Casa Grande-class dock landing ship

The Casa Grande class was a class of dock landing ships used by the Royal Navy and the United States Navy during the Second World War. Nineteen ships were planned, but two, USS Fort Snelling and USS Point Defiance were cancelled before being completed.

Class overview
Name: Casa Grande
Builders:
Operators:
Preceded by: Ashland-class dock landing ship
Succeeded by: Thomaston-class dock landing ship
Planned: 19
Completed: 17
Cancelled: 2
Retired: 17
General characteristics
Type: dock landing ship
Displacement:
  • 4,032 tons (light)
  • 7,930 tons (seagoing)
Length:
  • 454 ft (138 m) at waterline
  • 457 ft 9 in (139.52 m) oa
Beam: 72 ft 2 in (22.00 m)
Draught: 15 ft 10 in (4.83 m)
Propulsion:
  • 2-shaft turbines, 2 boilers
  • 7,000 shp (LSD13-21 and 25-27)
  • 9,000 shp (LSD22-24)
Speed: 15.6 knots (18.0 mph; 28.9 km/h)
Range: 7,400 nmi (13,700 km) at 15 kn (28 km/h)
Boats & landing
craft carried:
  • One of the following arrangements:
    • 3 × LCT Mark V or VI or
    • 2 × LCT Mark III or IV or
    • 14 × LCM Mark III or
    • 41 × LVT or
    • 47 × DUKWs
Capacity: 1,500 tons of cargo (if not carrying boats)
Complement: 17 officers and 237 men
Armament:
  • 1 × 5"/38 guns
  • 12 × 40 mm Bofors guns (2 × 2), (2 × 4)
  • 16 × 20mm guns

Design

The 'Landing Ship Dock' or LSD developed from a British staff requirement for a type of self-propelled drydock to transport beaching craft over long distances, that would in turn deliver trucks and supplies onto the beach.[1] A flooding deck aft capable of holding either two of the larger British Landing craft tanks (LCTs) or three of the new US LCTs was included in the designs.[1] With the option of fitting extra decks, large numbers of vehicles could be transported, and loaded into landing craft via ramps. Despite an initial specification for a speed of 17 knots (20 mph; 31 km/h), the LSDs were capable of only 15.6 knots (18.0 mph; 28.9 km/h).[1]

Service

The British initially ordered seven of the class from US dockyards, numbered LSD-9 to 15.[1] Only four were delivered, numbers 9 to 12, while 13 to 15 were retained by the US Navy, which ordered another twelve to the design, but only built ten.[1][2] In total thirteen of the ships served with the US Navy, while four ships served with the Royal Navy.[1]

Ships

United States Navy
Ship name Hull number Builder Laid down Launched Commissioned Decommissioned Fate
Casa Grande LSD-13 Newport News Shipbuilding, Newport News, Virginia 11 November 1943 11 April 1944 5 June 1944 6 October 1969 Sold for scrap, 6 April 1992
Rushmore LSD-14 31 December 1943 10 May 1944 3 July 1944 30 September 1970 Sunk as a target, 16 April 1993
Shadwell LSD-15 17 January 1944 24 May 1944 24 July 1944 9 March 1970 Scrapped, 2017
Cabildo LSD-16 24 July 1944 22 December 1944 15 March 1945 31 March 1970 Sunk as a target, September 1985
Catamount LSD-17 7 August 1944 27 January 1945 9 April 1945 31 March 1970 Sold for scrap, 4 December 1975
Colonial LSD-18 1 August 1944 28 February 1945 15 May 1945 1970 Sold for scrap, 8 September 1993
Comstock LSD-19 3 January 1945 28 April 1945 2 July 1945 20 April 1970 Transferred to Taiwan, 17 October 1984; sunk as artificial reef on 30 June 2015
Donner LSD-20 Boston Navy Yard 1 December 1944 6 April 1945 31 July 1945 23 December 1970 Sold for scrap, March 2005
Fort Mandan LSD-21 2 January 1945 2 June 1945 31 October 1945 23 January 1971 Transferred to Greece, 23 January 1971; sold for scrap, November 2001
Fort Marion LSD-22 Gulf Shipbuilding Corp., Chickasaw, Alabama 15 September 1944 22 May 1945 29 January 1946 13 February 1970 Transferred to Taiwan, 15 April 1977; sunk as artificial reef, 9 December 2000
Fort Snelling LSD-23 8 November 1944 Never Never Completed as a ferry and renamed SS Carib Queen; sold for scrap, 25 June 1969
Point Defiance LSD-24 28 May 1945 Never Never Cancelled, 17 August 1945; broken up on slipway
San Marcos LSD-25 Philadelphia Navy Yard 1 September 1944 10 January 1945 15 April 1945 1 July 1971 Transferred to Spain, 1 July 1971; scrapped in 1989
Tortuga LSD-26 Boston Navy Yard 16 October 1944 21 January 1945 8 June 1945 26 January 1970 Run aground during storm, 15 December 1987; scrapped, 1988
Whetstone LSD-27 7 April 1945 18 July 1945 12 February 1946 2 April 1970 Sold for scrap, 17 February 1983

Royal Navy
HMS Highway
Ship name Hull number Builder Laid down Launched Commissioned Decommissioned Fate
Eastway F130 Newport News Shipbuilding, Newport News, Virginia 23 November 1942 21 May 1943 14 November 1943 23 April 1946 Transferred to Greece, 1953; scrapped, 1972
Highway F141 23 November 1942 19 July 1943 19 October 1943 23 April 1946 Sold for scrap, 17 December 1948
Northway F142 24 May 1943 18 November 1943 15 February 1944 1946 Sold to a commercial interest, 19 March 1948; scrapped, 1975
Oceanway F143 23 July 1943 29 December 1943 29 March 1944 1947 Transferred to Greece, March 1947; transferred to France, 1952; sunk as target, 10 February 1970

Notes
  1. Gardiner (ed.). Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships, 1922–1946. p. 161.CS1 maint: extra text: authors list (link)
  2. Fighting Ships of World War II. p. 304.

References


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