Britain's September 1941 landing ship dock specification answered concern that tank landing craft would be too scarce and too slow to deploy on their own. The proposed ship could carry two LCT(3)s or LCT(4)s, three LCT(5)s, or thirty-six LCMs. The largest craft approached 900 tons, giving the early LSD a transport role far beyond many modern well-deck operations. Similar ideas had been considered before the war, but wartime demand turned them into an urgent requirement. Postwar dock ships fused lessons from this Allied design line and the Japanese experience represented by Shinshu Maru.
Chapter · 20:50-22:30
The wartime landing ship dock requirement
How a September 1941 requirement called for dock ships that could carry large tank landing craft across operational distances.