Landing Ship Tank (LST)
Back to USN Retired Mine Warfare Vessels
Newport Class LOA 522′ TDISP 8,500 tons (20, 12 to other navies – most now retired, remaining USN units retired)
USS Newport LST-1179, 1987. Note the enormous bow derrick, which deploys a 112′ ramp forwards, which will take vehicles up to 75 tons. NARA: 330-CFD-DN-SN-90-00384
USS Cayuga LST-1186 (1970-1994) transferred to Brazil as Mattoso Maia G-28 (still in service as of 2019)
A Newport Class LST unloads an amphibious vehicle during exercises in South Korea, 1987 NARA: 330-CFD-DN-SN-89-04992 PHCS Ron Bayles
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.
Note the twin 3″ guns behind the bridge in port and starboard gun tubs have been replaced by Bofors 40mm mountings.
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”
Republic of Korea ROKS Gyebong LST-675 (formerly a USN LST) during exercise Team Spirit 1982 NARA: 330-CFD-DN-ST-82-06900 PH1 Dennis Brockschmidt
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
Of these two LSTs, the top vessel is a LST Mk. 2 of the LST-1 subclass (based on the elevator to the tank deck near the bows) and so should be the BRP Laguna,the sole of its type in Philippine Navy service. The lower vessel is an LST-542 subclass, with the vehicle ramp down to the tank deck. This feature allowed LSTs to unload loads of lorries off the upper deck faster. Both vessels have their bow doors open.
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 LST-325 exhibits the features of an LST-1 sub-class including the distinctive elevator to the tank deck in the bows (with a truck on it). The ship’s bow doors are open, and there is a landing craft, an LCM, on the dock next to the ship’s bridge.
USS LST-357 loading in preparation for D-Day landings, 1944 NARA: USA C-708 Courtesy of the Naval History and Heritage Command
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-942 80-G-K-2239 Courtesy of the Naval History and Heritage Command
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.
The bows of LST-480 are still visible, with the bow doors missing.
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.
Some photographs suggest HQ-503 is outboard. The smaller vessel is a Soviet Russian built Polnocny-B landing ship.
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
Landing Ship Medium
LSM-1 Class LOA 204′ TDISP 1,095 tons (558 built, 1944-45)
USS LSM-443 NH-51434 D.M. McPherson. Courtesy of the Naval History and Heritage Command
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-58 coming alongside HMCS Nootka, n.d. [Detail of] Credit: Library and Archives Canada / Department of National Defence, Copyright held by Crown NK-1592
Landing Craft Support Ships
Landing Craft Support (Large) MK.3 LOA 158′ TDISP 250 tons. About 130 built for USN, 1 preserved
Camouflage scheme in 3 shades of green for a LCS (large) dated 1944. Courtesy of the Naval History and Heritage Command: 19-N-73633 original at NARA Bureau of Ships Collection
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
Continue to USN Retired Auxiliaries and Other Ships
