Austin class
_underway_in_the_Arabian_Sea_on_31_August_2006_(060831-N-6214F-017).jpg) The Nashville 2006 in the Arabian Sea |
|
| Overview | |
|---|---|
| Type | Amphibious Transport Dock |
| units | 12 built |
| Namesake | City of Austin , Texas |
| period of service |
1965-2017 |
| Technical specifications | |
| displacement |
fully loaded 16,914 ts |
| length |
173.7 meters |
| width |
25.2 meters |
| Draft |
7.0 meters |
| crew |
24 officers, 396 men, up to 900 Marines |
| drive |
2 boilers |
| speed |
21 knots |
| Armament |
2 machine |
The Austin-class was a class of amphibious transport docks in the United States Navy . The units were used for amphibious warfare.
history
The Austin-class is an extended version of the previous Raleigh-class . The first unit was ordered in 1961 and put into service in 1965. In just six years, another eleven ships of the class were completed. The high speed of construction was achieved by distributing the orders between three shipyards. Three units were built at the New York Naval Shipyard , two at Ingalls Shipbuilding and the remaining seven at Lockheed Shipbuilding and Construction Company . A planned sixteenth unit was not built, the funds were instead used for the development of the Tarawa class .
The USS Coronado (LPD-11) class was withdrawn from service as a dock ship in 1980 and converted to serve as a command ship in support of amphibious landings. In 2005, the first unit of the class was taken out of service after around 40 years of service, followed by another in 2006 and then two units in 2007. In 2008 and 2009 one ship of the class was decommissioned, and two more in 2011. The ships of the Austin class were replaced by those of the San Antonio class . As of 2014, two Austin-class ships were still active. On the one hand, the Ex- Trenton , which was already sold to India under the name INS Jalashwa and was in use there, and on the other, the USS Ponce , which, after being converted, served as a test vehicle for new technologies.
With the USS Ponce , the last ship of the class was decommissioned on October 14, 2017.
technology
Hull and drive
The hull is around 174 meters long and 25 meters wide. The ships displace approx. 17,000 ts . The front half is covered with the deckhouse, the rear with a helicopter landing deck. There is space for up to six CH-46 Sea Knights . In the hull there is a 51 meter long corrugated deck , with 70 meters of storage space behind it.
The drive consists of two steam boilers that drive two geared turbines . Each of these drives a screw, the power of the drive system is 24,000 shaft horsepower. The ships reach a top speed of 21 knots.
Armament
To defend against inflatables and speedboats, each unit has two Mk. 38 machine guns and eight Browning M2 machine guns with a .50 caliber. Two short-range defense systems of the Phalanx CIWS type are installed to defend against approaching missiles .
Web links
- Fact sheet of the US Navy (English)
- Austin -class on globalsecurity.org (English)
