''General Frank S. Besson''-class logistics support vessels (LSV) are the largest powered watercraft in the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...

, and are designed to give the Army a global strategic capability to deliver its vehicles and cargo.

Design

Named in honor of Gen.

Frank S. Besson Jr. Frank Schaffer Besson Jr., Order of the British Empire, CBE (May 30, 1910 – July 15, 1985) was a United States Army general. Early life Besson born on May 30, 1910 in Detroit, Michigan. His father was a West Point graduate and a colonel in t ...

, former Chief of Transportation, U.S. Army, these ships have bow and stern ramps and the ability to beach themselves, giving them the ability to discharge 900

short ton The short ton (symbol tn) is a measurement unit equal to . It is commonly used in the United States, where it is known simply as a ton, although the term is ambiguous, the single word being variously used for short, long, and metric ton. The vari ...

s of vehicles and cargo over the shore in as little as four feet of water, or 2,000 short tons as an intra-theater line haul

roll-on/roll-off Roll-on/roll-off (RORO or ro-ro) ships are cargo ships designed to carry wheeled cargo, such as cars, motorcycles, trucks, semi-trailer trucks, buses, trailers, and railroad cars, that are driven on and off the ship on their own wheels or using ...

cargo ship.Naval Technology – Frank S. Besson Class – LSV Logistics Support Vesse

/ref> The vessel's cargo deck is designed to handle any vehicle in the US Army inventory and can carry up to 15

M1 Abrams The M1 Abrams is a third-generation American main battle tank designed by Chrysler Defense (now General Dynamics Land Systems) and named for General Creighton Abrams. Conceived for modern armored ground warfare and now one of the heaviest ta ...

main battle tanks or 82 ISO standard containers.The United States Army News , New Army Vessel Arrives in Hawaii
/ref>

Subclasses

The ''Robert T. Kuroda'' is the lead vessel of a new subclass of the ''Frank S. Besson'' class called LSV (MOD). The ''Kuroda'', named after

Robert T. Kuroda Robert Toshio Kuroda (November 8, 1922 – October 20, 1944) was a United States Army soldier.Kakesako, Gregg K "Honoring a war hero,"''Honolulu Star Bulletin.'' August 31, 2003; retrieved 2012-12-7. He was a recipient of the United States milita ...

, and its sister ship, the ''Smalls'', named after

Robert Smalls Robert Smalls (April 5, 1839 – February 23, 1915) was an American politician, publisher, businessman, and maritime pilot. Born into slavery in Beaufort, South Carolina, he freed himself, his crew, and their families during the American Civil W ...

, are generally similar to the rest of the class except that the ships are longer than the other ships of the class. This is due to a more streamlined "visor" bow that hides the front ramp and allows for the vessels to move through rough water more easily. While these ships have the same main deck area as the rest of the class—— however they displace , can make of water a day, have incinerators for burning trash, are taller than the traditional Besson-class LSVs, and have 25% more horsepower. The ship has a range of more than and can deploy fully provisioned worldwide at a speed of carrying a standard port-opening package weighing .

Ships

* – 335th Transportation Detachment, 7th Expeditionary Transportation Brigade * – 489th Transportation Detachment, USAR * – 805th Transportation Detachment,

8th Theater Sustainment Command The 8th Theater Sustainment Command (8th TSC), as the senior Army logistics command in the United States Pacific Command's Area of Responsibility (AOR), provides command and control of all assigned and attached and units under its operational co ...

* – 1099th Transportation Detachment, 7th Expeditionary Transportation Brigade * – 411th Transportation Detachment,

1st Theater Sustainment Command The 1st Theater Sustainment Command (1st TSC) is a major subordinate unit of United States Army Central at Fort Knox, Kentucky, United States. History The 1st Logistical Command was activated as a planning headquarters in October 1950 at Fort M ...

* – USAR * – USAR * – 605th Transportation Detachment,

Gallery

File:LSV-1 General Frank S. Besson Jr.jpg, USAV ''General Frank S. Besson Jr'' (LSV-1) docked across from the in

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

during

Fleet Week Fleet Week is a United States Navy, United States Marine Corps, and United States Coast Guard tradition in which active military ships recently deployed in overseas operations dock in a variety of major cities for one week. Once the ships dock, ...

2010. File:Gen Frank S Besson Jr Tower.jpg, USAV ''General Frank S. Besson Jr'' (LSV-1) File:Army's Persian Gulf Watercraft fleet.jpg, From L to R: USAV ''MG Charles P. Gross'' (LSV-5), USAV ''MG Robert Smalls'' (LSV-8), and the USAV ''Churubusco'' (LCU-2013). Photo was taken while aboard the USAV ''Five Forks'' (LCU-2018) File:US Naval Ship Pollux (T-AKR-290) anchored in the harbor off the Port of Pusan, Republic of Korea - 19 Oct. 1998.jpg, LSV alongside USNS ''Pollux'' (T-AKR-290) in the port of

Pusan Busan (), officially known as is South Korea's most populous city after Seoul, with a population of over 3.4 million inhabitants. Formerly romanized as Pusan, it is the economic, cultural and educational center of southeastern South Korea, w ...

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...

. ''Pollux'' is loading vehicles onto the LSV which will then transport them to shore.

References

External links