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Paul Revere 1969

Ships

No	Name	Yard No	Builder	Laid down	Launched	Comm	Fate
APA248, 1.1969- LPA248	Paul Revere (ex-Diamond Mariner)	493	New York SB, Camden	15.5.1952	11.4.1953	22.12.1953 // 3.9.1958	stricken 1.1980, to Spain (Castilla)
APA249, 1.1969- LPA249	Francis Marion (ex-Prairie Mariner)	495	New York SB, Camden	1953	13.2.1954	25.5.1954 // 6.7.1961	stricken 1.1980, to Spain (Aragón)

Technical data

Displacement standard, t	10709
Displacement full, t	16838
Length, m	172.0
Breadth, m	23.2
Draught, m	7.90
No of shafts	1
Machinery	1 set De Laval geared steam turbines, 2 Foster Wheeler boilers
Power, h. p.	22000
Max speed, kts	22
Fuel, t	oil
Endurance, nm(kts)	10000(20)
Armament	4 x 2 - 76/50 Mk 33, helicopter deck
Military load	1657 troops, 1900 t of cargo, 7 LCM(6), 12 LCVP, 3 LCP(L)
Electronic equipment	APA248: SPS-12, SPS-10, 4x Mk 34 radars, WLR-1, ULQ-6 ECM suites APA249: SPS-40, SPS-10, 4x Mk 34 radars, WLR-1, ULQ-6 ECM suites
Complement	307

Standard scale images

Graphics

Project history

Paul Revere, Francis Marion and Tulare, the only new AKA and APA construction of the 1950s, were conversions of 'Mariner' cargo hulls (C4-S-1A). Of thirty-five 'Mariners' built, the Navy acquired five in all, the other two being the Polaris missile firing ship Observation Island and the navigational test ship Compass Island, both associated with the Polaris programme. The two attack (personnel) transports were fitted as amphibious squadron flagships or as troop commander or transport division flagships; they could handle landing craft and heavy vehicles with 10t, 30t and 60t cargo booms. In an early example of adaptation to helicopter operation, their helicopter decks were served by cargo elevators. In fact they were the last conventional attack personnel transports, as the transport function was next taken over by a combination of LPH (helicopter carriers) and LPD (landing ship docks with additional troop spaces). They could accommodate 1500 troops each.

Tulare was designed primarily for cargo, although she could carry 575 troops (and 500 vehicles), handling up to twenty-seven landing craft with heavy-lift (60t) booms rigged from her quadruped masts. Like the APAs, she had a helicopter platform.

Modernizations

1977-1978, both: - 4x Mk 34 radars; + LN-66 radar

Naval service

No significant events.