[johnleeknoefler]

USS Bonhomme Richard (LHD-6) is an Amphibious Assault Ship, and the third United States Navy ship of that name. It was named in honor of John Paul Jones' famous frigate, which he had named the French language equivalent of "Good man Richard," in honor of Benjamin Franklin, the U.S. Ambassador to France at the time. The name Bonhomme Richard is derived from the pen name of Benjamin Franklin, the author of Poor Richard's Almanac.

Bonhomme Richard ("Revolutionary Gator") is a Wasp-class amphibious assault ship currently homeported in San Diego, California. The contract to build her was awarded to Ingalls Shipbuilding on 11 December 1992, and her keel was laid down on 18 April 1995. She was launched on 14 March 1997, delivered to the Navy on 12 May 1998, and commissioned on 15 August 1998.

The Bonhomme Richard is currently scheduled to switch homeports in Spring 2012 when it will take the place of the USS Essex (LHD-2) as the command ship for Expeditionary Strike Group Seven in Sasebo, Japan.

General Dynamics NASSCO dry-docked the USS Bonhomme Richard (LHD 6) on December 1, 2010. For the next five months, the 844-foot long amphibious assault ship vessel underwent an extended period of maintenance, repair, and mid-life upgrades.

[johnleeknoefler]

For an explanation of the photos I titled them accordingly. Check the titles.

[Oswald2001]

I've been on one of those class of ships.

Modern navy ships are engineering marvels.