Meet Kearsarge

"41,000 tons of fun. 844 feet long and 106 feet wide, USS Kearsarge, the third Wasp-class amphibious assault ship, joined the fleet in 1993. Within two years she was already world famous, as the ship that launched the Marine mission that rescued downed Air Force pilot Scott O’Grady in Bosnia.

Over the years Kearsarge has intersected with history many times. She’s assisted in the aftermath of several natural disasters, and in 2003 joined the invasion of Iraq. Today she’s one of two East Coast-based assault ships pioneering a new naval strategy. Instead of hauling 2,000 Marines plus tanks, Harrier jump jets and Cobra attack choppers, Kearsarge is loaded with 550 humanitarian workers including Navy and Air Force construction workers; military doctors and dentists from the U.S., The Netherlands and Brazil; civilian plastic surgeons; and even a couple of historians. Kearsarge left Norfolk, Virginia, on Thursday for a four-month South American cruise, calling at six countries, including Nicaragua, to deliver free medical care and economic assistance. The idea, says Commodore Frank Ponds, is “influencing generations to come.”"
War is Boring