Design and Manufacture
A total of 130 were made. Three different ship building yards did the construction: George Lawley & Son (Neponset, Massachusetts); Commercial Iron Works (Portland, Oregon); and Albina Engine Works (Portland, Oregon).
The hull was the same as the Landing Craft Infantry ships. They were 158 ft 6 in (48.3 m) long, displaced 250 long tons (254 t), 23 ft 3 in (7.1 m) wide and drew 5 ft 10 in (1.7 m) when fully loaded. The flat bottom and skegs between and on either side of the twin screws allowed the ships to safely beach. The anchor is at the stern of the ship so it can be used to help pull the ship off the beach if necessary.
The twin variable pitch screws were each driven by a bank of four Grey Marine (later General Motors) diesel engines, with a total power for all eight engines of 1,600 horsepower (1,200 kW). These engines gave a maximum speed of 16.5 knots (30.5 km/h), but normally the ships sailed at 12 knots (22.2 km/h). The ships had a range of 5500 miles.
Armour for the gun mounts, pilot house and conning tower was provided by 10-lb. STS splinter shields.
The ships could be built in as little as 10 days, and final fitting out would take a further few weeks.
Three guns and 10 rocket launchers were the main armaments. The bow gun was a 3"/50 caliber gun, a single 40 mm gun or a twin 40 mm gun. The forward and aft deck guns were twin 40 mm gun. The 10 mark 7 rocket launchers were situated between the bow and forward deck guns. Four 20 mm cannons were also mounted and other arms stowed.
The ships had a smoke generator which was used to obscure landing craft approaching the beach.
The ships also made very good fire fighting ships. A fire fighting manifold was fitted in front of the bow gun and two monitors with pumps fitted just forward of the aft gun.
Read more about this topic: Landing Craft Support
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