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About:
[edit]The USS Bataan (LHD-5) is a Wasp-class amphibious assault ship. The name of this ship was to honor the spirit of the American and Filipino soldiers who fought on the Bataan Peninsula [1]. The USS Bataan served a ten and a half long deployment and served under the 5th and 6th fleet areas of responsibility. It was commissioned on September 20, 1997. As of today, the ship is still an active amphibious assault ship in the United States Navy. The USS Bataan is a part of Amphibious group two, the US Atlantic Fleet and its homeport is in Norfolk, Virginia [2]. All WASP class ships were made to hold a squad of Harrier II jets for operational support, what is so special about this ship compared to the other WASP class amphibious assault ships is that is it the first to be able to carry and support the Osprey for operational deployment . This ship is also second to hospital ships in carrying patients, they are able to carry 600 patients. This ship is unique because it was also the first ship to specifically house 450 women along with a combined 3,200 sailors and marines. [1]
The name of the USS Bataan (LHD-5) is actually not the first to have this name. The first was an independence class aircraft carrier ship the USS Bataan (CVL-29) that was commissioned in 1943 and decommissioned nine years later on 1953.[1]
Weapons:
[edit]This ship is also equipped with many different weapon systems. These include:
- Rolling airframe anti-ship missile
- Launching Systems
- NATO Sea Sparrow Surface-to-Air
- Missile Launching Systems
- Phalanx Close-In-Weapons Systems
- 25mm Gun Mounts
- 50-Caliber Gun Mounts. [1]
Crest:
[edit]The crest consists of a shield, crest, supporters and a motto.
Shield
[edit]Has the colors of dark blue and gold which stand for the sea and excellence. There is also red that stands for courage and sacrifice. The white stands for integrity. The seahorse in the middle stands for the ships natural association with the sea. The red stipe down the shield is to commemorate the Bataan Death March. The spears along the side of the shield stand for the combat readiness of the troops and simultaneously commemorate the twelve battle stars that the ship acquired. [1]
Crest
[edit]Has wings that stand for the aviation heritage of the ship. The seven stars stand for the battle stars the ship earned during the Korean conflict, and the big star in the middle has five points that stand for the World War II battle stars. The black mount is supposed to represent the mountainous range of Korea and the sun is to represent the sun that is on the Philippine’s national flag. [1]
Supporters
[edit]Consist of two swords that represent the Navy- Marine Corps team [1].
Motto
[edit]That is on the crest, the three words “courage, commitment, honor” are the United States Navy core values. (navy.mil) [1]
Awards:
[edit]The USS Bataan has acquired seven different awards.
- Navy Unit Commendation twice
- Navy Meritorious Unit Commendation
- Navy E Ribbon five
- Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal
- National Defense Service Medal
- Southwest Asia Service Medal
- Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal five[2]
Prison Ship
[edit]The USS Bataan is well known for the fact that it carried many terrorists on board the ship. The USS Bataan is one of the biggest floating prisons in the fact that it carried about nine confirmed prisoners aboard. [3]
Ibn al-Shaykh al-Libi
[edit]Ibn al-Shaykh al-Libi. This person was flown to the ship and then dropped off in Egypt where he was tortured until he confessed that Al Qaeda and Saddam Hussein were working together. It was noted that al-Libi's allegations of Iraq working with al-Qaeda were false. Later they find out that he actually was lying about everything he told the US Navy. [4]
John Walker Lindh
[edit]John Walker Lindh was charged for conspiracy to murder US citizens, two counts of providing material support and resources to terrorist organizations and eight other charges against him. Lindh was charged to 20 years of prison after agreeing to cooperate with FBI officials. [5]
David Hicks
[edit]David Hicks was captured and imprisoned for providing material support for terrorism. [3] He was also one of the first people to be held captive in a prison facility that had just opened up in Guantanimo from 2002 to 2007. [6]
References
[edit]- ^ a b "NavSource Online: Amphibious Photo Archive." Amphibious Assault Ship (Multi-Purpose) Photo Index LHD-5 Bataan. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 Apr. 2014. <http://www.navsource.org/archives/10/0
- ^ a b "Prison ships." Reprieve. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 Apr. 2014. <http://www.reprieve.org.uk/cases/prison
- ^ "Profile: Ibn al-Shaykh al-Libi." Ibn al-Shaykh al-Libi. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 Apr. 2014. <http://www.historycommons.org/entity.jsp?entity=ibn_al-shaykh_al-libi>.
- ^ "John Walker Lindh - Discover the Networks." John Walker Lindh - Discover the Networks. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 Apr. 2014. <http://www.discoverthenetworks.org/individualProfile.asp?indid=1239>.
- ^ "TruthOut Archive." EXCLUSIVE: An Interview With Former Guantanamo Detainee David Hicks. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 Apr. 2014. <http://www.truth-out.org/archive/item/94537:exclusive-an-interview-with-former-guantanamo-detainee-david-hicks>.