Page 36: of Maritime Reporter Magazine (March 1988)

USS COMSTOCK

Equipment List

Main engines (4) . . . . Colt-Pielstick

CP propeller . . . . . . Bird-Johnson

Generators . . . . . . Colt-Pielstick

Shaft forgings . . . . National Forge

Reduction gear . Philadelphia Gear

Steering gear . . . . . Paul Munroe

Electrical motors GE

Main console . . Rexnord

Centrifugal pumps . . . Carver Pump

Deck cranes . . . .... Lake Shore

Auxiliary boiler . . . Combustion Engineering

Damage control . Henschel 400 Hz frequency changers . Teledyne

Ventilation fans . . . Buffalo Forge

Cargo elevators . . . Unidynamics

Radio monitoring system .... Nuclear Research

Avondale Industries Christens

Their Second Landing Ship Dock

In Series Of Five

The LCAC-12 is the newest Landing Craft, Air Cushion Vehicle delivered by Textron Marine

Systems, New Orleans, La. The yard has contracts to build 12 additional LCACs for the

Navy.

Textron Marine Systems Delivers 12th LCAC To Navy

John J. Kelly, president of Tex- tron Marine Systems (TMS), divi- sion of Textron Inc., recently an- nounced a successful end to 1987 with the delivery of Landing Craft,

Air Cushion (LCAC) -12 to Assault

Craft Unit Four (ACU-4). Accept- ance of the craft by the U.S. Navy was at the Panama City, Fla., LCAC support facility.

LCAC-12 was driven under her own power from the New Orleans

TMS production facility, across the

Gulf of Mexico to Panama City.

The LCAC is an amphibious air cushion vehicle that can quickly transport troops, equipment and weapons from support ships over the horizon to dry ground beyond the beach and surf at speeds in excess of 40 knots.

Textron Marine Systems pre- viously delivered the first six

LCACs in 1986, and these are cur- rently operating with the U.S. Navy

Amphibious Force, Pacific Fleet, at

ACU-5, Camp Pendleton, Calif.

Craft seven through 11 are now in operation at ACU-4 at Little Creek,

Va. Eventually, 45 LCACs are scheduled to be deployed at the

East Coast base and another 45

LCACs at the West Coast facility.

Textron Marine Systems has anoth- er 12 LCACs under construction at its production facility in New Or- leans.

The Navy plans to acquire nine additional LCACs in fiscal year 1989, with subsequent procurement of additional craft in the 1990s.

For free literature on Textron

Marine Systems,

Circle 34 on Reader Service Card

The second in a series of five

Landing Ship Dock (LSD) vessels being built for the U.S. Navy was christened the USS Comstock (LSD-45) at recent ceremonies at the Shipyards Division of Avondale

Industries, Inc., New Orleans, La.

Named for a historic mining site in Nevada, the Comstock is 609 feet 7 inches long, with a beam of 84 feet, full load draft of 19 feet 7 inches and full displacement of 15,745 tons.

Powered by four medium-speed

Colt-Pielstick diesel engines for a total ship's horsepower of 33,000 shp, the Comstock is capable of ser- vice speeds in excess of 20 knots.

She is equipped with 60-ton and 20- ton cranes, manufactured by Lake

Shore, and will be manned by 22 officers and 390 enlisted men.

The Comstock, like her sister

LSDs, is a multifunctional ship ca- pable of a wide range of amphibious assault operations for the Navy and

Marine Corps. Her primary mission is to carry, launch and dock up to four Landing Craft Air Cushion (LCAC) vessels. The LCACs and other equipment are carried in the

Comstock's 440-foot-long inside well.

At the Comstock's christening,

Colt-Pielstick-powered USS Comstock (LSD-45), second in a series of Landing Ship

Dock vessels being built at Avondale Indus- tries, Inc., was recently launched.

Mrs. Jan Gray, wife of Gen. Al- bert M. Gray Jr., 29th Comman- dant of the U.S. Marine Corps, served as the ship's sponsor.

Other christening participants in- cluded: the Honorable Robert L.

Livingston, U.S. Congressman, 1st

District, Louisiana; the Honorable

Lindy Boggs, U.S. Congresswo- man, 2nd District, Louisiana; Capt.

Joseph E. King, USN, Deputy

Commander, Amphibious, Auxilia- ry, Mine and Sealift Ships, Naval

Sea Systems Command; Albert L.

Bossier Jr., chairman of the board, Avondale Industries, Inc.;

Capt. Paul D. Hurst, USN, Super- visor of Shipbuilding, Conversion and Repair, New Orleans; and

Richard F. Brunner, executive . . Circle 152 on Reader Service Card 38

Principals at the Comstock's christening are (L to R, first row): Mrs. Paul Hurst; Miss Jo Ann

Chibirka; Mrs. Albert L. Bossier Jr.; Miss Janice Peters, maid of honor; Mrs. Jan Gray, ship's sponsor; flower girl Cherie Ann Abadie; Mrs Ralph Goss, mother of the sponsor; Congress- woman Lindy Boggs; and Mrs. Robert H. Barrow. (Second row, L to R): Albert L. Bossier Jr., chairman & CEO, Avondale Industries, Inc.; Cmdr. Robert H. Howe, prospective command- ing officer; Mrs. Robert H. Howe; Capt. Paul D. Hurst, USN, Supervisor of Shipbuilding,

Conversion and Repair, New Orleans; Mrs. Norman Mosher; Gen. Alfred M. Gray Jr.,

Commandant, USMC; Mrs. Louis H. Wilson; Lt. Col. Ralph R. Goss, USAF (Ret.); and former

USMC Commandants, Gen. Robert H. Barrow and Gen. Louis H. Wilson.

Maritime Reporter/Engineering News

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