USS Noble, a ship of the Haskell class, in 1956
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Class overview | |
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Name | Haskell class |
Builders | |
Preceded by | Gilliam class |
Succeeded by | Paul Revere class |
Built | 1944–1945 |
In commission | 11 September 1944 – 29 October 1945 |
Planned | 131 |
Completed | 117 |
Cancelled | 14 |
General characteristics | |
Type | Attack transport |
Displacement | 6,873 tons (lt), 14,837 t (fl) |
Length | 455 ft (139 m) |
Beam | 62 ft (19 m) |
Draft | 24 ft (7 m) |
Propulsion | 1 × geared turbine (Westinghouse, Joshua Hendy or Allis-Chalmers), 2 × header-type boilers (Babcock & Wilcox or Combustion Engineering), 1 × propeller, designed 8,500 shp (6,338 kW) |
Speed | 18–19 knots (33–35 km/h; 21–22 mph) |
Boats & landing craft carried | |
Capacity |
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Complement | 56 officers, 480 enlisted |
Armament |
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Haskell-class attack transports (APA) were amphibious assault ships of the United States Navy created in 1944. They were designed to transport 1,500 troops and their combat equipment, and land them on hostile shores with the ships' integral landing craft.
The Haskells were very active in the World War II Pacific Theater of Operations, landing Marines and Army troops and transporting casualties at Iwo Jima and Okinawa. Ships of the class were among the first Allied ships to enter Tokyo Bay at the end of World War II, landing the first occupation troops at Yokosuka. After the end of World War II, most participated in Operation Magic Carpet, the massive sealift of US personnel back to the United States. A few of the Haskell class were reactivated for the Korean War, with some staying in service into the Vietnam War.
The Haskell class, Maritime Commission standard type VC2-S-AP5, is a sub‑type of the World War II Victory ship design. 117 were launched in 1944 and 1945, with 14 more being finished as another VC2 type or canceled. Built by the War Shipping Administration under the Emergency Shipbuilding program. The class was named for the Haskell Counties of Kansas, Oklahoma, and Texas.