Casa Grande-class dock landing ship

USS Cabildo c. 1950s
Class overview
Name	Casa Grande class
Builders	Newport News Boston Navy Yard Gulf Shipbuilding Philadelphia Naval Yard
Operators	Royal Navy United States Navy Spanish Navy Hellenic Navy French Navy Republic of China Navy
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

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.

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. 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. 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).

Service

The British initially ordered seven of the class from US dockyards, numbered LSD-9 to 15. 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. In total thirteen of the ships served with the US Navy, while four ships served with the Royal Navy.

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

Gallery

• 
  An LCVP bucks in the well of USS Catamount (LSD-17) during mine clearance operations off Chinnampo, North Korea, in November 1950
• 
  LVTs embarking British commandos leave USS Fort Marion (LSD-22) for the beach at Sorye Dong, Korea, on 7 April 1951
• 
  USS Casa Grande (LSD-13) discharging LCU-1491 from her well deck, circa 1957
• 
  USS San Marcos (LSD-25, front) with USS Donner (LSD-20, rear)
• 
  Decommissioned USS Shadwell (LSD-15) in Mobile Bay as a Fire Research asset, 2014

References

• Colledge, J. J.; Warlow, Ben (2006) [1969]. Ships of the Royal Navy: The Complete Record of all Fighting Ships of the Royal Navy (Rev. ed.). London: Chatham Publishing. ISBN 978-1-86176-281-8.
• Gardiner, Robert; Chesneau, Roger (1980). Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1922–1946. Conway. ISBN 0-85177-146-7.
• Jane's Fighting Ships of World War Two. New York: Crescent Books. 1996 [1989]. ISBN 0-517-67963-9.

External links

• Casa Grande class at Uboat.net
• "Mother of Minesweepers." Popular Mechanics, February 1952, pp. 97–104.