August. The ship's helicopters were among the first to provide damage assessment. They went on to transport over 1600 displaced persons. Bataan delivered more than 100,000 pounds (45 metric tons) of cargo and 8000 U.S. gallons (30,000 liters) of fresh water to the area. The ship served as a base for two fly-away medical teams, consisting of 84 medical professionals, who provided emergency medical care in New Orleans.

2005 Evaluation of V-22 Osprey

The Bataan served as a naval testbed for evaluation of the V-22 Osprey tiltrotor aircraft in September 2005. This work included OPEVAL II operational and live fire tests and was accomplished with a total of eight Ospreys.

In 2009, the Bataan became the first Navy ship to host an operational squadron of V-22 rotorcraft when she embarked ten Ospreys of the VMM-263.

2008 Hurricane Gustav

Early in September 2008, Bataan participated in the HURREX exercise where the U.S. Second Fleet directed tests designed to evaluate the ship's ability to respond to humanitarian assistance and disaster relief needs during the 2008 hurricane season. She was ordered to be prepared to deploy in the event that the Navy is directed to provide assistance to civilian authorities after Hurricane Gustav came ashore.

2010 Haiti earthquake

On 13 January 2010, the Bataan was ordered to assist in the humanitarian relief efforts following the 2010 Haiti earthquake. She was deployed to Grand-Goâve and returned home 3 April 2010.

2011 Libya & Italy

On March 23 2011 the USS Bataan was deployed to Libya to assist in enforcing the no-fly zone over Libya.^{[citation needed]}

Controversy regarding use as a prison ship

Sailors assigned to the USS Bataan (LHD 5) assist in the unfolding of a flag flown over the World Trade Center in New York City on September 11, 2001.

In June, 2008, the UK-based human rights organization Reprieve issued a report that listed the Bataan as one of up to 17 ships where they believed terrorism suspects were being imprisoned. The US Navy denied the allegation.

On 2 June 2008 The Guardian reported that "The US has admitted that the Bataan and Peleliu were used as prison ships between December 2001 and January 2002". The article went on to state: "President George Bush admitted in September 2006 that the CIA operated a secret network of 'black sites' in which terrorist suspects were held and subjected to what he called 'enhanced interrogation techniques', a term described by the Council of Europe as 'essentially a euphemism for some kind of torture'."

It is also known that John Walker Lindh, the "American Taliban", was escorted back to the United States aboard Bataan.

Crew dismissals

In February 2011, the Navy announced that 16 members of the ship's crew were being dismissed for using the cannabis analogue drug spice. Fifteen of the sailors received non-judicial punishment and one was convicted in a summary court-martial after an eight week investigation into use of the drug by the ship's crewmembers.

See also

• Amphibious warfare
• Mistral class amphibious assault ship
• NATO

External links

• USS Bataan Homepage
• Maritimequest USS Bataan LHD-5 Photo Gallery
• OPEVAL II testing report in pdf form
• The case of the Taliban American CNN
• Navy ship nearby underused Chicago Tribune 4 Sept 2005
• Harrier carrier: Strike force for freedom
• USS Bataan history at U.S. Carriers
• USS Bataan (LHD-5) command histories – Naval History & Heritage Command

• 2001
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• 2004