USS WASP (LHD1) is the tenth Navy ship to be named "WASP." Ships of the LHD 1 multipurpose amphibious assault ship program are named for famous U.S. Navy warships which themselves were not named for battles. In naming LHD 1 "WASP," the Navy honors nine previous ships, dating to the American Revolution, which have borne this illustrious name.

Previous U.S. Navy ships named WASP include: a schooner, 1775-1777; a sloop of war, 1806-1813; another schooner, 1810-1814; a tender sloop, 1813-1814; a ship-rigged sloop of war, 1814; an iron-hulled sidewheel steamer, 1865-1876; a steam yacht; 1898-1921; and the most famous of the nine, two aircraft carriers: CV 7, 1940-1942, and CV 18, 1943-1972.

The eighth WASP was a 14,700-ton, 741-foot aircraft carrier that earned two battle stars during World War II. She was perhaps most famous for her prominent role in two vital reinforcement runs in support of beleaguered Allied troops on the island of Malta in 1942. Her sterling performance evoked British Prime Minister Winston Churchill's famous interrogatory message: "Who said a WASP couldn't sting twice?"

After shifting to the Pacific theater of operations, CV 7 participated in a number of major engagements before being sunk during the Battle of Guadalcanal on September 15, 1942.

Following the loss of CV 7, CV 18, already under construction at the time, became the ninth WASP. The ship earned eight battle stars for her World War II service in the Pacific. After the war, she was reclassified as an antisubmarine warfare aircraft carrier (CVS 18) and participated in the U.S. space program as a recovery ship of astronauts from Gemini IV, VI, VII, IX, and XII. After 29 years of gallant naval service, CVS 18 was decommissioned in 1972.

USS WASP (LHD1) is the lead ship in an all-new class of multi-purpose amphibious assault ships built by Ingalls Shipbuilding division of Litton in Pascagoula, Mississippi. The NAVY/MARINE CORPS teams newest amphibious support warship has as its primary mission the embarkation, deployment, landing and support of a Marine landing force.