The
Anchorage class of dock landing ships was built as a replacement for the remaining aging war-built LSDs of the
Ashland and
Casa Grande classes. Their principal intended role was to carry additional landing craft to supplement those carried by the
Amphibious transport docks (LPD)s, which carried less landing craft in order to accommodate more troops and cargo. The
Anchorage class was slightly larger than the preceding
Thomaston class, but were of generally similar design, with a large
Well dock aft to accommodate landing craft, and a removable flight deck fitted above the well deck to allow the operation of helicopters, although no
hangar was provided. The well dock was long and wide, and could accommodate three
Landing Craft Utilitys or nine
LCM-8 Landing Craft Mechanised. The ship could carry 375 troops compared with the 345 carried by the
Thomastons, while of vehicle parking space was provided. The ships were propelled by two geared
steam turbines driving two shafts and giving a total of . This gave a speed of , the standard speed of the postwar US Navy amphibious fleet. As built, the ships had a defensive armament of eight
3"/50 Mark 33 anti-aircraft guns in four twin mounts, while major sensors included SPS-10 surface search radar and SPS-40 air-search radar. ==Construction and service==