General Frank S. Besson-class logistics support vessel

The General Frank S. Besson-class Logistics Support Vessels (LSV) are the largest powered watercraft in the United States Army, and are designed to give the Army a global strategic capability to deliver its vehicles and cargo.

Design
Named in honor of Frank S. Besson, Jr., these ships have bow and stern ramps and the ability to beach themselves, giving them the ability to discharge 900 short tons of vehicles and cargo over the shore in as little as four feet of water, or 2,000 short tons as an intra-theater line haul roll-on/roll-off cargo ship. The vessel's cargo deck is designed to handle any vehicle in the US Army inventory and can carry up to 15 M1 Abrams main battle tanks or 82 ISO standard containers.

Subclasses
The Robert T. Kuroda is the lead vessel of a new subclass of the Frank S. Besson class called LSV (MOD). The Kuroda, named after Robert T. Kuroda and its sister ship, the Smalls, named after Robert Smalls, are generally similar to the rest of the class except that the ships are 42 ft longer than the other ships of the class. This is due to a more streamlined "visor" bow that hides the front ramp and allows for the vessels to move through rough water easier. While these ships have the same main deck area as the rest of the class (10,500 square feet), they displace 6,000 tons, can make 10,000 gallons of water a day, have incinerators for burning trash, are taller than the traditional LSV Class and have more than twice the horsepower. In addition, the new ships can deliver 2,000 short tons over the shore at a range of 5500 nmi at 12 kn.

Related classes
The Philippine Navy commissioned two s during the early 1990s. These ships were based on a helicopter-capable variant of the General Frank S. Besson, Jr.-class logistics support vessel.

Ships

 * USAV General Frank S. Besson, Jr (LSV-1)
 * USAV CW3 Harold C. Clinger (LSV-2)
 * USAV General Brehon B. Somervell
 * USAV Lt. General William B. Bunker (LSV-4)
 * USAV Major General Charles P. Gross (LSV-5)
 * USAV SP4 James A. Loux (LSV-6)
 * USAV SSGT Robert T. Kuroda (LSV-7)
 * USAV Major General Robert Smalls (LSV-8)