US Navy Ships and Hurricane Katrina

Winds of Change has put together a list of the various (AKA extremely large number of) Navy ships that are involved with the hurricane, whether it be damaged by Katrina or a part of the relief effort. Some very interesting stories in there; for instance:

USS Whidbey Island (LSD 41): Air-cushioned LCAC amphibious transports can operate off of this landing ship (dock), just like her sister the Tortuga in the Iwo Jima group. The DHS release linked to here says the Whidbey Island "will bring with it the capability to employ a movable causeway to the region."

That causeway is essentially a way to get massive amounts of... well, stuff onshore quickly by boat.

 

Give it a read; lots of interesting stuff there.