De Soto County-class tank landing ship

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USS Graham Cty LST-1176.jpg
USS Graham County
Class overview
NameDe Soto County class
Builders
Operators
Preceded by Terrebonne Parish class
Succeeded by Newport class
Built1956-1959
In commission1958-1973
Planned8
Completed7
Cancelled1
Retired7
General characteristics
Type Tank landing ship
Displacement
  • 3,560 long tons (3,617 t) light
  • 7,823 long tons (7,949 t) full load
Length445 ft (136 m)
Beam62 ft (19 m)
Draft16 ft 8 in (5.08 m)
Propulsion
Speed17.5 knots (32.4 km/h; 20.1 mph)
Boats & landing
craft carried
Capacity
  • 28 medium tanks or vehicles to 75 tons on 288 ft (88 m) tank deck
  • 100,000 gal (US) diesel or jet fuel, plus 7,000 gal fuel for embarked vehicles
Troops575 officers and enlisted men
Complement10 officers and 162 enlisted men
Armament3 × 3 in (76 mm)/50 cal Mark 22 guns
Aviation facilities Helipad

The De Soto County-class tank landing ship was a class of tank landing ship of United States Navy and later sold to the Italian and Brazilian Navy.

Contents

Development

In the 1950s, eight ships were authorized to begin construction but one was later cancelled as the ship's contract was not awarded. The remaining seven ships were put into service between 1957 and 1959. The ships were designed to give a comfortable experience for the crew thus the ships were air conditioned. They have the capability of carrying vehicles or equipments up to 75 tons and 87.7 meters. [1]

Five ships were decommissioned in 1972, with LST-1171 and LST-1175 being sold to Italy. Brazil too acquired LST-1174 and commissioned her into service. LST-1176 was converted into a patrol gunboat support ship and reclassified as AGP-1176. LST-1178 was to be converted into a support ship for the Pegasus-class hydrofoils but plans later fell through.

Ships of class

Pennant numberNameCallsignBuildersLaunchedCommissionedDecommissionedFate
De Soto County-class tank landing ship [2]
LST-1171 De Soto County NIOD Avondale Shipyard 28 February 195710 June 195817 July 1972Sold to Italy and renamed Nave Grado (L9890), later scrapped in 1989
LST-1172Cancelled
LST-1173 Suffolk County NVWD Boston Naval Shipyard 5 September 195615 August 195725 August 1972Scrapped in 1999
LST-1174 GrantCounty NIOFAvondale Shipyard12 October 195617 December 195715 January 1973Sold to Brazil and renamed Duque de Caxias (G 26), fate unknown
LST-1175 York County NVWF Newport News Shipbuilding 5 March 19578 November 195717 July 1972Sold to Italy and renamed Nave Caorle (L9891), later scrapped
LST-1176 / AGP-1176 Graham County NIOH9 September 195717 April 19581 March 1977Fate unknown
LST-1177 Lorain County NVWO American Shipbuilding 22 June 19573 October 19581 September 1972Scrapped in October 2002
LST-1178 Wood County NIOJ14 December 19575 August 19591 May 1972Scrapped in July 2002

Citations

  1. "LST-1171 De Soto County". www.globalsecurity.org. Retrieved 5 December 2021.
  2. "Tank Landing Ship (LST)". NavSource. Retrieved 5 December 2021.