On the USS Rushmore
By Jacky Lim & Ayu Sulaiman

The USS Rushmore (LSD-47) is not like any other warship. She is a 610 foot long warship that can support land and air transportation to a designated area when called upon. The ship is designed to present an exciting and formidable amphibious capability to transport Marines and their combat equipment during operations against hostile shores.

It has the capability to land and launch up to two helicopters for aerial support, and has the space to load four Air Cushioned Landing Crafts Vehicle (LCAC), for an amphibious tactical means.

The USS Rushmore also has on deck advanced repair facilities, a Combat Information Centre (CIC), complete medical and dental facilities, the Navy's latest diesel propulsion and engineering technology that can navigate the ship to a speed of more than 20 knots, and troop berthing accommodations to a feasible 627 Marines.

Not only that, the ship has a workable Combat System with two search radar to cover the air and surface area plus another radar used for surface navigation. Apart from that it has extensive counter measuring fire power that is able to protect the ship from any threat either from sky and water.

USS Rushmore is an admirably superb amphibious assault Landing Ship Dock that accomplishes her mission through the use of a 440-foot long by 50-foot wide well-deck which is flooded to 10 feet deep aft ship and 6 feet deep forward ship. This well-deck is flooded in order to provide access to launch and recover landing crafts. After departing the ship, assault crafts are directed toward the shore by the ship's CIC.

The much acclaimed LCAC looks a bit like a huge hovercraft that ferries trucks and other vehicles as well as people. But these custom-built "hovercraft" is a high-speed amphibious landing craft capable of carrying a 60 tonnes payload. The LCAC is capable of travelling over land and water thereby exposing 70 per cent of the world's beaches to amphibious assault compared to only 17 per cent with the conventional landing craft. LCACs operate from Rushmore and other well deck equipped amphibious ships.

The role of the LCAC in a mission is to transport from ship-to-shore and over the beach, weapon systems, equipment, cargo, and personnel organic to the elements of the Marine Air/ Ground Task Force.

In a typical mission, the craft will embark equipment, troops, and supplies, then launch from amphibious ships transiting in high speed to the beach under assault as well as transiting the surf zone and beach and proceed inland to a suitable offload site. They offload rapidly and return back to the amphibious ship for reloading and proceeding to the next sortie.

The LCACs are approximately 88 feet long and have a cargo area of 1809 square feet. It is capable of speeds on excess of 40 knots when carrying a 60 tonne payload and has the fuel capacity of 7,132 gallons. Currently LCACs are in production and being shipped to two specially designed Assault Craft Units (ACU), ACU 4 at Little Creek Naval Amphibious Base, Norfolk, VA and ACU 5 at Camp Pendleton, CA.

USS Rushmore is part of the bilateral exercise (CARAT) that include two other US frigates, which are the USS Curts (FFG 38) and the USS Wadsworth (FFG 9), also from San Diego.

Courtesy of Borneo Bulletin