Amphibious warfare ships, also known as landing operations ships, is the day landing operations with a variety of ships, including landing ships, landing craft, dock landing ship, armed transport ships, amphibious cargo ships, amphibious dock transport ships, amphibious assault ships and amphibious command ship, etc., the main task is to be used for the transportation of landing troops, landing gear, combat vehicles and other weapons, equipment and materials for landing operations.
Except amphibious command ship, the rest of the amphibious warfare ships are essentially transport ships, the design of the main consideration of transportation, loading and amphibious capability, attack and defense capability is secondary. Therefore, they and civilian passenger and cargo ships have a lot of **** the same, when necessary, can be requisitioned civilian ship conversion. Landing ship and landing craft usually have the ability to land directly on the beach, the bow fat blunt, shallow draft, flat bottom, wide hull, the bow has the first door and drawbridge, is used for smaller-scale boarding team combat of the main types of ships.
Dock landing ship with a dock, generally can be loaded with three large landing craft or medium-sized landing craft 10 to 20, or amphibious craft 40 to 50, while hundreds of landing troops can be carried. Armed transport ships, amphibious cargo ships, amphibious dock transport ships generally do not have the ability to land directly, its rapidity, wave resistance, loading capacity, endurance and so on are better than the landing ship, used for long-distance, large-scale landing operations from ship to shore.
The amphibious assault ship is to transport troops landing ship, mainly with helicopters to transport landing troops to implement the vertical landing, in order to improve the landing operation of suddenness, rapidity and mobility. General amphibious assault ship function is according to the formation unit transportation landing troops and their weapons and equipment and materials, can be implemented at the same time vertical landing and plane landing, both amphibious assault ship, amphibious dock transport ship, amphibious cargo ship, armed transport ship combat capability.
Amphibious command ship is specially used for landing operations on the landing formation to implement unified command, the ship has perfect communication and command equipment. The U.S. Navy's "Blue Ridge" class amphibious command ship with a fully loaded displacement of 18,000 tons, the maximum speed of 23 knots, had participated in the 1991 Gulf War.
The future will focus on the development of general-purpose amphibious assault ship, so that it has the plane landing and vertical landing capacity, while improving the loading and unloading capacity and speed of the landing ship, and further improve the speed, wave resistance, and strengthen the air defense capability. In addition, air cushion landing craft will also be developed.
Amphibious landing operations is an important style of naval operations, the main purpose is to put a large number of marines, tanks, armored vehicles and logistical materials, the fastest possible speed to the enemy coast to transport, and ultimately occupy and control the enemy's land and coastal areas. How can these personnel, vehicles and supplies be delivered quickly? There are two ways, one is vertical landing and delivery, that is, the use of aircraft and direct
Lift; the other is horizontal landing and delivery, is the use of amphibious warships. The so-called amphibious ships, is able to navigate in the water, but also for the landing of support, and even can be directly from the water across the sea
beach to land. There are many types of these ships, mainly amphibious assault ships and amphibious landing ships.
Amphibious assault ship is a new type of ship developed after the 1950s, mainly the use of large ships, personnel, vehicles and supplies together from their own coast to the enemy coast for delivery. U.S. Navy Iwo Jima class amphibious helicopter carrier in service in the 1970s, is a typical vertical landing type combat platform. With a displacement of 18,000 tons, it can carry more than 20 heavy helicopters and four vertical/short takeoff and landing aircraft, and is capable of carrying more than 1,750 Marines and 1,500 tons of supplies. Landing troops, light armored vehicles, and support supplies can be rapidly transported vertically using airplanes and helicopters to open up landing fields in
enemy depth to extend and control the landing zone and to pick up subsequent landing echelons for mass landings.
In order to carry more personnel, vehicles and supplies, the United States built five more Tarawa-class general-purpose amphibious assault ships after the 1970s. It is an integrated multi-purpose large amphibious ship with the various functions of an amphibious
assault ship, dock landing ship and landing transport ship. The ship has a large tonnage of about 4,000 tons, equivalent to a medium-sized aircraft carrier, and is capable of carrying not only 21 heavy helicopters and
6 vertical/short take-off and landing planes, but also 45 armored vehicles, 2-3 landing crafts, and more than 1,700 landing troops.
Landing ships are a kind of ships that transport landing soldiers, weapons, equipment and material vehicles to land directly on the beachhead of the enemy shore, the displacement of more than 500 tons is called a landing ship, and less than 500 tons is called a landing craft.
Large landing ship displacement is generally 2000-10000 tons, can load 10-20 tanks and several landing soldiers. Landing ship has a large loading compartment, the first part of the ship has a first door and a long drawbridge, the ship
Touching the beach, the first door will be opened, the drawbridge is lowered, tanks, armored vehicles and landing soldiers through the drawbridge to grab the beach landing. Landing ship is the development of the Second World War, the war only the United States has built
built 1500 ships, these ships strongly support the Normandy landing operations. Since World War II, the United States has built a new port-class landing ship, displacement 8450 tons, can carry 400 landing troops, 500 tons of supplies or vehicles. Later, the development of integrated multi-purpose amphibious assault ships and air cushion landing craft, so this traditional single-purpose large landing ship is no longer developed.
For Third World navies, landing craft are still important amphibious warfare equipment. In addition to the landing craft mentioned above,
the most commonly used are landing craft. Some landing craft can go from shore to shore, while others need to be transported by other ships to the changeover area.
Then the beach landing. The largest landing craft 500 tons, able to carry 3-5 tanks, hundreds of landing troops or 100-300 tons of supplies. The smallest was only one to twenty tons, capable of carrying 30 landing troops or 3 tons of supplies. Landing craft were widely
used before World War II and developed rapidly during the war, with more than 100,000 built by several major naval powers. Since the post-World War II period, the development of landing craft
has been slower, and after the 1970s there has been a trend toward the gradual replacement of displacement landing craft due to the development of air cushioned landing craft. Amphibious Assault Ship
Amphibious assault ship is a helicopter-carrying landing ship used to transport landing troops and equipment. Also known as helicopter landing transportation ship. The main use of helicopters to transport landing troops for vertical landing, in order to improve the suddenness, rapidity and mobility of landing operations.
The ship's flight deck can take off and land 7~8 helicopters at the same time. Below the flight deck is a hangar and landing vehicle storage. The helicopters and vehicles are transported to the flight deck by the elevator in the hangar, and there is a passage from the landing soldier's cabin to the boarding area.
The ship also has a command center, navigation equipment and more complete medical facilities.
The United States built the "Sulphur Island" amphibious assault ship, full load displacement of 18,300 tons, the maximum speed of 23 knots, can carry 20 helicopters, 4 vertical, short take-off and landing aircraft, the ship is also equipped with air-to-air missiles and 76-mm guns; can also carry 2,000 landing troops and weapons and equipment.