A dock landing ship (also called landing ship, dock or LSD) is an

amphibious warfare ship An amphibious warfare ship (or amphib) is an amphibious vehicle warship employed to land and support ground forces, such as marines, on enemy territory during an amphibious assault. Specialized shipping can be divided into two types, most cru ...

with a

well dock In modern amphibious warfare usage, a well dock or well deck, officially termed a wet well during U.S. Navy instruction when the well deck is flooded for operations, is a hangar-like Deck (ship), deck located at the waterline in the stern of some ...

to transport and launch

landing craft Landing craft are small and medium seagoing watercraft, such as boats and barges, used to convey a landing force (infantry and vehicles) from the sea to the shore during an amphibious assault. The term excludes landing ships, which are larger. ...

and

amphibious vehicle An amphibious vehicle (or simply amphibian) is a vehicle that works both on land and on or under water. Amphibious vehicles include amphibious Amphibious cycle, bicycles, Amphibious ATV, ATVs, Amphibious automobile, cars, Duckboats, buses, truc ...

s. Some ships with well decks, such as the Soviet Ivan Rogov class, also have bow doors to enable them to deliver vehicles directly onto a beach (like a

tank landing ship A Landing Ship, Tank (LST) is a ship first developed during World War II (1939–1945) to support amphibious operations by carrying tanks, vehicles, cargo, and landing troops directly onto a low-slope beach with no docks or piers. The shallow d ...

). Modern dock landing ships also operate helicopters. A ship with a well deck (docking well) can transfer cargo to landing craft in rougher seas far more easily than a ship which has to use cranes or a stern ramp. The U.S. Navy

hull classification symbol The United States Navy, United States Coast Guard, and United States National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) use a hull classification symbol (sometimes called hull code or hull number) to identify their ships by type and by ind ...

for a ship with a well deck depends on its facilities for aircraft—a (modern) LSD has a

helicopter deck A helicopter deck (or helo deck) is a helicopter pad on the deck of a ship, usually located on the stern and always clear of obstacles that would prove hazardous to a helicopter landing. In the United States Navy, it is commonly and properly refe ...

, a

landing platform dock An amphibious transport dock, also called a landing platform dock (LPD), is an amphibious warfare ship, a warship that embarks, transports, and lands elements of a landing force for expeditionary warfare missions. Several navies currently operat ...

also has a hangar, and a

landing helicopter dock A landing helicopter dock (LHD) is a multipurpose amphibious assault ship that is capable of operating as a helicopter carrier and also has a well deck for supporting landing crafts. LHD vessels are built with a full flight deck similar in ...

landing helicopter assault underway in June 1997 Landing helicopter assault (LHA) is the United States Navy's hull classification symbol for the general-purpose helicopter-carrying amphibious assault ships of the ''Tarawa'' and ''America'' classes. Their purpose is to ...

has a full-length

flight deck The flight deck of an aircraft carrier is the surface on which its aircraft take off and land, essentially a miniature airfield at sea. On smaller naval ships which do not have aviation as a primary mission, the landing area for helicopters ...

History

The LSD (

U.S. Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest displacement, at 4.5 million tons in 2021. It has the world's largest aircraft ...

hull classification for landing ship, dock) came as a result of a British requirement during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

for a vessel that could carry large landing craft across the seas at speed. The predecessor of all modern LSDs is of the

Imperial Japanese Army The Imperial Japanese Army (IJA; , ''Dai-Nippon Teikoku Rikugun'', "Army of the Greater Japanese Empire") was the principal ground force of the Empire of Japan from 1871 to 1945. It played a central role in Japan’s rapid modernization during th ...

, which could launch her infantry landing craft using an internal rail system and a stern ramp. She entered service in 1935 and saw combat in China and during the initial phase of Japanese offenses during 1942. The first LSD of the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...

came from a design by Sir Roland Baker who had designed the British

landing craft tank The Landing Craft, Tank (LCT) (or tank landing craft, TLC) was an amphibious assault craft for landing tanks on beachheads. They were initially developed by the Royal Navy and later by the United States Navy during World War II in a series of ver ...

. It was an answer to the problem of launching small craft rapidly. The landing ship stern chute, which was a converted train ferry ( Train Ferry No. 1 which had been built for British Army use in the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

), was an early attempt. Thirteen landing craft mechanized (LCM) could be launched from these ships down the chute. The landing ship gantry was a converted tanker with a crane to transfer its cargo of landing craft from deck to sea—15 LCM in a little over half an hour. The design was developed and built in the U.S. for the U.S. Navy and the Royal Navy. The LSD could carry 36 LCM at . It took one and a half hours for the dock to be flooded down and two and half to pump it out. When flooded they could also be used as docks for repairs to small craft. Smaller landing craft could be carried in the hold as could full-tracked and wheeled amphibious assault or support vehicles.

Vessels

In the U.S. Navy, two related groups of vessels classified as LSDs are in service as of 2023, the and es, mainly used to carry hovercraft (

LCAC LCAC may refer to: Hovercraft * A generic term for an Air-cushioned landing craft, air cushioned landing craft, taken from US Navy designation "Landing Craft, Air Cushion". ** Landing Craft Air Cushion, a US Navy hull classification symbol for the ...

s), operate helicopters, and carry Marines. The British

Royal Fleet Auxiliary The Royal Fleet Auxiliary (RFA) is a naval auxiliary fleet owned by the UK's Ministry of Defence. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service and provides logistical and operational support to the Royal Navy and Royal Marines. The RF ...

(RFA) operates three s based on the Dutch-Spanish Enforcer design in support of the Royal Navy's operations, while a fourth ship of the class—previously in RFA service—is now operated by the

Royal Australian Navy The Royal Australian Navy (RAN) is the navy, naval branch of the Australian Defence Force (ADF). The professional head of the RAN is Chief of Navy (Australia), Chief of Navy (CN) Vice admiral (Australia), Vice Admiral Mark Hammond (admiral), Ma ...

. Former U.S. LSDs include the , , , and .

LSD classes

In service

Decommissioned

References

Bibliography

External links

US Navy Office of Information Fact File – LSD
{{Authority control Ship types Amphibious warfare vessels