USS Catoctin in 1944 | |
Class overview | |
---|---|
Name | Appalachian class |
Builders | |
Operators | United States Navy |
Succeeded by | Mount McKinley class |
Built | 1942–1943 |
In service | 1943–1947 |
Planned | 4 |
Completed | 4 |
Retired | 4 |
General characteristics | |
Type | |
Displacement |
|
Length | 459 ft 3 in (139.98 m) |
Beam | 63 ft (19 m) |
Draft | 24 ft 0 in (7.32 m) |
Installed power | 6,000 shp (4,474 kW) |
Propulsion |
|
Speed | 16.4 knots (30.4 km/h; 18.9 mph) |
Capacity | |
Troops |
|
Complement |
|
Sensors and processing systems | 1 × SK-1 air-search radar |
Armament |
|
The Appalachian-class command ship was a ship class of command ships of the United States Navy during World War II. All 4 ships were converted from the Type C2-S-B1 cargo ships. [1]
Four type C2 cargo ships were converted into command ships for the United States Navy throughout the middle stages of World War II. After the war, all were slightly modernized and decommissioned in 1947 to later scrapped.
The ship's hull remained nearly the same but with new equipment to carry out her purpose now placed on deck alongside several cranes. The ships' armaments had been slightly changed and relocated in order for the ships to carry out their new roles. [1] All ships served in the Pacific Theater until the end of the war with no ships lost in combat.
Appalachian class command ship | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Hull no. | Name | Builder | Laid down | Launched | Commissioned | Decommissioned | Fate |
AGC-1 | Appalachian | Federal Shipbuilding and Drydock Co. | 4 November 1942 | 29 January 1943 | 2 October 1943 | 21 May 1947 | Scrapped, 1960 |
AGC-2 | Blue Ridge | 4 December 1942 | 7 March 1943 | 27 September 1943 | 14 March 1947 | Scrapped, 18 August 1960 | |
AGC-3 | Rocky Mount | 4 December 1942 | 7 March 1943 | 16 October 1943 | 22 March 1947 | Scrapped, 1 March 1973 | |
AGC-5 | Catoctin | Moore Dry Dock Co. | 1942 | 23 January 1943 | 24 January 1944 | 26 February 1947 | Scrapped, 1959–1960 |
The United States Navy, United States Coast Guard, and United States National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) use a hull classification symbol to identify their ships by type and by individual ship within a type. The system is analogous to the pennant number system that the Royal Navy and other European and Commonwealth navies use.
The Austin class was a class of twelve amphibious transport dock ships in service with the United States Navy from 1965 to 2017. Note that the U.S. Naval Vessel Registry list separate Cleveland and Trenton class ships, but most sources lists them as a single class. Trenton was sold to India and is the only ship still active.
High-speed transports were converted destroyers and destroyer escorts used in US Navy amphibious operations in World War II and afterward. They received the US Hull classification symbol APD; "AP" for transport and "D" for destroyer. In 1969, the remaining ships were reclassified as "Fast Amphibious Transports", hull symbol LPR.
Landing craft are small and medium seagoing watercraft, such as boats and barges, used to convey a landing force from the sea to the shore during an amphibious assault. The term excludes landing ships, which are larger. Production of landing craft peaked during World War II, with a significant number of different designs produced in large quantities by the United Kingdom and United States.
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The Iwo Jima-class amphibious assault ships of the United States Navy were the first amphibious assault ships designed and built as dedicated helicopter carriers, capable of operating up to 20 helicopters to carry up to 1,800 marines ashore. They were named for battles featuring the United States Marine Corps, starting with the Battle of Iwo Jima. The first ship of the class was commissioned in 1961, and the last was decommissioned in 2002. The hull classification of "LPH" stands for "Landing Platform Helicopter".
A Landing Craft Utility (LCU) is a type of boat used by amphibious forces to transport equipment and troops to the shore. They are capable of transporting tracked or wheeled vehicles and troops from amphibious assault ships to beachheads or piers.
Amphibious cargo ships were U.S. Navy ships designed specifically to carry troops, heavy equipment and supplies in support of amphibious assaults, and to provide naval gunfire support during those assaults. A total of 108 of these ships were built between 1943 and 1945—which worked out to an average of one ship every eight days. Six additional AKAs, featuring new and improved designs, were built in later years. They were originally called Attack Cargo Ships and designated AKA. In 1969, they were renamed as Amphibious Cargo Ships and redesignated LKA.
Attack transport is a United States Navy ship classification for a variant of ocean-going troopship adapted to transporting invasion forces ashore. Unlike standard troopships – often drafted from the merchant fleet – that rely on either a quay or tenders, attack transports carry their own fleet of landing craft, such as the landing craft, vehicle, personnel (LCVP) or Higgins boat.
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A net laying ship, also known as a net layer, net tender, gate ship or boom defence vessel was a type of naval auxiliary ship.
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An amphibious warfare ship is an amphibious vehicle warship employed to land and support ground forces, such as marines, on enemy territory during an amphibious assault.
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