Gilliam attack transport
USS Gilliam (APA-57)
USS Gilliam (APA-57)
Class Overview
Builders:Consolidated Steel Corporation
Contract:Type S4 SE2 BD1
Operators:US Navy
Following class:Haskell attack transport
Commissioned:1 August 1943
USS Gilliam
Decommissioned:24 January 1947
USS Catron
In service:1943
USS Gilliam
Out of service:1968
USS Burleson
Ships planned:Total ships planned
Ships in class:32
Ships in active service:none
Ships building:Total ships building
Ships fitting out:Total ships fitting out
Ships converted to other roles:Total ships converted
Ships in storage:Total ships stored
Ships out of service:Total ships out of service
Sunk ships:Total ships sunk
Scuttled or target ships:7
Scrapped ships:Total ships scrapped
Preserved ships:none
Ships planned but not completed:Total ships not completed
General characteristics
Class and type"Gilliam attack transport"
Tonnage2,600 tons, 85,000 cu. ft.
Displacementlist error: <br /> list (help)
6,800 tons (full load)
7,080 (limiting)
Tons burthentons burthen
Lengthlist error: <br /> list (help)
LOA: 426 feet (129.8 m)
LWL: 400 feet (121.9 m)
Beam58 feet (17.7 m)
Draft16 feet (4.9 m)
Propulsionlist error: <br /> list (help)
Two Babcock & Wilcox boilers - 450 psig, 750° F
Two Westinghouse turbo-electric; two main-shaft motors; Horsepower: 6,600 (4.9 MW)
Two screws
Speed17 knots (31 km/h)
Rangerange
Enduranceendurance
Test depthtest depth
Boats & landing
craft carried
list error: <br /> list (help)
15 × LCVPs
1 × gig
Capacitycapacity
Troops47 Officers, 802 Enlisted
Complement27 Officers 295 Enlisted
Time to activatetime to activate
Sensors and
processing systems
sensors
Electronic warfare
& decoys
EW
Armamentlist error: <br /> list (help)
• 1 × 5"/38 caliber gun
• 4 × twin 40mm cannon
• 10 × 20mm cannon
Armorarmor
Aircraft carriedaircraft
Aviation facilitiesaircraft facilities
Notesnotes

Gilliam Class Attack Transports were a type of attack transport (APA) serving in the United States Navy during World War II. Built by the Consolidated Steel Corporation in Wilmington, California under a Maritime Commission contract, Type S4 SE2 BD1.

The Gilliam class was a new type of troop carrier to fill the needs for a smaller, faster transport to reduce the chance of being sunk by submarine, and to reduce the losses if one were. Previous to this, cargo-type ships were converted to attack transports by installing landing-boat davits. The Gilliam class was one of the first purpose-built amphibious troop carriers.

Consolidated Steel built its Wilmington yard in 1941 and with four ways, later increased to eight. Novel, assembly-line techniques were employed to reduce build time, (laying down to commissioning), to three months. Thirty-two Gilliam class APAs were built before being supplanted by the Haskell class, also built by Consolidated.

All Gilliams were used in the Pacific war. Iwo to Occupation. 12 LCVPs, 2 Lxxxs & 1 Lyyy.

The ships were a wartime commodity. Eleven of the ships were scrapped within two years of the end of the war. Of the remaining, nineteen were involved in Operation Crossroads in July 1946; sixteen as targets. (All the APAs used in the tests were Gilliam class.) Two were sunk outright by Test Able. Ten suffered radiation damage from the unexpectedly high contamination of the underwater Test Baker and were not re-manned. After testing, they were scuttled in 1948. Most of the rest were sunk as gunnery targets. Only five survived into the 1950s.

The following table shows significant dates for the thirty-two ships of the class. The build times (in days - laying down to commissioning) show the phenomanal rates that were achieved. The life times (in years - measured from commissioning) were, in general, very short.

Gilliam attack transports
APA Name Laid down Launched Commissioned Last date On slip Fitting Build Life
57 Gilliam 30 Nov 1943 28 Mar 1944 01 Aug 1944 01 Jul 1946 118 126 244 2.3
58 Appling 07 Dec 1943 09 Apr 1944 22 Aug 1944 12 Dec 1954 123 135 258 10.7
59 Audrain 01 Dec 1943 21 Apr 1944 02 Sep 1944 11 Jul 1972 141 134 275 28.2
60 Banner 24 Jan 1944 03 May 1944 16 Sep 1944 16 Feb 1948 99 136 235 3.8
61 Barrow 28 Jan 1944 11 May 1944 28 Sep 1944 11 May 1948 103 140 243 4.0
62 Berrien 23 Feb 1944 20 May 1944 08 Oct 1944 01 Jan 1966 86 141 227 21.6
63 Bladen 08 Mar 1944 31 May 1944 18 Oct 1944 01 Jan 1960 84 140 224 15.6
64 Bracken 13 Mar 1944 10 Jun 1944 04 Oct 1944 10 Mar 1948 89 116 205 3.7
65 Briscoe 29 Mar 1944 19 Jun 1944 29 Oct 1944 06 May 1948 82 132 214 3.9
66 Brule 10 Apr 1944 30 Jun 1944 31 Oct 1944 11 May 1948 81 123 204 3.9
67 Burleson 22 Apr 1944 11 Jul 1944 08 Nov 1944 20 Sep 1968 80 120 200 24.2
68 Butte 04 May 1944 20 Jul 1944 22 Nov 1944 12 May 1948 77 125 202 3.8
69 Carlisle 12 May 1944 30 Jul 1944 28 Nov 1944 01 Jul 1946 79 121 200 1.9
70 Carteret 22 May 1944 15 Aug 1944 03 Dec 1944 19 Apr 1948 85 110 195 3.7
71 Catron 01 Jun 1944 28 Aug 1944 28 Nov 1944 06 May 1948 88 92 180 3.7
72 Clarendon 12 Jun 1944 12 Sep 1944 14 Dec 1944 01 Jun 1946 92 93 185 1.7
73 Cleburne 20 Jun 1944 27 Sep 1944 22 Dec 1944 07 Jul 1947 99 86 185 2.8
74 Colusa 01 Jul 1944 07 Oct 1944 20 Dec 1944 14 Aug 1947 98 74 172 2.9
75 Cortland 12 Jul 1944 18 Oct 1944 01 Jan 1945 31 Mar 1948 98 75 173 3.4
76 Crenshaw 21 Jul 1944 27 Oct 1944 04 Jan 1945 30 Jun 1946 98 69 167 1.7
77 Crittenden 31 Jul 1944 06 Nov 1944 17 Jan 1945 06 Oct 1947 98 72 170 2.9
78 Cullman 16 Aug 1944 17 Nov 1944 25 Jan 1945 01 Aug 1965 93 69 162 20.7
79 Dawson 29 Aug 1944 27 Nov 1944 04 Feb 1945 19 Apr 1948 90 69 159 3.4
80 Elkhart 13 Sep 1944 05 Dec 1944 08 Feb 1945 01 Jan 1964 83 65 148 19.1
81 Fallon 28 Sep 1944 14 Dec 1944 14 Feb 1945 11 Mar 1948 77 62 139 3.2
82 Fergus 07 Oct 1944 24 Dec 1944 20 Feb 1945 04 Sep 1947 78 58 136 2.7
83 Fillmore 19 Oct 1944 04 Jan 1945 25 Feb 1945 01 Sep 1966 77 52 129 21.7
84 Garrard 28 Oct 1944 13 Jan 1945 03 Mar 1945 03 Jun 1963 77 49 126 18.4
85 Gasconade 07 Nov 1944 23 Jan 1945 11 Mar 1945 21 Jul 1948 77 47 124 3.5
86 Geneva 18 Nov 1944 31 Jan 1945 22 Mar 1945 02 Nov 1966 74 50 124 21.8
87 Niagara 20 Nov 1944 10 Feb 1945 29 Mar 1945 05 Feb 1950 82 47 129 5.0
88 Presidio 06 Dec 1944 17 Feb 1945 09 Apr 1945 01 May 1965 73 51 124 20.2


Transclusions used here

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