USS Harlan County (LST-1196)

The USS "Harlan County" (LST-1196) was a United States Navy tank landing ship of the "Newport"-class.

"Harlan County" (LST-1196) was named after Harlan County, Kentucky as reflected in her unit patch. Her keel was laid on 7 November 1970 at San Diego, Calif., by the National Steel & Shipbuilding Corp.; launched on 24 July 1971; sponsored by Mrs. Richard Capen; and commissioned on 8 April 1972, Comdr. Vernon C. Smith in command.

Following commissioning, Harlan County was assigned to the Amphibious Force, Atlantic Fleet, and transited the Panama Canal en route to her home port at the Naval Amphibious Base in Little Creek, Va.

The crew of the Harlan County affectionately nicknamed her the "Darlin' Harlan" and "Supergator". Over her career, the Harlan County routinely deployed to the Mediterranean, Western Africa, and South America, while also conducting amphibious training operations along the east coast of the United States and in the Caribbean. The Harlan County served during several notable actions during her career: she was stationed off the coast of Lebanon in 1983 at the time of the bombing of the Marine barracks in Beirut, she served in the Persian Gulf during Operation Desert Storm/Desert Shield, and was sent to Haiti in 1993 as part of a UN peace-keeping force. In 1990 the USS Harlan County helped re-establish US Navy cooperation with Argentina; she was the first US Navy ship to make an official port visit to Buenos Aires since the Falkland Islands War. The Harlan County was decommissioned on April 14, 1995, and was temporarily leased to Spain, where she was re-christened as the Pizarro (L-42) in the Spanish Navy. In 1999 the US Government finally sold the Harlan County to Spain, where she still serves today.

The USS Harlan County, one of the Newport Class of LSTs, was designed as a modernized "battle-group" version of the Tank Landing Ships (LSTs) of World War Two. The major difference (among many) being these new ships had a v-shaped bow to allow for greater speed (20+ knots), versus the blunt bow LSTs of World War II and later. The Harlan County had a light weight of 4,793 tons (4,870 t) but almost doubled in weight to 8,450 tons (8,586 t) at full load.

The ships of the class had the ability to transport 2,000 tons of cargo or 500 tons for beaching on 1,765 square yards (1,476 m²) of deckspace. The ships had the capacity to transport twenty-three AAV-7A1 armored personnel carriers (APCs), or twenty-nine M-48 tanks (used by the Marines), or forty-one 2½ ton cargo trucks (deuce and a halfs) on the tank deck, which had turntables both fore and aft. They could also carry twenty-nine 2½ ton trucks on the upper deck. The Harlan County normally carried two LCVPs on the port Welin davit, and another LCVP and an LCPL (Captain's Gig) on the starboard davit.

The Harlan County carried 900,000 U.S. gallons (3,400,000 L) of marine diesel, 141,600 gallons (536,000 L) of vehicle fuel, 20,000 gallons (76,000 L) of gasoline (mogas), and 10,000 gallons (38,000 L) of JP-5 aviation fuel. The ship also had below deck berthing in the forward hull for a small battalion of Marine ground forces. A bow thruster and stern anchor was used for ship positioning during bow ramp operations, stern gate launchings, and beaching evolutions. The bow ramp itself was 112 feet long, and weighs 20 tons constructed from aluminum. The ramp was rated at 75 tons capacity (an M1A1 Tank weighs 70 short tons) and when deployed, the aft end fits onto a "king post", upon which it could swivel to a limited degree. The bow ramp (when deployed) is supported by a set of derrick arms, giving the ship its distinctive cross section. Aft of the bow ramp (when extended) is a vehicle ramp (" 'tween decks ramp") which allows vehicles to proceed directly from the interior tank deck to the bow ramp, thence to the deployment site, beach or causeway. When the bow ramp is retracted, the 'tween decks ramp is located directly below, and is raised and sealed to ensure water tight integrity between the weather deck and the tank deck. A forward turntable facilitates maneuvering of various Marine and SeeBee vehicles. At the aft end of the tank deck, another turntable likewise facilitates maneuvering of these vehicles and allows AAV (Marine "LVTs"-Tracked Landing Vehicles) to launch directly into the water via the sterngate, which opens directly to the sea during "launching operations". Four causeway sections could be mounted aft (two on the port side and two on the starboard) of the superstructure directly adjacent the flight deck; these were linked together to form a pontoon bridge which allowed unloading of vehicles when the ship was not able to beach herself. These causeway sections are also able to be lashed to the sterngate as needed; "steel beach" was a popular evolution for the crew while deployed. Causeway sections were married to the sterngate and the crew could enjoy barbecue and beer. For helicopter operations the ship had a 250 square yard landing pad aft of the smoke-stacks and twin 10-ton cargo winches. A power-driven cargo hatch leads from the flight deck to the tank deck.

External links

* [http://www.history.navy.mil/danfs/h2/harlan_countylst-1196.htm history.navy.mil: USS "Harlan County"]
* [http://www.navsource.org/archives/10/161196.htm navsource.org: USS "Harlan County"]

There are two 24-foot (7.3 m) turntables separated by 360 feet (110 m) of tank deck space. Each turntable was used to turn around AAVs that were recovered or launched from the sterngate. There was an aft winch on the tank deck starboard side and a spare stern anchor.

Each LST is able to turn within its own axis due to the screw and bow thruster configuration. It is also able to steer itself from two controllable pitch propellers independently of the rudder if the rudder control system is disabled. The ship is also able to "breast(move laterally)" by a combination of rudder, thruster and propeller configurations.

The twin 3"/50 caliber gun mounts are not able to fire at the beach during landing operations as they are located directly behind the superstructure. These were intended mainly for air defense(the radar directors were removed) and for NGFS(Naval Gun Fire Support). The Harlan County performed this function during 1983 off the shore of Beirut, Lebanon, with other ships in that squadron.

A design flaw exists in the location of fuel tanks, mogas and the flammable liquid storeroom; these are all located in the main hull forward of the superstructure.

The first reported maiden voyage was to deliver Olympic equipment to the German Olympic games.