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UNITED STATES NAVY DEPARTMENT
BUREAU OF CONSTRUCTION AND REPAIR / BUREAU OF SHIPS
"SPRING STYLES," 1939-1944
Online Library of Selected Images -- Photo Albums
Bureau of Ships' "Spring Styles" Book # 3 (1939-1944) -- (Naval Historical Center Lot # S-511) --
Auxiliary Ship and Amphibious Warfare Vessel Preliminary Design Drawings
If an army "marches on its stomach", a trans-oceanic navy is every bit as dependent on vast numbers of auxiliary ships to maintain its operations, plus plenty of amphibious vessels to support the capture of advanced bases. The 1939-1944 "Spring Styles" Book includes ten preliminary design drawings for ships and craft intended for these purposes. Three of these are for a ship type that, in mid-1940, seemed essential for protecting fleet anchorages: the net layer. As it turned out, large net layers were much less vital than anticipated, and those hulls begun for this purpose were completed as vehicle transports (LSV). A preliminary design of such a conversion is also included.
In October 1940 the Navy's General Board considered proposals for a new class of submarine rescue vessels (ASR), a type that was clearly attractive to the expanding submarine force. One of the designs studied appears to have been based on the existing Barnegat class small seaplane tenders (AVP). The other, which is much more like that actually adopted, was a good deal smaller.
In March 1942, with the importance of fast aircraft carrier task forces rapidly becoming obvious, the General Board explored the idea of an oiler able to keep up with the carriers. Preliminary design drawings were submitted for two such ships, one capable of carrying her own aircraft. The wartime navy did not adopt the type, but the fast oiler concept remained alive, to appear two decades later in the form of the Fast Combat Support Ship (AOE).
Conspicuous by its absence in this "Spring Styles" book is the huge fleet of large amphibious ships that dominated the Pacific War, and also played a vital role on the other side of the Globe. Other than the LSV conversion mentioned above, the volume features just two amphibious type preliminary designs, both representing craft intended for landing tanks and other vehicles.
This page features those 1939-1944 Bureau of Ships "Spring Styles" plans that concern auxiliaries and amphibious warfare types.
For general information on this album, see:
Bureau of Ships' "Spring Styles" Book # 3 (1939-1944) -- General Description.
On the picture data sheets referenced from this page, click on the thumbnail image (small photograph) to prompt a larger view of the same image.
The Auxiliary Ship and Amphibious Warfare Vessel drawings included in this album are:
-- Three proposed designs for net laying ships (AN), plus a drawing of the conversion of a net layer to a vehicle transport (LSV):
S-511-31: "Net Layer". Plan dated 22 July 1940 (with modifications of 20 August 1940) for a 3000 ton net layer, 360 feet long.
S-511-32: "Net Layer - Preliminary Design Study - Scheme "A"". Plan dated 30 August 1940 for a 4600 ton (full load) net layer, 375 feet long.
S-511-24: "Net Layer ... Scheme "B" (Adaptation of Minelayer (CM 5) Design)". Plan dated 31 August 1940, prepared during the development of the AN 1-4 class. It provides a 440-foot ship, displacing 8100-tons (full load). Four ships based on this scheme were begun as Monitor (AN-1) class net laying ships, but were completed as vehicle transports.
S-511-59: "Transport (AP) - Converted from "AN"". Plan dated 7 January 1943 for a 8575-ton (full load), 440-foot long personnel and vehicle transport converted from a net layer (see Photo # S-511-24). Probably the preliminary design for what became the Osage (LSV-3) class.
-- Two drawings of submarine rescue vessels (ASR), one rather larger than the type actually built:
S-511-27: "Submarine Rescue Vessel (A.S.R.) - Design Study "A"". Plan dated 17 October 1940 for 240-foot ship of about the same size as adopted for the Chanticleer (ASR-7) class.
S-511-26: "Submarine Rescue Vessel (A.S.R.) - Design Study "B"". Plan dated 17 October 1940 for relatively large ship that appears to be based on that of the Barnegat (AVP-10) class small seaplane tenders.
-- Two schemes for fast oilers, one very much like a large escort aircraft carrier:
S-511-52: "20 Knot Oiler - Preliminary Study". Plan dated 21 March 1942 for a 28,000 ton high-speed oiler.
S-511-53: "20 Knot Flightdeck Oiler - Preliminary Study". Plan dated 21 March 1942 for a 30,000 ton high-speed oiler with similar configuration to an escort aircraft carrier.
-- Two drawings of tank landing craft:
S-511-48: "49.5 ft. Tank Lighter - Design Study". Plan dated December 1941 for a landing craft of LCM size. Includes data tables for four different tank lighters, including 50-foot and 48-foot Higgins designs, plus 47-foot and 49.5-foot types designed by the Bureau of Ships.
S-511-49: "100 ft. Tank Landing Craft - Design Study". Plan dated 21 January 1942 for a landing craft similar to the LCT(5) type, but with two assembly sections instead of three.
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