PHIBRON is a United States Navy abbreviation for Amphibious Squadron. It is a tactical and administrative organization composed of amphibious assault shipping to transport troops and their equipment for an amphibious assault operation. [1]
Before the advent of modern helicopter-oriented amphibious warfare, the amphibious squadron was made up differently, depending on the era. During the 1960s, a typical squadron might consist of an Attack Transport (APA/LPA), a Dock Landing Ship (LSD), an Attack Cargo Ship (AKA/LKA), one or two Landing Ships, Tank, (LST) and, especially if there were only one LST, a High Speed Transport (APD). The APA carried troops and Landing Craft Vehicle Personnel(LCVP)s in which to land them, plus a few Landing Craft Mechanized(LCM)s for bigger loads. The AKA carried cargo and an assortment of LCVPs and LCMs with which to land it. The LSD carried boats. The LST carried tanks and other rolling stock, and had the ability to discharge its cargo directly onto the beach. The destroyer-like APD provided limited gunfire support and fast defense of the squadron. It frequently also carried a UDT unit or other similar troops. The Landing Platform Helicopter (LPH) replaced the APA in the late 1960s and provided helicopters to land troops and supplies inland, beyond the beach.
In modern times, a U.S. PHIBRON usually consists of three amphibious ships, typically one Landing Helicopter Dock(LHD), a Dock landing ship(LSD) and an Amphibious transport dock(LPD). When the ships of a PHIBRON are loaded up with the forces of a Marine Expeditionary Unit and some additional Navy units (including a Tactical Air Control Squadron (TACRON) detachment and landing craft from two or more Assault Craft Units or ACU), it is designated as an Amphibious ready group(ARG). The officer in charge of a PHIBRON is designated COMPHIBRON (#) or Commander Amphibious Squadron (#) and acts as the commodore for all ships in the ARG.
An amphibious transport dock, also called a landing platform dock (LPD), is an amphibious warfare ship, a warship that embarks, transports, and lands elements of a landing force for expeditionary warfare missions. Several navies currently operate this kind of ship. The ships are generally designed to transport troops into a war zone by sea, primarily using landing craft, although invariably they also have the capability to operate transport helicopters.
USS Fort Snelling (LSD-30) was a Thomaston-class dock landing ship of the United States Navy. She was named for Fort Snelling at the confluence of the Minnesota and Mississippi Rivers, for many years the northernmost military post in the land of the Sioux and Chippewa. She was the second ship assigned that name, but the construction of Fort Snelling (LSD-23) was canceled on 17 August 1945.
USS Pearl Harbor is a Harpers Ferry-class dock landing ship of the United States Navy. She was named for Pearl Harbor, where World War II began for the United States.
USS Saginaw (LST-1188) was the tenth of the Newport-class tank landing ships of the United States Navy which replaced the traditional bow door-design tank landing ships (LSTs). The second ship of that name, Saginaw was named after the river in Michigan. The LST was constructed by National Steel and Shipbuilding Company of San Diego, California, launched in 1970 and commissioned in 1971. During service with the United States Navy, the ship took part in US efforts in the Lebanese civil war and the Gulf War. Saginaw was decommissioned on 28 June 1994 and was transferred to the Royal Australian Navy on 28 August that year.
USS Tuscaloosa (LST-1187) was the ninth of the Newport-class tank landing ships of the United States Navy, which replaced the traditional bow door-design tank landing ships (LSTs). The vessel was constructed by the National Steel and Shipbuilding Company in San Diego, California and was launched in 1969 and commissioned in 1970 and the second ship of the United States Navy to be named after the city of Tuscaloosa, Alabama. The LST participated in the Vietnam War and was decommissioned in 1994. The ship was laid up until being sunk as a target ship during a sinking exercise in 2014.
USS Cayuga (LST-1186) was a Newport-class tank landing ship of the United States Navy which replaced the traditional bow door-design tank landing ships (LSTs). The vessel was constructed by the National Steel and Shipbuilding Company in San Diego, California and was launched in 1969 and commissioned in 1970. Cayuga took part in the Vietnam War and Gulf War in American service. Decommissioned in 1994, the LST was transferred to the Brazilian Navy the same year on loan and renamed NDCC Mattoso Maia. The ship was purchased by Brazil outright in 2001. Mattoso Maia took part in MINUSTAH before being taken out of service in 2023.
USS Blanco County (LST-344) was an LST-1-class tank landing ship built for the United States Navy during World War II. Named for Blanco County, Texas, she was the only U.S. Naval vessel to bear the name.
In the United States Navy, the expeditionary strike group (ESG) is a coordinated group of surface ships, aircraft, submarines, and other naval assets. In contrast to carrier strike groups (CSGs), which emphasize air power and are led by a supercarrier, ESGs are strongly suited for amphibious warfare and are led by an amphibious assault ship. The ESG concept was introduced in the early 1990s, based on the Naval Expeditionary Task Force. The U.S. Navy fields nine expeditionary strike groups.
USS Terrell County (LST-1157), originally USS LST-1157, was a Terrebonne Parish-class tank landing ship built for the United States Navy in 1952. Named for Terrell County, Texas, and Terrell County, Georgia, she was the only U.S. Navy vessel to bear the name. She was later lent to Greece and subsequently sold to Greece, being renamed Oinoussai (L104) in Greek service.
USS Epping Forest (LSD-4/MCS-7) was an Ashland-class dock landing ship acquired by the U.S. Navy during World War II for duty in the Pacific Theater. Her task was to carry and land amphibious landing craft and other equipment and to recover and repair landing craft when possible. Named for an estate in Lancaster County, Virginia where Mary Ball Washington, mother of George Washington, was born, she was the only U.S. Naval vessel to bear the name.
USS Belle Grove (LSD-2) was an Ashland-class dock landing ship of the United States Navy, named in honor of Belle Grove Plantation, the birthplace of President James Madison (1751–1836) in Port Conway, Virginia.
USS Mount Vernon (LSD-39) was an Anchorage-class dock landing ship of the United States Navy. She was the fifth ship of the U.S. Navy to bear the name. She was built in Massachusetts in 1972 and homeported in Southern California for 31 years until being decommissioned on 25 July 2003. Mount Vernon acted as the control ship for the cleanup of the Exxon Valdez oil spill. In 2005, she was intentionally destroyed off the coast of Hawaii as part of a training exercise. USS Mount Vernon also appeared in the Season 7 episode 19 of The Love Boat when they visited Hong Kong.
USS Catamount (LSD-17) was a Casa Grande-class dock landing ship of the United States Navy, named in honor of the Catamount Tavern in Old Bennington, which served as headquarters for Ethan Allen's Green Mountain Boys while making their plans against the New Yorkers and the British. The Catamount was also the meeting place of Vermont's only form of government then: the Vermont Council of Safety.
USS Colonial (LSD-18) was a Casa Grande-class dock landing ship of the United States Navy, named in honor of the Colonial National Historical Park, which comprises Jamestown, Williamsburg, and Yorktown in southeastern Virginia.
USS Fort Marion (LSD-22) was a Casa Grande-class dock landing ship of the United States Navy. She was named for the Castillo de San Marcos in St. Augustine, Florida, which was named Fort Marion from 1821 till 1942.
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.
A landing craft vehicle personnel or landing craft, vehicle, personnel (LCVP) is any of a variety of amphibious landing craft designed to transport troops or armoured vehicles from ship to shore during amphibious landings.
Source: US DoD Joint Publication 1-02, DOD Dictionary of Military and Associated Terms (as amended through 9 June 2004).