Benewah-class barracks ship

Class of United States Navy barrack ships

USS Benewah

Class overview
Name| Benewah class
Builders|

* Boston Navy Yard
* Missouri Valley Bridge & Iron Co.
* American Bridge and Iron Co.
* Jeffersonville Bridge & Machine Co.
* Bethlehem Hingham Shipyard

Operators|

* United States Navy
* Indonesian Navy
* Philippine Navy

Built| 1943-1946
In commission| 1944-1971
Planned| 16
Completed| 16
Active|

* 2, military service
* 2, commercial service

Laid up| 1
Retired| 13
General characteristics
Type| Barracks ship
Displacement| 4,000 long tons (4,064 t)
Length| 328 ft (100 m) oa
Beam| 50 ft (15 m)
Draft|

* Full load: 8 ft 2 in (2.49 m) forward; 14 ft 1 in (4.29 m) aft
* Landing at 2,160 t: 3 ft 11 in (1.19 m) forward; 9 ft 10 in (3.00 m) aft

Installed power|

* 2 × 900 hp (670 kW) Electro-Motive Diesel 12-567A diesel engines
* 1,700 shp (1,300 kW)

Propulsion|

* 1 × Falk main reduction gears
* 2 × Propellers

Speed| 12 kn (22 km/h; 14 mph)
Range| 24,000 nmi (44,000 km; 28,000 mi) at 9 kn (17 km/h; 10 mph) while displacing 3,960 long tons (4,024 t)
Boats & landing
craft carried| 2 or 6 x LCVPs
Capacity| 2,975 Bbls (diesel)
Troops| 26 officers, 1200 enlisted men
Complement| 12 officers, 129 enlisted men
Armament|

* 2 × quad Bofors 40 mm guns
* 20 × 50 cal and 30 cal machine guns

The Benewah-class barracks ship was a class of barracks ships of the United States Navy after the Second World War, in the late 1940s.[1]

## Development

[edit]

Thirteen ships were converted into repair ships throughout the later stages of World War II. The ships were converted from the LST-1 and LST-542 classes. After the war, a few ships were then sold to the Philippines and Indonesia.

The ship's hulls remained nearly the same but with new equipment to carry out their purpose were placed on deck alongside several cranes. The ships' armament was slightly changed and relocated to make way for the ships' equipment. All ships served in the Pacific Theater until the end of the war with no ships lost in combat.

APL-40 (ex-USS Nueces) is still active, serving as a transport and berthing vessel for the United States Navy in Yokosuka. APL-39 (ex-USS Mercer) also now berthed in Sasebo.

## Ships of class

[edit]

Benewah-class repair ship[2]

Pennant number  | Name  | Callsign  | Builders  | Launched  | Commissioned  | Decommissioned  | Fate
APB-35  | Benewah | NUIX  | Boston Navy Yard | 6 May 1945  | 9 March 1946  | 26 February 1971  | Sold to Philippines and renamed RPS Tulungan (AH-3), sunk as artificial reef in 1975
APB-36  | Colleton | NUIN  | 30 July 1945  | 28 January 1967  | 15 December 1969  | Scrapped on 6 January 1973
APB-37  | Echols | NUIZ  | 30 July 1945  | n/a  | Sold to Defense Reutilization and Marketing Service (DRMS), in active service since mid-2000s
APB-38  | Marlboro | \-  | 17 November 1944  | 18 August 1945  | 5 May 1947  | Scrapped
APB-39  | Mercer | NUIQ  | 17 November 1944  | 19 September 1945  | 7 January 1970  | Part of the CincPacFlt Berthing and Messing Program and is berthed at Sasebo, Japan
APB-40  | Nueces | NUIR  | 6 May 1945  | 30 November 1945  | 13 March 1970  | Part of the CincPacFlt Berthing and Messing Program and is berthed at Yokosuka, Japan
APB-41  | Wythe | NEWW  | Missouri Valley Bridge & Iron Co. | 9 June 1944  | 30 June 1944  | 29 May 1947  | Scrapped on 10 September 1959
APB-42  | Yavapai | NFKT  | American Bridge & Machine Co. | 6 June 1944  | 30 June 1944  | 3 December 1946  | Scrapped on 11 September 1959
APB-43  | Yolo | NFLE  | 16 June 1944  | 3 July 1944  | 9 August 1946  | Scrapped on 6 February 1960
APB-44  | Presque Isle | NFLK  | 16 June 1944  | 19 July 1944  | 18 April 1947  | Sold to Indonesia and renamed KRI Teluk Ratai (LST-509), decommissioned and laid up
APB-45  | Blackford | NBCK  | Missouri Valley Bridge & Iron Co.  | 9 April 1945  | 9 June 1945  | 26 April 1947  | Sold to merchant service, sunk as artificial reef between 1968 and 1970
APB-46  | Dorchester | NBCY  | 12 April 1945  | 15 June 1945  | 16 October 1946  | Sold to merchant service, in active service since 1 August 1974
APB-47  | Kingman | NBDB  | 17 April 1945  | 17 April 1945  | 15 January 1947  | Scrapped on 19 November 1980
APB-48  | Vanderburgh | NBFT  | 20 April 1945  | 3 July 1945  | 17 January 1947  | Scrapped on 12 November 1972
APB-49  | Accomac | NFRR  | Jeffersonville Boat & Machine Co. | 28 June 1944  | 24 July 1944  | 9 August 1946  | Scrapped on 7 December 1959
APB-50  | Cameron | NKBB  | Bethlehem Hingham Shipyard | 5 July 1944  | 30 July 1944  | 13 December 1946  | Sold to merchant service, fate unknown

## External links

[edit]

* Photo gallery of Benewah-class barracks ship at NavSource Naval History

## Citations

[edit]

1. ^ "Benewah (APB-35) Class". www.shipscribe.com. Retrieved 20 December 2021.
2. ^ "NavSource Sef-propelled Barracks Ship Photo Archive". www.navsource.org. Retrieved 19 January 2022.

* v
* t
* e

Benewah-class barracks ships

* Benewah
* Colleton
* Echols
* Marlboro
* Mercer
* Nueces
* Wythe
* Yavapai
* Yolo
* Presque Isle
* Blackford
* Dorchester
* Kingman
* Vanderburgh
* Accomac
* Cameron

* List of auxiliaries of the United States Navy

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