NAVY FACT FILE 
DOCK LANDING SHIPS 
 
MISSION:  Support United States Navy and Marine Corps amphibious 
operations including landings via Landing Craft Air Cushion (LCAC), 
conventional landing craft and helicopters, upon a hostile shore. 
 
COMMENTARY:  USS Gunston Hall (LSD 44) the fourth of eight 
Whidbey Island class dock landing ships was commissioned in April 
1988.  All eight ships of the class have been funded and will be 
commissioned by 1991.  This ship will transport and launch 
amphibious craft and vehicles with their crews and embarked 
personnel in amphibious assault operations.  LSD-41 was designed 
specifically to operate LCAC and, with a capacity of four craft, 
has the largest capacity for these unique landing craft of any U.S. 
Navy amphibious platform.  It will also provide docking and repair 
services for LCAC with similar limited capabilities for 
conventional landing craft.  The LSD-41 class is intended to 
replace the older LSD-28 Thomaston class.  In 1987 the Navy 
requested $324.2 million to fund one LSD-41 (Cargo Variant).  The 
ship will differ from the original LSD-41 by reducing its number of 
LCACs to two in favor of additional cargo capacity.  Present 
procurement plans provide for the Navy to request one LSD-41(CV) 
per year through 2000 in order to continue to meet the amphibious 
lift requirements. 
 
WHIDBEY ISLAND CLASS (LSD 41) 
Displacement:   15,704 tons (full load) 
Length:    609 feet 
Beam: 84 feet 
Max Speed: 20-plus knots 
Power Plant:4 - Colt 
Industries, 16 cylinder diesels, 2 shafts, 33,600 shaft horsepower 
Aircraft:  Landing area only 
Landing Craft:  4 - LCAC 
Armament:  2 - 25mm machine guns; 2 - 20mm Phalanx CIWS 
Complement:     Ship's company: 342 (21 officer, 321 
enlisted); Troops:  500 (including 64 in Assault craft unit) 
Builders:  Lockheed Shipbuilding, Seattle, Wash: LSD 
41-43; Avondale Shipyards, New Orleans, La: LSD 44-48 
 
WHIDBEY ISLAND CLASS SHIPS 
USS Whidbey Island (LSD 41); Little Creek, Va. 
USS Germantown (LSD 42); San Diego, Calif. 
USS Ft. McHenry (LSD 43); San Diego, Calif. 
USS Gunston Hall (LSD 44); New Orleans, La. (to Little Creek, Va.) 
Comstock (LSD 45)* (to San Diego, Calif.) 
Tortuga (LSD 46)* (to Little Creek, Va.) 
Rushmore (LSD 47)* (to San Diego, Calif.) 
Ashland (LSD 48)* (to Little Creek, Va.) 
Harper's Ferry (LSD 49)* (to Little Creek, Va.) 
* Ships under construction but not commissioned 
 
ANCHORAGE CLASS (LSD 36) 
Displacement:   14,000 tons (full load) 
Length:    553 feet;  Beam: 85 feet 
Max Speed: 22 knots 
Power Plant:    2 - 600 psi Boilers, 2 geared turbines, 2 
shafts, 24,000 total shaft horsepower 
Aircraft:  Landing area only 
Landing Craft: 3 - LCAC (or); 3 - LCU (or); 9 - LCM (or); 
52 - AAV/LVTP-7 amphibious tractor 
Armament:  4 - 3 inch / 50 cal MK 33 AA <R>guns (2 twin 
mounts); 2 - 20mm Phalanx CIWS 
Complement:     Ship's company:  358 (18 officer, 340 
enlisted); Troops: 330 
Builders:  Ingalls Shipbuilding, Pascagoula, <R>Miss: LSD 
36; General Dynamics, Quincy, Mass: LSD 37-40 
 
ANCHORAGE CLASS SHIPS 
USS Anchorage (LSD 36); Long Beach, Calif. 
USS Portland (LSD 37); Little Creek, Va. 
USS Pensacola (LSD 38); Little Creek, Va. 
USS Mount Vernon (LSD 39); Long Beach, Calif. 
USS Fort Fisher (LSD 40); San Diego, Calif. 
 
THOMASTON CLASS (LSD 28) 
COMMENTARY:  Most of the Thomaston class have been decommissioned 
and placed in inactive reserve status.  USS Spiegel Grove (LSD 
32), USS Alamo (LSD 33) and USS Hermitage (LSD 34) 
are scheduled for decommissioning in fiscal year 1990. 
 
CHARACTERISTICS 
Displacement:   11,800 tons (full load) 
Length:    510 feet 
Beam: 84 feet 
Max Speed: 22-plus knots 
Power Plant:    2 - 600 psi Boilers, 2 geared turbines, 2 
shafts, 24,000 total shaft horsepower 
Aircraft:  Landing area only 
Landing Craft:  3 - LCU (or); 9 - LCM-8 (or); 50 - 
AAV/LVTP-7 amphibious tractors 
Armament:  4 - 3 inch / 50 cal MK 33 AA guns<R>(2 twin 
mounts) 
Complement:     Ship's company: 348 (18 officer, 330 
enlisted); Troops: 325 
Builders:  Ingalls Shipbuilding, Pascagoula, <R>Miss. 
 
THOMASTON CLASS SHIPS 
Thomaston (LSD 28)* 
Plymouth Rock (LSD 29)* 
Fort Snelling (LSD 30)* 
Point Defiance (LSD 31)* 
USS Spiegel Grove (LSD 32) Little Creek, Va. 
USS Alamo (LSD 33); San Diego, Calif. 
USS Hermitage (LSD 34); Little Creek, Va. 
Monticello (LSD 35)* 
*  Decommissioned ships 
 
 
SOURCE:  Department of the Navy (OP-03PA); Washington, D.C. 
20350-2000; (202) 694-6049