USS Essex (LHD-2) is a United States Navy Wasp-class amphibious assault ship built at what is now Huntington Ingalls Industries in Pascagoula, Mississippi, and commissioned on 17 October 1992 while moored at North Island NAS beside USS Kitty Hawk. It is the fifth ship named for Essex County, Massachusetts. Dick Cheney, then the Secretary of Defense in the first Bush Administration, spoke at the commissioning ceremony. Essex served as the command ship for Expeditionary Strike Group until replaced by USS Bonhomme Richard on 23 April 2012. Essex collided with USNS Yukon in May 2012. Name:
| USS Essex | Namesake: | Essex County, Massachusetts
| Ordered: | 10 September 1986 | Builder: | Ingalls Shipbuilding
| Laid down: | 20 March 1989 | Launched: | 23 February 1991 | Commissioned: | 17 October 1992 | Homeport: | Naval Base San Diego
| Motto: Take Notice |
| Nickname(s): | "The Iron Gator" | Status: | in active service |
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