Arthur Middleton-class attack transport

The Arthur Middleton class was a group of three United States Navy attack transports, Arthur Middleton, George Clymer and Samuel Chase, built for the amphibious campaigns of the Second World War. An attack transport carried troops and their equipment to hostile shores together with a large number of its own landing craft, and was armed heavily against aircraft because its cargo of troops was so vulnerable. The class was based on the Maritime Commission Type C3 hull in its passenger and cargo form, and all three ships were laid down at Ingalls Shipbuilding in Pascagoula, Mississippi, between July and October 1940. Samuel Chase was commissioned first, on 13 June 1942, and Arthur Middleton, the lead ship, followed on 7 September 1942. Two ships served mostly in the Pacific, while Samuel Chase took part in the landings in North Africa, Sicily, Italy and Normandy before the Okinawa campaign. George Clymer stayed in commission through the Korean and Vietnam wars and retired in 1967.