[Captain Walker]

The Iwo Jima was an LPH (LPH-2, to be exact); the LPHs didn’t have well decks. (The LPHs had also been decommissioned back in the 90s.)

[HighSierra5]

Thanks for letting me know.

[Always A Marine]

The Iwo Jima was an LPH (LPH-2, to be exact); the LPHs didn’t have well decks. (The LPHs had also been decommissioned back in the 90s.)

You are correct about the former USS Iwo Jima (LPH-2), a ship that I knew very well decades ago. But you might not realize a new Wasp-class USS Iwo Jima (LHD-7) was commissioned in 2001. She's the seventh of eight Wasp-class Landing Helicopter Dock amphibious warfare vessels that are essentially small aircraft carriers with flooding well decks for amphibious landing craft in addition to helicopters and F-35 jets.

[octex]

One of my best friends from grades 1-12 served on the Iwo Jima in the Pacific, while I was on the FDR (CVA-42) in the Med.