The ''Arcturus''-class
attack cargo ship
Attack may refer to:
Warfare and combat
* Offensive (military)
* Charge (warfare)
* Attack (fencing)
* Strike (attack)
* Attack (computing)
* Attack aircraft
Books and publishing
* ''The Attack'' (novel), a book
* ''Attack No. 1'', comic ...
s were converted from other ship types by
Sun Shipbuilding & Drydock Co. in
Chester, Pennsylvania
Chester is a city in Delaware County, Pennsylvania, United States. Located within the Philadelphia Metropolitan Area, it is the only city in Delaware County and had a population of 32,605 as of the 2020 census.
Incorporated in 1682, Chester i ...
,
Tampa Shipbuilding Co. in
Tampa, Florida
Tampa () is a city on the Gulf Coast of the United States, Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Florida. The city's borders include the north shore of Tampa Bay and the east shore of Old Tampa Bay. Tampa is the largest city in the Tampa Bay area and ...
, and
Federal Shipbuilding & Drydock Co. in
Kearny, New Jersey
Kearny ( ) is a town in the western part of Hudson County, New Jersey, United States and a suburb of Newark. As of the 2010 United States Census, the town's population was 40,684,[World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...]
.
Like all attack cargo ships (AKAs), they were designed to carry
combat loaded military cargo and
landing craft, and to use the latter to land weapons, supplies, and troops on enemy shores during
amphibious operations
Amphibious warfare is a type of offensive military operation that today uses naval ships to project ground and air power onto a hostile or potentially hostile shore at a designated landing beach. Through history the operations were conducte ...
.
All these ships were built on the same standard hull design, but there were some differences from ship to ship:
The armament varied, as did that of the other ships of the day. During 1944–1945, the 5"/38 caliber gun was recognized as the best gun for the dual role of
antiaircraft
Anti-aircraft warfare, counter-air or air defence forces is the battlespace response to aerial warfare, defined by NATO as "all measures designed to nullify or reduce the effectiveness of hostile air action".AAP-6 It includes surface based, ...
and
naval gunfire support
Naval gunfire support (NGFS) (also known as shore bombardment) is the use of naval artillery to provide fire support
Fire support is defined by the United States Department of Defense as " Fires that directly support land, maritime, amphibiou ...
, and the 40 mm was seen as the best antiaircraft gun. The older 20 mm and .50 caliber guns had been recognized to be of limited value, and were being phased out, though they appeared on some of these ships. The 20 mm guns were later removed from all of them, but it is not clear just when this happened.
The complement varied as well, but 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 ...
figures sometimes seem to confuse ship's company with embarked troops in determining a ship's complement.
See also
*
*
*
*
*
List of United States Navy amphibious warfare ships
This is a list of United States Navy amphibious warfare ships. This type of ship has been in use with the US Navy since World War I.
Ship status is indicated as either currently active (including ready reserve), inactive or precommissionin ...
* — a
Type C1 AKA that falls within the number range of the Arcturus class
* — a
Type C2 (C2-S) AKA that falls within the number range
* — a
Type C3 AKA that falls within the number range
References
External links
United States Maritime Commission C2 Type Ships
{{Arcturus class attack cargo ship
Amphibious warfare vessel classes