The ''Austin'' class was a class of twelve

amphibious transport dock 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 opera ...

ships in service with the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

from 1965 to 2017. Note that the U.S. Naval Vessel Registry list separate ''Cleveland'' (seven built) and ''Trenton'' (two built) class ships, but most sources lists them as a single class. ''Trenton'' was sold to

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

and is the only ship still active.

Design

The ''Austin'' class was an enlarged version of the preceding . Designed under project SCB 187B, the ships are about longer which increased the displacement by some 3,300 tons. The dock is as large as that of the ''Raleigh''-class. In front of the dock was a 70m long raised level to park vehicles which was connected via a ramp to the flight deck. The ramp ended in a new telescoping hangar. Although the flight deck had room for up to six

CH-46 Sea Knight The Boeing Vertol CH-46 Sea Knight is a medium-lift tandem-rotor transport helicopter powered by twin turboshaft engines. It was designed by Vertol and manufactured by Boeing Vertol following Vertol's acquisition by Boeing. Development of ...

helicopters, the hangar was only a temporary shelter for a single helicopter and not a permanent facility. The propulsion consists of two Foster Wheeler boilers (600 psi), powering two De Laval GT turbines, providing 12,000 SHP each for the two propellers. The reason for creating a ''Cleveland''/''Trenton'' sub-class is that the last nine ships of the class were built as flagships for amphibious ready groups with an additional deck above the bridge and accommodations for additional 90 personnel. The SPS-40 radar is also placed higher on the mast. Otherwise the ships are identical. Originally the ships were armed only with four

3-inch/50-caliber gun The 3"/50 caliber gun (spoken "three-inch fifty-caliber") in United States naval gun terminology indicates the gun fired a projectile in diameter, and the barrel was 50 calibers long (barrel length is 3 in × 50 = ). Different guns (identifi ...

Mark 33 twin mounts. These were later removed and the weapon stations were used to fit two

Phalanx CIWS The Phalanx CIWS (often spoken as "sea-wiz") is a gun-based close-in weapon system to defend military watercraft automatically against incoming threats such as aircraft, missiles, and small boats. It was designed and manufactured by the Gen ...

.Stefan Terzibaschitsch: ''Seemacht USA''. Bechtermünz Verlang, Augsburg, Germany, 1997, ISBN 3860475762, pp. 576. The last ship of the class, LPD-16, while authorized, was cancelled before being constructed. served for 10 years as an LPD before she was converted into a command ship. She kept her hull number and was redesignated AGF-11. From 2012 to 2017, served with the

United States Military Sealift Command Military Sealift Command (MSC) is an organization that controls the replenishment and military transport ships of the United States Navy. Military Sealift Command has the responsibility for providing sealift and ocean transportation for all US m ...

as a forward base ship with helicopter facilities, which was designated "Afloat Forward Staging Base, Interim".

Ships

References

Notes

Sources

External links

U.S. Navy Fact File: Amphibious Transport Dock - LPD

{{DEFAULTSORT:Austin Class Amphibious Transport Dock Austin class amphibious transport dock Austin class amphibious transport dock Austin class amphibious transport dock Amphibious warfare vessel classes