Landing Ships
Back to USN Retired Mine Warfare Vessels
Landing Ship Tank (LST)
Newport Class LOA 522′ TDISP 8,500 tons (20, 12 to other navies – most now retired, remaining USN units retired)
USS Cayuga LST-1186 (1970-1994) transferred to Brazil as Mattoso Maia G-28 (still in service as of 2019)
USS Boulder LST-1190 (1971-1994) laid up at Philadelphia inactive ships facility as of 2019.
ex-USS Sumter LST-1181 (1970-1993) transferred to Republic of China (Taiwan) 1997 as ROCS Chung Ping LST-233, in service.
USS Spartanburg County LST-1192 (1971-1994) transferred to Royal Malaysian Navy as KD Sri Inderapura (1994-2009) destroyed by fire in Lumut Naval Base.
Terrebonne Parish Class LOA 384′ TDISP 5,800 tons (15 built, 2 still active with Peruvian Navy, others transferred to both Turkey and Greece) improved and lengthened LSTs with heavier armament and more power.
USS Washtenaw County LST-1166 (1953-1973) Vietnam War service. Sold commercially in 1983. Has been deteriorating since 2003 near Rainier, OR, as attempts were made to preserve it.
LST MK.2 Class LOA 328′ TDISP 3,800 tons (ca. 1000 built over 3 sub-classes) dubbed by their crews and service personnel “Large Slow Targets”
LST-1 sub-class
ex-USS LST-230 (1943 – 1946) participated in Normandy landings, transferred to Shipping Control Authority, Japan in 1952. Transferred to Philippine Navy 1976 as BRP Laguna (LS-501) and still active as of 2019
USS LST-325 LST-1 class Landing Ship, Tank (1943-1961) transferred to Greece 1964 as RHS Syros (L-144), decommissioned 1999. Museum ship Evansville IN
USS-393 (1942 – 1947) Sold 1948 as ferry to span Lake Michigan to Milwaukee to the Highway 16 and was named Highway 16. Preserved after 2000 as Museum ship Muskegon MI
USS LST-480 (1943 – 1944) burned during the West Loch Disaster, an explosion of ammunition near Pearl Harbor 21 May 1944 that sunk 6 LSTs, and damaged others, and claimed the lives of 163 sailors.
LST-491 sub-class LOA 328′ TDISP 3,600 tons
LST-510 USS Buncombe County (1944 – 1958), extensively modified for commercial service as a car ferry. Currently ferry MV Cape Henlopen between Orient Long Island, NY and New London Connecticut.
LST-542 sub-class
ex-USS LST-566 (1944 – 1973) transferred to Philippine Navy 1976 as BPR Lanao Del Norte (LST-504), grounded near the Philippine-claimed island of Thitu in the Spratly Islands ca. 2005, and is now a wreck.
ex-USS Harnett County LST-821 (1944 – 1970) transferred to South Vietnam (1970 – 1976) RVNS My Tho then transferred to Philippine Navy as BRP Sierra Madre, still in commission but used as a stationary outpost permanently grounded on a shoal in the South China Sea in 1999, as a result of a territorial dispute with China over Spratly Islands.
USS LST-849, (1945 – 1958) transferred to South Korea as ROKS Wi Bong (LST-676) 1958 served to 2006. Museum ship Jinpo Maritime Park in Gunsan
ex-LST-938 (1944 – 1956) postwar named USS Maricopa County transferred to South Vietnam as RVNS Da Nang HQ-501(1962 – 1975) captured April 1975 and commissioned into North Vietnamese Navy as Tran Khanh Du HQ-501, (1975 – present) AND ex-LST-603 (1944 – 1969) – Operation Dragoon, Southern France landings. Postwar named USS Coconino County transferred to South Vietnam as RVNS Vung Tau HQ-503 (1969 – 1975) captured 1975 and commissioned into North Vietnamese Navy, currently a training ship, name unknown.
Republic of China (Taiwan) about 21 were transferred from US to Taiwan from 1946-1961 (several still in service) these were mostly of the LST-542 sub-class
ex-USS LST-1008 (1944 – 1946) subsequent history unclear, was preserved as a museum ship at Qingdao, Shandong, China, but appears to have been disposed of around 2007
LST Building, Fort Knox, KY. This building was originally built to test the principles of the landing ship, and practice loading and unloading vehicles. Originally, the building had a second level that approximated the upper deck.
Landing Ship Medium
LSM-1 Class LOA 204′ TDISP 1,095 tons (558 built, 1944-45)
USS LSM-45 (1944-1947) transferred to Greece (1958-1998). Restored 1998 and brought back to US. Eventually became the last unmodified LSM in existence, plans to convert to a museum ship at Camp Lejeune, NC, failed, scrapped ca. 2012
USS LSM-46 (involved in the landings at Iwo Jima), USS LSM-56 (involved in the landings at Okinawa) and another. These are now Musquash River New Brunswick derelicts or wrecks. These are located just up the Musquash River from Five Fathom Hole. Four LSMs were bought in 1947 by Charles Wilson, who owned a tugboat company. The engines were removed and they were used as barges, hauling pulp wood and other products around the Bay of Fundy and as far as Maine. Information from a University of New Brunswick “Points of Interest” website, and a recent youtube commemorative exploration of the wrecks. Thanks to J. Ginn for alerting shipsearcher staff to this interesting tale.
Landing Craft Support Ships
Landing Craft Support (Large) MK.3 LOA 158′ TDISP 250 tons. About 130 built for USN, 1 preserved
USS LCS(L) 102 (1945 – 1949) active during Battle of Okinawa. Transferred to Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Force as JDS Himawari (1953 – 1965) then to Royal Thai Navy as HTMS Nakha (1966 – 2007) returned to US and currently restored by Landing Craft Support Museum, Mare Island CA
Landing Craft Infantry (Large) LCI(L) LOA 158′ TDISP 400 tons (923 built over 3 types)
LCI(L)-351 class, LCI(L) 402 subclass
LCI(L) 713 (1944-1945) veteran of Pacific War landings. LCI(L) 402 subclass, with the rounded conning tower and the bow doors and enclosed ramp. Under restoration at the Amphibious Forces Memorial Museum, Portland OR. Sold commercially after the war, used as a tugboat and barge, becoming a derelict and then a wreck. In the 1970s, the long restoration began.
LCI(L)-1091, (1944-1955) also a 402 subclass (Rounded conning tower, bow doors and enclosed ramp) preserved at Eureka, CA. Veteran of the Pacific War and, as LSIL-1091, the Korean War. Sold commercially and used as a cannery ship and a fishing boat on until 2003.
Landing Craft Tank (LCT)
LCT MK 5 LOA 117′ TDISP 260 tons (470 built)
“Outer Island” formerly USS LCT-203 (1942-1946) Participated in the Sicilian, Anzio, and Southern France landings. Has had a long and varied post-war career, and may still be a working vessel in Wisconsin.
