USS Ashland (LSD-1)

USS Ashland (LSD-1) underway off Cape Henry, Virginia, 20 May 1953.
History
United States
Name	USS Ashland
Namesake	Ashland, in Lexington, Kentucky
Builder	Moore Dry Dock Company
Laid down	22 June 1942
Launched	21 December 1942
Commissioned	5 June 1943 27 December 1950 29 November 1961
Decommissioned	March 1946 14 September 1957 22 November 1969
Stricken	25 November 1969
Fate	Sold for scrap, May 1970
General characteristics
Displacement	4,032 tons (light draft), 7,930 tons (loaded)
Length	457 ft 9 in (139.52 m)
Beam	72 ft 2 in (22.00 m)
Draft	15 ft 5.5 in (4.712 m) fwd, 16 ft 2 in (4.93 m) aft (loaded)
Propulsion	2 Babcock & Wilcox boilers, oil-fired; 2 Skinner Uni-Flow reciprocating engines; Twin screws
Speed	17 knots (31 km/h)
Endurance	8,000 nmi. at 15 knots (15,000 km at 28 km/h)
Capacity	22 officers, 218 men
Complement	23 officers, 267 men
Armament	1 × 5 in (130 mm) DP gun; 2 × 40 mm quad AA guns 2 × 40 mm twin AA guns 16 × 20 mm AA guns

USS Ashland (LSD-1) was the lead ship of her class—the first dock landing ship of the United States Navy. She was the first Navy ship to be named for Ashland, the estate of Henry Clay, in Lexington, Kentucky.

Ashland was laid down on 22 June 1942 at Oakland, California, by the Moore Dry Dock Company; launched on 21 December 1942; sponsored by Mrs. Jabez Lowell, the wife of Captain Lowell who was then the inspector of naval material at San Francisco; and commissioned on 5 June 1943.