Dock landing ship

Dock landing ship
USS Harpers Ferry, a US Navy Harper's Ferry class dock landing ship.

A Dock landing ship or Landing ship (Dock) (hull classification LSD) is a form of amphibious warship designed to support amphibious operations. These amphibious assault ships transport and launch amphibious craft and vehicles with their crews and embarked personnel. In the United States Navy, two related groups of vessels are in service, the Whidbey Island and Harpers Ferry classes, mainly used to carry Landing Craft Air Cushions (LCACs), operate helicopters, and carry Marines. The Royal Navy also operates three ships of the Bay class.

Contents

History

The LSD came as a result of a British requirement during the Second World War for a vessel that could carry large landing craft across the seas at speed.

The first LSD came from a design by Sir Rowland Baker who had designed the British Landing Craft, Tank. It was an answer to the problem of launching small craft rapidly. The "Landing Ship Stern Chute" which was a converted train ferry was an early attempt. Thirteen Landing Craft Mechanized (LCM) could be launched from these ships down the chute. The Landing Ship Gantry was a converted tanker with a crane to transfer its cargo of landing craft from deck to sea - 15 LCM in a little over half an hour.[1]

The design was developed and built in the US for the USN and the Royal Navy. The LSD could carry 36 LCM at 16 knots. It took one and a half hours for the dock to be flooded down and two and half to pump it out. When flooded they could also be used as docks for repairs to small craft.

Vessels of this classification

United States Navy current

Currently there are two classes of LSDs in the United States Navy:

Whidbey Island class:

Harper's Ferry class:

USN former

LSD-9 through LSD-12 are Casa Grande class ships built for the British

Royal Fleet Auxiliary

Mounts Bay, a Bay-class Landing Ship Dock.

The Royal Fleet Auxiliary of the United Kingdom operates three naval auxiliaries vessels rated as Dock Landing Ships.

Bay class:

See also

Notes and references

  1. ^ Brown, D K, Nelson to Vanguard p 145

External links


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем написать реферат

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Whidbey Island class dock landing ship — The Whidbey Island class dock landing ship is a dock landing ship of the United States Navy. Introduced to fleet service in 1985, this class of ship features a massive well deck for the transport of four landing craft air cushion hovercraft for… …   Wikipedia

  • Thomaston class dock landing ship — The Thomaston class dock landing ship is a class of United States Navy dock landing ships. There are eight ships of the Thomaston class:*USS Alamo (LSD 33) *USS Fort Snelling (LSD 30) *USS Hermitage (LSD 34) *USS Monticello (LSD 35) *USS Plymouth …   Wikipedia

  • Harpers Ferry class dock landing ship — The Harpers Ferry class of the United States Navy is a class of dock landing ships completed in the early 1990s. Modified from the Whidbey Island class, it loses landing craft capacity for more cargo space, making it closer to an amphibious… …   Wikipedia

  • Landing Ship Medium — were amphibious assault ships of the United States Navy in the World War II. Of comparable size to Landing Ship, Tank and the Landing Craft, Infantry, there were 558 LSM (Landing Ship, Medium) made for the USN between 1944 and 1945. The majority… …   Wikipedia

  • Anchorage class dock landing ship — The Anchorage class dock landing ships were a series of five dock landing ships (LSD) constructed and commissioned by the United States Navy between 1965 and 1972. US Navy decommissioned all five of them by 2003. They are succeeded by Whidbey… …   Wikipedia

  • Landing Ship, Tank — A Canadian LST off loads an M4 Sherman during the Allied invasion of Sicily in 1943. Landing Ship, Tank (LST) was the military designation for naval vessels created during World War II to support amphibious operations by carrying significant… …   Wikipedia

  • landing ship, tank — ▪ naval ship  naval ship specially designed to transport and deploy troops, vehicles, and supplies onto foreign shores for the conduct of offensive military operations. LSTs were designed during World War II to disembark military forces without… …   Universalium

  • Landing Ship Medium — LSM 1/LSM(R) Klasse USS LSM 437 Geschichte Typ LSM: Landungsschiff, LSM(R): Landungsunterstützungsschiff Einheiten 498 LSM, 60 LSM(R) …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Landing Ship Medium (Rocket) — LSM 1/LSM(R) Klasse USS LSM 437 Geschichte Typ LSM: Landungsschiff, LSM(R): Landungsunterstützungsschiff Einheiten 498 LSM, 60 LSM(R) …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Landing Ship — Embarcation de débarquement Une embarcation de débarquement (ou Landing Craft en anglais) est un navire de guerre léger spécialisé dans les opérations de débarquement amphibie, c’est à dire la mise à terre de troupes et d unités de l armée de… …   Wikipédia en Français

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”