"All turned upon LST's" wrote Sir Winston Churchill in Closing the Ring. Although over 1000 of these ships were built between 1941 and 1945, the demand was never satisfied. The major restriction on all Allied planning during World War II was the shortage of specialized landing craft. "All the great strategic combinations of the Western Powers were restricted and distorted by the shortage of tank landing craft for the transport of, not so much of tanks, but of vehicles of all kinds. The letters LST are burnt in upon the minds of all those who dealt with military affairs during this period,"
Initially conceived to carry tanks on ocean passages and then to land them directly onto open beaches, many LST's were adapted for other tasks. By 1945 over one hundred had been converted or completed to serve as hospital ships, repair ships, depot and base ships, ammunition ships, stores ships, headquarters ships, small aircraft carriers, fighter direction ships and accommodation ships. They were used as impromptu fire support ships with light guns ranged upon their decks to lay down a curtain of fire while approaching beaches in the South Pacific. They sailed on every sea and fought in every theater and though their construction received the highest priority during the war, demand always exceeded supply. One can see an element of despair in a letter to General Marshall in 1943 relating to problems in pursuing the Italian campaign. "The whole of this difficult question only arises out of the absurd shortage of LST's,” wrote Churchill. From the time that they were introduced into service during World War II LST's continued to serve with distinction in every armed conflict that the United States was involved in up to and including Operation Desert Storm.
Four types of Landing Ship Tank were built during World War II. The first type consisted of three converted tankers, known as the LST(1) Maracibo Class. They had been built originally to carry oil from Lake Maracibo in Venezuela to the open sea and from there to Aruba Island for transshipment to the worlds oil markets. The sixteen-mile long channel between the lake and the gulf of the same name was both narrow and shallow, requiring specially designed ships to cross the notorious bar at their juncture. The three ships, Bachaquero, Miso and Tasajera were requisitioned by the Royal Navy in 1941, converted in Scotland, and commissioned as the world's first LST's. The LST class made its first appearance in combat when H.M.S. Bachaquero took part in Operation Ironclad during the allied landings on Madagascar in 1942. Historically they were the first LST's, a fact not without passing interest, but they possessed too many inherent disadvantages to be considered as a prototype for the future
The second type was the LST(1) Boxer class of the Royal Navy. They were designed in 1941 but, due to revised building priorities and enemy action, were not completed until 1943. They were conceived with raiding operations very much in mind and with a speed of seventeen knots they were claimed by the British to be the fastest LST's to enter service until the United States Navy's Newport Class entered service in the late 1960's
The next class, and by far the most numerous with 1051 hulls completed, all in the United States, was the LST(2). Designed in November of 1941 their construction was given the highest priority and by the end of 1942 twenty-three LST's had been commissioned. It was said that construction of LST's had such priority during World War II that in one case the keel of an aircraft carrier was hastily removed to make way for several LST's to built instead. With diesel engines and with it's machinery placed well aft, they had the virtue of a shallow draught and a simple hinged ramp in the bow. For ocean passages they could be ballasted down to a deeper draught and their all welded construction stood up well to the rigors of their service. This class of LST usually had a length of 328 feet with a beam of 50 feet and a maximum displacement of 3800 tons. They were claimed to have a maximum speed of ten knots but those who sailed them claimed that eight knots was closer to the truth. These ships had a crew compliment of 110 enlisted men and 10 officers. Earlier models used elevators to move cargo and vehicles between the tank deck and the main deck but this proved to be ineffective and ramps were used in place of elevators in later models. Some ships of this type were equipped with six boat davits instead of the standard four. Of the 1051 ships of this type built during World War II 40 were lost during the war, 25 during action with the enemy.
Because of differences of opinion between the United States Navy and the Royal Navy over allocations of the American built ships the Royal Navy embarked on a shipbuilding program of it's own. As a result of this program the LST(3) was authorized and designed. It was similar to the LST(2) but because of the use of riveted, rather than welded, construction it was heavier, had a smaller cargo capacity, and with the steam propulsion machinery that was installed it was only two knots faster despite a substantial gain in horsepower. Forty five were ordered by England and another seventy four were ordered by Canada, many of which were canceled at war's end.
Three other LST's were authorized by the United States during World War II. These were the LST's 1153, 1154 and 1155. Because of the allied victory in 1945 the LST 1155 was canceled and the completion of the other two was delayed. The USS LST 1153 was completed in 1947 and the USS LST 1154 was completed in 1949. They were the first, and only, steam powered LST's ever built by the United States Navy.
The final LST design of World War II was the LST(4), reference to which appears in various official publications, though no accurate detail seems to be available. It may have been the type designation of the United States Navy's LST 1153 class, or possibly was an American designation for the British Navy's LST(3).
Although the Maracibo's were the first LST's to sail they were not the first design. Winston Churchill himself, a few days after the evacuation of Dunkirk called for the design and building of landing craft that would be needed to enable British forces to return to Europe. Simplicity was the order of the day and a prototype was undergoing trials by October of 1940. Initially called MLC's, they were later named TLC's (Tank Landing Craft MK1) and were designed primarily for cross channel and short sea operations.
LST design started moving rapidly when the suggestions for such a ship landed on the desk of John C. Niedermair, civilian technical director for the preliminary designs branch of the U.S. Navy's Bureau of Ships. It was November 4th, 1941, and the United States was not yet at war though ominous clouds hung on the horizon. The request for a new type of landing ship was given to Niedermair by his superior, Captain (later Admiral) Edward Cochraine, then assistant head of the Design Division of the Bureau of Ships. After studying the requirements for such a ship, Niedermair, in a stunning display of creativity, worked out the entire concept of an LST in about a half an hour on the same day. His basic design became the pattern for all of the 1051 LST's built during World War II and his concept must be considered to be the true ancestor of other ocean going amphibious ships of this type of later design. Niedermair has since become known as the "Father of the LST."
The Landing Ship Tank was first designed by the United States to carry tanks across the Atlantic Ocean directly to the scene of an amphibious assault and were then called Atlantic Crossing Tank Landing Craft (ATLC). These first LST's used locomotive engines for propulsion and deck machinery from Great Lakes steamers.
Four great groups of ships were built by the United States, the first being the 1051 ships built during World War II. The second phase of U.S. LST construction began with the LST 1156 that was commissioned in November of 1952 and was later named the USS Terrebonne Parish. (The USS LST 1153 and the USS LST 1154, though great ships, were built as experimental steam powered ships and were not considered as a great group of ships) Fifteen of the Terrebonne Parish class of ships were built. One of the major improvements of this class over the World War II class was the mounting of four diesel engines rather than the two mounted in the previous design. This allowed a speed of about 15 knots, or about 50% higher than the World War II version.
The third major group of American built LST's was the DeSoto County class, of which seven were built. This class had a higher degree of habitability for the crew and embarked troops. They were considered the ultimate design available with traditional LST bow doors, and with a top speed of 17.5 knots they dispelled the British notion that their Boxer class of LST was the fastest LST in service prior to the arrival of the American Newport class in 1969.
The final member of this "Great Group of Four" United States LST designs was the Newport Class, first deployed on June 7th 1969. This design of ship was a radical departure from the previous three. Outwardly the Newport class ships bore little resemblance to their World War II predecessors, and the new design allowed speeds of up to twenty knots. The hull necessary to attain this speed would not permit the traditional bow doors. Accordingly, these doors were reconfigured and moved high above the waterline permitting a cutting edge or "V" type of bow at the waterline level. These ships offloaded cargo and vehicles from the main deck level by via a 112-foot long ramp over their bow. This ramp was stored behind the bow doors when underway and deployed by using a large boom assembly located on the bow of the ship. A stern gate allowed the offloading of amphibious vehicles directly into the water. The familiar aft superstructure was reconfigured amidships and was the same width as the ships beam. Access forward and aft is permitted on the main deck level by means of "tunnel" through the superstructure. A helicopter-landing pad was incorporated into the stern of the ship. Ships of this class are 522 feet in length with a beam of 69 feet. They have a maximum displacement of 8,450 tons and are powered by twin shafts connected to six diesel engines that develop 16,000 brake horsepower. Armament consisted of one 20mm Phalanx CIWS mount and two 25mm MK38 machine guns. The crew complement is 13 officers and 244 enlisted men. As of the date that this site was constructed only two Newport Class LST's, the USS La Moure County (LST 1194) , based at Little Creek, Virginia and the USS Frederick (LST 1184) , based at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, remain on active duty with the United States Navy.
Bow and stern views of Newport class LST's
LST's of the United States Navy, though conceived in 1941, with a few being commissioned in 1942, were not to see combat until the middle of 1943, first in the northern Solomon's in the Pacific and soon thereafter during the invasion of Sicily in the Mediterrian. General Dwight D. Eisenhower noted that 233 LST's were in readiness for the spectacular invasion of Normandy. At least 160 LST's were included in the invasion of Leyte in the Philippines and 60 more were on hand at bloody Iwo Jima. More than 200 LST's were either at Okinawa or were en-route there when the massive attack on the island was launched on Easter Sunday 1945, and at least another 150 contributed to the final victory there.
Though scoffed at by some, LST's were tough, versatile little ships that served many functions, but stood alone in one function that no other ship in the world, of comparable capacity, could duplicate. Throughout recorded history, other than when approaching a dock or pier, mariners have been schooled in avoiding contact between their ships and land. LST's were conceived, designed, constructed and sailed to do just the opposite. They could cross the deepest ocean then rush headlong into land to offload their cargo where it was needed the most, without benefit of dock, pier or harbor. Without LST's it has been estimated that World War II would have lasted at least another year, with causalities mounting every passing day.
Naval Historian Samuel Eliot Morison wrote about LST's, "They were literally what their crews called them, Large, Slow, Target's." Morison called LST's "the most useful all around craft invented by the Navy."
Melvin D. Barger, Motor Machinist's Mate 2/c - USS LST 555
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Additional information from "Warships of WWII" by H.T. Lenten and J.J. Colledge and "Maracibo Class Landing Ships of the Royal Navy" by Brian Friend.
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