View source for Casa Grande-class dock landing ship

{{Short description|1944 class of British/American dock landing ships}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2017}}
{{Use British English|date=March 2017}}
{|{{Infobox ship begin}}
{{Infobox ship image
|Ship image=USS Cabildo;10121603.jpg
|Ship caption={{USS|Cabildo|LSD-16|6}} {{circa|1950s}}
}}
{{Infobox ship class overview
|Name=''Casa Grande'' class
|Builders=*[[Northrop Grumman Shipbuilding Newport News|Newport News]]
*[[Boston Navy Yard]]
*[[Gulf Shipbuilding]]
*[[Philadelphia Naval Yard]]
|Operators=*{{navy|United Kingdom}}
*{{navy|United States|1944}}
*{{navy|Spain}}
*{{navy|Greece}}
*{{navy|France}}
*{{navy|Republic of China}}
|Class before={{sclass|Ashland|dock landing ship}}
|Class after={{sclass|Thomaston|dock landing ship}}
|Subclasses=
|Cost=
|Built range=
|In service range=
|In commission range= 
|Total ships building= 
|Total ships planned=19
|Total ships completed=17
|Total ships cancelled=2
|Total ships active=
|Total ships laid up=
|Total ships lost=
|Total ships retired=17
|Total ships preserved=
}}
{{Infobox ship characteristics
|Hide header=
|Header caption= 
|Ship class=
|Ship type=[[Dock landing ship]]
|Ship tonnage=
|Ship displacement=*4,032&nbsp;tons (light)
*7,930&nbsp;tons (seagoing)
|Ship length=*{{convert|454|ft|m|abbr=on}} at waterline
*{{convert|457|ft|9|in|m|abbr=on}} [[length overall|oa]]
|Ship beam={{convert|72|ft|2|in|m|abbr=on}}
|Ship draught={{convert|15|ft|10|in|m|abbr=on}}
|Ship power=
|Ship propulsion=*2-shaft turbines, 2 boilers
*7,000 shp (LSD13-21 and 25-27)
*9,000 shp (LSD22-24)
|Ship sail plan=
|Ship speed={{convert|15.6|kn|mph km/h|lk=in}}
|Ship range={{convert|7400|nmi|km|abbr=on|lk=in}} at {{convert|15|kn|km/h|abbr=on}}
|Ship endurance=
|Ship boats=*One of the following arrangements:
**3 × [[Landing craft tank|LCT]] Mark V or VI ''or''
**2 × LCT Mark III or IV ''or''
**14 × [[Landing Craft Mechanized|LCM]] Mark III ''or''
**41 × [[Landing Vehicle Tracked|LVT]] ''or''
**47 × [[DUKW]]s
|Ship capacity=1,500&nbsp;tons of cargo (if not carrying boats)
|Ship troops=
|Ship complement=17 officers and 237 men
|Ship crew=
|Ship time to activate=
|Ship armament=*1 × 5"/38 guns
*12 × 40 mm Bofors guns (2 × 2), (2 × 4)
*16 × 20mm guns
|Ship armour=
|Ship notes=
}}
|}

The '''''Casa Grande'' class''' was a [[ship class|class]] of [[dock landing ship]]s  used by the [[Royal Navy]] and the [[United States Navy]] during the [[Second World War]]. Nineteen ships were planned, but two, {{USS|Fort Snelling|LSD-23|6}} and {{USS|Point Defiance|LSD-24|6}} 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.<ref name="ConwaysIII">{{cite book |last=Gardiner|title=Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1922–1946|page=161}}</ref>  A flooding deck aft capable of holding either two of the larger British [[Landing craft tank]]s (LCTs) or three of the new US LCTs was included in the designs.<ref name="ConwaysIII"/> 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 {{convert|17|kn|mph km/h|lk=in}}, the LSDs were capable of only {{convert|15.6|kn|mph km/h|lk=in}}.<ref name="ConwaysIII"/>

==Service==
The British initially ordered seven of the class from US dockyards, numbered LSD-9 to 15.<ref name="ConwaysIII"/> 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.<ref name="ConwaysIII"/><ref name="Janes304">{{cite book |title=Fighting Ships of World War II|page=304}}</ref> In total thirteen of the ships served with the US Navy, while four ships served with the Royal Navy.<ref name="ConwaysIII"/>

==Ships==
===United States Navy===
{|class="wikitable sortable"
!Ship name
!Hull number
!Builder
!Laid down
!Launched
!Commissioned
!Decommissioned
!Fate
|-
|[[USS Casa Grande (LSD-13)|''Casa Grande'']]
|LSD-13
|rowspan=7|[[Newport News Shipbuilding]], [[Newport News, Virginia]]
|11 November 1943
|11 April 1944
|5 June 1944
|6 October 1969
|Sold for scrap, 6 April 1992
|-
|[[USS Rushmore (LSD-14)|''Rushmore'']]
|LSD-14
|31 December 1943
|10 May 1944
|3 July 1944
|30 September 1970
|Sunk as a target, 16 April 1993
|-
|[[USS Shadwell (LSD-15)|''Shadwell'']]
|LSD-15
|17 January 1944
|24 May 1944
|24 July 1944
|9 March 1970
| Scrapped, 2017
|-
|[[USS Cabildo (LSD-16)|''Cabildo'']]
|LSD-16
|24 July 1944
|22 December 1944
|15 March 1945
|31 March 1970
|Sunk as a target, September 1985
|-
|[[USS Catamount (LSD-17)|''Catamount'']]
|LSD-17
|7 August 1944
|27 January 1945
|9 April 1945
|31 March 1970
|Sold for scrap, 4 December 1975
|-
|[[USS Colonial (LSD-18)|''Colonial'']]
|LSD-18
|1 August 1944
|28 February 1945
|15 May 1945
|1970
|Sold for scrap, 8 September 1993
|-
|[[USS Comstock (LSD-19)|''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
|-
|[[USS Donner (LSD-20)|''Donner'']]
|LSD-20
|rowspan=2|[[Boston Navy Yard]]
|1 December 1944
|6 April 1945
|31 July 1945
|23 December 1970
|Sold for scrap, March 2005
|-
|[[USS Fort Mandan (LSD-21)|''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
|-
|[[USS Fort Marion (LSD-22)|''Fort Marion'']]
|LSD-22
|rowspan=3|[[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
|-
|[[USNS Taurus (T-AK-273)|''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
|-
|[[USS San Marcos (LSD-25)|''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
|-
|[[USS Tortuga (LSD-26)|''Tortuga'']]
|LSD-26
|rowspan=2|[[Boston Navy Yard]]
|16 October 1944
|21 January 1945
|8 June 1945
|26 January 1970
|Run aground during storm, 15 December 1987; scrapped, 1988
|-
|[[USS Whetstone (LSD-27)|''Whetstone'']]
|LSD-27
|7 April 1945
|18 July 1945
|12 February 1946
|2 April 1970
|Sold for scrap, 17 February 1983
|}

===Royal Navy===
[[File:HMS Highway FL22905.jpg|thumb|HMS ''Highway'']]

{|class="wikitable sortable"
!Ship name
!Hull number
!Builder
!Laid down
!Launched
!Commissioned
!Decommissioned
!Fate
|-
|''Eastway''
|F130
|rowspan=4|[[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
|-
|[[HMS Oceanway (F143)|''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 ==
<gallery mode="packed">
File:USS Catamount;10121701.jpg|An [[LCVP (United States)|LCVP]] bucks in the well of USS ''Catamount'' (LSD-17) during [[Minesweeping|mine clearance]] operations off [[Chinnampo]], [[North Korea]], in November 1950
File:USS Fort Marion;10122203.jpg|[[Landing Vehicle Tracked|LVTs]] embarking British commandos leave USS ''Fort Marion'' (LSD-22) for the beach at Sorye Dong, Korea, on 7 April 1951
File:USS Casa Grande;10121302.jpg|USS ''Casa Grande'' (LSD-13) discharging LCU-1491 from her well deck, circa 1957
File: USS San Marcos with USS Donner.jpg|USS ''San Marcos'' (LSD-25, front) with USS ''Donner'' (LSD-20, rear)
File:USS Shadwell (LSD-15) in Mobile Bay (02) 2014.jpg|Decommissioned USS ''Shadwell'' (LSD-15) in Mobile Bay as a Fire Research asset, 2014
</gallery>

==Notes==
{{reflist}}

==References==
{{refbegin}}
*{{Cite Colledge2006}}
*{{cite book| last = Gardiner| first = Robert|author2=Chesneau, Roger| year = 1980| title = Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1922–1946| publisher =Conway| isbn = 0-85177-146-7}}
*{{cite book| year = 1996|orig-year=1989| title = [[Jane's Fighting Ships|Jane's Fighting Ships of World War Two]]| publisher =Crescent Books|location=New York| isbn = 0-517-67963-9}}
{{refend}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|Casa Grande class dock landing ships}}
*[http://www.uboat.net/allies/warships/class.html?ID=592 Casa Grande class at Uboat.net]
* [https://books.google.com/books?id=8dwDAAAAMBAJ&dq=1954+Popular+Mechanics+January&pg=PA97 "Mother of Minesweepers."] ''Popular Mechanics'', February 1952, pp.&nbsp;97–104.

{{Casa Grande-class dock landing ships}}

[[Category:Casa Grande-class dock landing ships| ]]
[[Category:Ship classes of the Royal Navy]]
[[Category:Ship classes of the French Navy]]