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NavSource Online: Amphibious Photo Archive

HMS Oceanway (F-143)

LSD-12:
Transferred to the United Kingdom, named HMS Oceanway (F-143)
Loaned to Greece, in 1945, renamed HS Okeanos
Loaned to France in 1952, renamed TCD Foudre (A646)

Casa Grande Class Dock Landing Ship:

Authorized under the Lend-Lease Act as British Mechanized Artillery Transport BAPM-4

Reclassified Landing Ship Dock LSD-12, 1 July 1942

Contract awarded for LSD-12 to Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Co., Newport News, VA., 10 September 1942

LSD-12 was laid down, 23 July 1943, as HMS Dagger at Newport New Shipbuilding and Drydock Co., Newport News VA.

Launched, 29 December 1943

LSD-12 never saw active service in the US Navy

Royal Navy Service

Transferred to the United Kingdom, 29 March 1944

Commissioned in the Royal Navy as HMS Oceanway (F-143)

HMS Oceanway departed Portland Harbour at 0610 hours, 6 June 1944 arriving at OMAHA BEACH at

1530 hours the same day to off-load 20 landing craft, each craft loaded with one tank. Oceanway sailed for

Normandy as part of Follow-up Convoy B2. She departed Omaha at 2200 hours returning to Portland where she

arrived at 0705 on the morning of 7 June 1944

Reassigned to the Far East in 1945

Returned to the United Kingdom in December 1946

Loaned to Greece in March 1947, renamed HS Okeanos

Returned to US custody 1952

Loaned to France in 1952, for use in Indochina, renamed TCD Foudre (A646)

Reassigned NATO side number L9020

Returned to the U.S. Navy custody, date unknown

Final Disposition, sunk as a target off Sardinia, 10 February 1970

Specifications: (as reported by Office of Naval Intelligence, 7 April 1944)
Displacement 4,032 (light draft), 7,930 (seagoing - loaded)
Length 457' 9" o.a.
Beam 72'2"

Draft

8' 2 ½" fwd, 10' ½" aft (light draft)

15' 5 ½" fwd, 16' 2" aft (seagoing loaded)

Speed 17 kts (design speed)

Endurance 8,000 miles @ 15 knots

Complement

Officers 17

Enlisted 237

Troop Accommodations

Officers 22

Enlisted 218

Well Deck Capacity (varies with mission)

three LCT (Mk V or VI) each w/ 5 medium tanks or

two LCT (Mk III or IV) each w/ 12 medium tanks or

fourteen LCM (Mk III) each w/ 1 medium tank or 1, 500 long tons cargo or

forty-seven DUKW or

forty-one LVT or

Any combination of landing vehicles and landing craft up to capacity

Armament

one single 3"/50 cal dual purpose mount in open tub

sixteen single 20mm AA gun mounts (local control)

(note: above armament was outfitted prior to transfer)

four two-Pound Pom-Pom (barrel count per mount - unknown

(note: above armament was outfitted after transfer)

Fuel Capacities

NSFO 11,720 Bbls

Diesel 160 Bbls

Gasoline 5,085 Gals

Propulsion

two Newport News Shipbuilding steam turbines

two Babcock and Wilcox oil fired D-type boilers, two drum, single furnace, single uptake, 250psi
Ship's Service Generators
two trubo-drive 150Kw 120V D.C.
one Diesel-drive 100Kw 120V/240V D.C.

twin propellers, 7,400shp

Click On Image For Full Size Image	Size	Image Description	Source
HMS Oceanway (F-143)
80-G-224579	132k	*HMS Oceanway* (F-143)** underway in the vicinity of Norfolk, VA., in April 1944. US National Archives photo # 80-G-224579 US National Archives photo # 80-G-224581 and US National Archives photo # 80-G-224583 from the US Navy photo collection at NARA II, College Park, MD. Photos taken by an aircraft assigned to NAS Norfolk, VA.	Tracy White
80-G-224581	108k
80-G-224583	75k
	74k	*HMS Oceanway* (F-143)** arriviang at Toulon from Okéanos, Greece in 1952.	Photo Gerhard Mueller-Debus Caption Michel Jamais
TCD Foudre (A646) (L9020)
	27k	*TCD Foudre* (A646)** at anchor, date and location unknown.
	39k	*TCD Foudre* (A646)** at anchor, date and location unknown.
	625k	*TCD Foudre* (A646)** moored on the Saigon River, French Indochina in 1955.	Georges Demichelis
	54k	*TCD Foudre* (A646)** at anchor, date and location unknown. Photo by R.M. Scott. from "Jane's Fighting Ships 1959-60".	Robert Hurst
	58k	*TCD Foudre* (A646)** underway in 1959, location unknown. Photo courtesy R.M. Scott.	Robert Hurst
	66k	*TCD Foudre(L9020)* with RFS LSIL9033 (ex-USS LCI(L)-699 loaded in her well deck while enroute from Haiphong to Saigon, French Indochina in December 1954.	Georges Demichelis
	78k	LST Golo and *TCD Foudre* (A646)** underway off the coast of Oran-Mers el Kebir, Algéria, 14 June 1959. Official French Navy photo.	André Pilon Quartermaster (signalman) RFS Golo
	45k	*TCD Foudre* (L9020)**, circa 1968, location unknown.
	41k	*TCD Foudre* (L9020)**, at anchor, date and location unknown.	Jean-Christophe Rouxel
	26k	*TCD Foudre* (L9020)** views on board while underway and at anchor, date and location unknown.	André Pilon RFS Golo, Courtesy Claude Vernon FCD Foudre
	29k
	33k
	27k	*TCD Foudre* (A646)** sailors cap.	André Pilon RFS Golo, Courtesy Claude Vernon FCD Foudre