The Iwo Jima-class amphibious assault ships of the United States Navy were the first amphibious assault ships designed and built as dedicated helicopter carriers, capable of operating up to 20 helicopters to carry up to 1,800 marines ashore. They were named for battles featuring the United States Marine Corps, starting with the Battle of Iwo Jima. The first ship of the class was commissioned in 1961, and the last was decommissioned in 2002. The hull classification of "LPH" stands for "Landing Platform Helicopter". Operational history Ships of this class participated in several conflicts and peacekeeping and humanitarian relief operations: Nuclear weapons test support, Johnston Atoll 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis 1962 Vietnam War 1963-1973 Dominican Civil War 1965 Gemini and Apollo spacecraft recovery 1966-1975 Iran hostage crisis 1980 Multinational Force in Lebanon, 1982-1983 Operation Urgent Fury, Grenada, 1983 Operation Earnest Will, Persian Gulf 1987-1988 Operation Sharp Edge, Liberia, 1990 Gulf War 1990-1991 Operation Eastern Exit, Somalia, 1991 Operation Restore Hope, Somalia, 1993 Operation Continue Hope, Somalia, 1994 Operation Deny Flight, Bosnia, 1994 Operation Uphold Democracy, Haiti, 1994 Operation Vigilant Warrior, Kuwait, 1994 Operation Assured Response, Liberia, 1996 One ship of this class, , was used in a 1970-1974 Sea Control Ship experiment to test the concept of a smaller aircraft carrier using V/STOL aircraft. Another ship, , was converted to a mine countermeasures ship which hosted mine sweeping helicopters. The hull design of the Iwo Jima-class also became the basis of the slightly larger of amphibious command ships. Ships in class Popular culture One of the Iwo Jima-class ships served as the fieldsite in Edwin Hutchins's classic cognitive science study Cognition in the Wild. Although Hutchins does not mention the ship class by name, on p. 7 he characterizes it as a amphibious helicopter carrier. References hazegray.org: Iwo Jima-class amphibious assault ships Amphibious warfare vessel classes Helicopter carrier classes Iwo Jima class amphibious assault ship Iwo Jima class amphibious assault ship Iwo Jima class amphibious assault ship