page_title: Newport-class tank landing ship
section_title: Construction and career
hierarchical_section_title: Newport-class tank landing ship / United States service / Construction and career
caption_attribution_description: Crew members stand at the railing as the tank landing ship USS SPARTANBURG COUNTY (LST-1192) returns to port following deployment in the Persian Gulf area during Operation Desert Storm. Location: NAVAL AMPHIB BASE, LITTLE CREEK, VIRGINIA (VA) UNITED STATES OF AMERICA (USA)
context_page_description: Newport-class tank landing ships were an improved class of tank landing ship designed for and employed by the United States Navy from 1969 to 2002. The ships were intended to provide substantial advantages over their World War II-era predecessors. Larger and faster than any previous LST design, they carried a ramp over the bow that allowed them to surpass 20 knots, a goal of the United States amphibious forces. 27 were planned of which twenty were completed, the high number due to the demands of US force projection estimates. However, the arrival of the air-cushioned landing craft which allowed for over-the-horizon attacks made the class obsolete in the eyes of the United States Navy. Placed in reserve, twelve were eventually sold to foreign navies, while the remaining eight have since been decommissioned.
context_section_description: The first vessel of the class, Newport was ordered as part of Fiscal Year (FY) 1965. The next eight were authorized in FY 1966, followed by eleven in 1967. The first three LSTs were constructed by Philadelphia Naval Shipyard in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and the remaining seventeen by National Steel and Shipbuilding of San Diego, California. Seven more were ordered in FY 1971, but these were later deferred, then canceled. Beginning in FY 1981, ships of the class were transferred to the Naval Reserve Force.
  By 1994, the 3-inch guns had been removed. The development of LCACs which allowed the United States Navy to launch over-the-horizon amphibious landings made the Newport class obsolete.
caption: Aft view of Spartanburg County returning from Operation Desert Storm, 1991
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