The ''Frederick Funston''-class attack transport was a class of two US Navy attack transports. They saw service in World War II and later in the Korean War. Attack transports were a special type of transport ship designed to transport troops and their equipment over long distances to hostile shores, and then execute an

amphibious Amphibious means able to use either land or water. In particular it may refer to: Animals * Amphibian, a vertebrate animal of the class Amphibia (many of which live on land and breed in water) * Amphibious caterpillar * Amphibious fish, a fish ...

invasion at the destination, using an array of smaller integral assault boats. Like all attack transports, the ''Frederick Funston'' class was generously armed with antiaircraft weaponry to protect itself and its vulnerable cargo of troops from air attack in the battle zone.

History

The class derives its name from US Army General Frederick Funston, a veteran of the

Philippine–American War The Philippine–American War or Filipino–American War ( es, Guerra filipina-estadounidense, tl, Digmaang Pilipino–Amerikano), previously referred to as the Philippine Insurrection or the Tagalog Insurgency by the United States, was an arm ...

and Medal of Honor recipient. The two ships of the ''Frederick Funston'' class were based on the Maritime Commission's ubiquitous Type C3 hull (specifically Type C3-S-A1). They began their service lives as transport ships for the US Army, but after several months of service in this role they were acquired by the US Navy and reclassified attack transports. It is not known whether they underwent any modifications for their new role. There is no mention of cargo space in the

DANFS The ''Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships'' (''DANFS'') is the official reference work for the basic facts about ships used by the United States Navy. When the writing project was developed the parameters for this series were designed to ...

entries, so it is not known how much cargo the vessels carried. The class carried a larger number of troops than most attack transports—2,200 as opposed to the 1,200 to 1,500 of most other APA's.

In service

The ''Frederick Funston''s participated in the Mediterranean Theatre, taking part in the invasions of

Salerno Salerno (, , ; nap, label= Salernitano, Saliernë, ) is an ancient city and ''comune'' in Campania (southwestern Italy) and is the capital of the namesake province, being the second largest city in the region by number of inhabitants, after ...

and Italy, and later in the Pacific Theatre. After the war, they were decommissioned and returned to the US Army, when they were redesignated USAT (US Army Transport). In the 1950s the ships were reacquired by the Navy and reclassified T-AP. Both of them then went on to serve in the Korean War - mostly on transport missions. ''James O'Hara'' was struck from the

Naval Register A Navy Directory, formerly the Navy List or Naval Register is an official list of naval officers, their ranks and seniority, the ships which they command or to which they are appointed, etc., that is published by the government or naval author ...

in 1961. Both vessels were scrapped in 1968-69.

References

*See the DANFS entries for the individual ships
USS ''Frederick Funston'' (APA-89)
an

{{Frederick Funston class attack transport Auxiliary transport ship classes