USS Ashland (LSD-1) was the lead ship of her class—indeed, the first dock landing ship of the United States Navy. She was the first Navy ship to be named for Ashland, the estate of Henry Clay, in Lexington, Kentucky. Ashland was laid down on 22 June 1942 at Oakland, California, by the Moore Dry Dock Company; launched on 21 December 1942; sponsored by Mrs. Jabez Lowell, the wife of Captain Lowell who was then the inspector of naval material at San Francisco; and commissioned on 5 June 1943, Lieutenant Commander Francis J. Harris in command.