Bootfair find

 Bootfair find

I`m sure like many of you I can`t help myself browsing for military stuff at bootfairs and market stalls. I have on occation found modeling bits or interesting military photos and of course books.

Today at the local market at Santa Faz I came across this photo

Now I`m not a naval guy, but I knew this was a transport landing ship of some type, you can make out the LCMs alongside and the gun mounted on the bow. 

So at the cost of 1.5 Euro I bought it - why not 

Once home a brief  internet search I was able to find out about her history:

Launched on October 18, 1944 as USS Noble APA218 by Permanente Metals and Kaiser Shipyards, Richmond, California.

The USS Noble saw service at the Battle of Okinawa in January 1945, she also transported troops and equipment to Incheon, Korea in August 1950 and carried marines to the Caribbean during the Cuban Missile Crisis in the early 1960s.

In July 1964 she was decommisioned and handed over to the Spanish Navy as part of  the mutual assistance programme. She was registered as Transportes de Ataque (TA)11 on 16 December 1964 (11 days after I was born). At the end of 1965 the name Aragón was added.

TA-11 served with the Spanish Navy until 1982 when she was finally decommisioned and broken up. But during her active service she took part in the evacuation of Spanish military and civilian personnel from Equatorial Guinea in 1969 and final withdrawal of spanish troops from Western Sahara in November 1975.

Specifications

Displacement ( tm ):  6,873 standard, 14,837 fully loaded.

Dimensions (meters):  138 x 18 x 7

Propulsion:  2 x Babcock-Wilcox boilers, 1 x Westinghouse turbine (8,500 hp).

Speed ​​(knots):  19.

Range (miles):  10,000 at 15 knots, 11,700 at 11 knots.

Crew:  357.

Guns:  12 x Boffors 40mm/56 (4 x twin mounts, 1 x quad mount).

Transport capacity:  1,561 marines; 2 x LCMs; 12 x LCVPs; 3 x LCPs.

Radar:  Air: 1 x Westinghouse AN/SPS-6.