If an army "marches on its stomach", a trans-oceanic navy is every bit as dependent on vast numbers of auxiliary ships to maintain its operations, plus plenty of amphibious vessels to support the capture of advanced bases. The 1939-1944 "Spring Styles" Book includes ten preliminary design drawings for ships and craft intended for these purposes. Three of these are for a ship type that, in mid-1940, seemed essential for protecting fleet anchorages: the net layer. As it turned out, large net layers were much less vital than anticipated, and those hulls begun for this purpose were completed as vehicle transports (LSV). A preliminary design of such a conversion is also included.
In October 1940 the Navy's General Board considered proposals for a new class of submarine rescue vessels (ASR), a type that was clearly attractive to the expanding submarine force. One of the designs studied appears to have been based on the existing Barnegat class small seaplane tenders (AVP). The other, which is much more like that actually adopted, was a good deal smaller.
In March 1942, with the importance of fast aircraft carrier task forces rapidly becoming obvious, the General Board explored the idea of an oiler able to keep up with the carriers. Preliminary design drawings were submitted for two such ships, one capable of carrying her own aircraft. The wartime navy did not adopt the type, but the fast oiler concept remained alive, to appear two decades later in the form of the Fast Combat Support Ship (AOE).
Conspicuous by its absence in this "Spring Styles" book is the huge fleet of large amphibious ships that dominated the Pacific War, and also played a vital role on the other side of the Globe. Other than the LSV conversion mentioned above, the volume features just two amphibious type preliminary designs, both representing craft intended for landing tanks and other vehicles.
This page features those 1939-1944 Bureau of Ships "Spring Styles" plans that concern auxiliaries and amphibious warfare types.
For general information on this album, see:
On the picture data sheets referenced from this page, click on the thumbnail image (small photograph) to prompt a larger view of the same image.
If you want higher resolution reproductions than the "Online Library's" digital images, see: "How to Obtain Photographic Reproductions." |
-- Three proposed designs for net laying ships (AN), plus a drawing of the conversion of a net layer to a vehicle transport (LSV):
-- Two drawings of submarine rescue vessels (ASR), one rather larger than the type actually built:
-- Two schemes for fast oilers, one very much like a large escort aircraft carrier:
-- Two drawings of tank landing craft:
For general information on this album, see:
If you want higher resolution reproductions than the "Online Library's" digital images, see: "How to Obtain Photographic Reproductions." |
Page made 31 March 2005