St Louis (LKA 116) - Naval Cruise Book

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Marge. QTL 0 U.s.s. ST. LIIUIS LKA-116 FURWARD DEPLUYED 1933-34 Q 1ZE 15:12 EI ZF SASEBO JAPAN ,Wifi

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W mf fy., af USS ST. LOUIS QLKA-1161 CHARACTERISTICS TYPE I Amphibious Cargo Ship Navy Designation: CLKA-116, Length Overall : 575 feet 6 inches Length Between Perpendiculars: 550 feet Breadth, molded maximum: 82 feet Full Load Displacement: 18,600 tons Depth, molded at side to main deck amidship: 47 ft, 10 in, Draft, full load: 25 feet 5 inches Number of Propellers: One Shaft Horsepower: 22,000 Speed, Sustained: 20 kIl0tS Contract Date: June 11, 1965 Keel Laid: April 3, 1968 Launched : January 4, 1969 Commissioned : November 22, 1969 Armament : Three 3 f50 cal. twin mounts Total Complement CShips crew and troopsl: 642 Mechanized Landing Craft: 11 Cargo Handling Booms: 12 Cargo Holds: 4 78.4 tons Maximum Boom Capacity: Jet Fuel Tank Capacity: 167 tons The Amphibious Cargo Ship USS ST. LOUIS QLKA-1162 is the sixth ship of the Fleet to bear the name of the city and county of St. Louis, Missouri. For more than 150 years, U. S. Navy ships have proudly carried that name. USS ST. LOUIS was launched at Newport News Shipbuilding and Drydock Company, Newport News, Virginia, on January 4, 1969. She was placed in commission at Norfolk Naval Shipyard, Portsmouth, Virginia on November 22, 1969, becoming an inte- gral part of the modern, mobile twenty-knot amphibious force of the United States Pacific Fleet and bears the name of the city and county of St. Louis, Missouri. Homeported in SASEBO, JAPAN, ST. LOUIS is a unit of Amphibious Group One. Carrying eleven assault boats and possessing a newly designed cargo handling system, the 575-foot ST. LOUIS boasts a powerful capability for support of amphibious operations that is significantly greater than older ships of her type. The mission of an LKA is to transport and land combat equipment and material with attendant personnel in amphibious assaults. Her four Mike 8 boats are the largest landing craft now hoisted aboard a Navy ship and are capable of landing sixty-ton tanks. An enlarged helicopter platform provides flexibility in the rapid- ly evolving technques of amphibious operations. The cargo handling system includes twelve booms, two of which have a capacity of seventy tons, special elevators and numerous cargo spaces for both vehicles and general cargo. Four cargo holds and several special cargo compartments provide the capability to transport any equipment presently required to support an am- phibious assault. The engineering plant is fully automated and can be operated by fewer men than required on older ships.