Landing Ship, Tank

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The LST (for "Landing Ship, Tank") was created during World War II to support amphibious operations by carrying significant quantities of vehicles, cargo, and landing troops directly onto an unimproved shore.

The majority, a thousand, were laid down in the United States during WWII for use by the Allies. Eighty more were built in the UK and Canada.

[edit] Design and Development

The British evacuation from Dunkirk in 1940 demonstrated to the Admiralty that the Allies needed relatively large, ocean-going ships capable of shore-to-shore delivery of tanks and other vehicles in amphibious assaults upon the continent of Europe. As an interim measure, three medium-sized tankers, built to pass over the restrictive bars of Lake Maracaibo, Venezuela, were selected for conversion because of their shallow draft. Bow doors and ramps were added to these ships which became the first tank landing ships, LST (1). They later proved their worth during the invasion of Algeria in 1942, but their bluff bows made for inadequate speed and pointed up the need for an all-new design incorporating a sleeker hull.

At their first meeting at the Argentia Conference in August 1941, President Franklin D. Roosevelt and Prime Minister Winston Churchill confirmed the Admiralty's views. In November 1941, a small delegation from the Admiralty arrived in the United States to pool ideas with the United States Navy's Bureau of Ships with regard to development of the required ship. During this meeting, it was decided that the Bureau of Ships would design these vessels. As with the standing agreement these would be built by the US so British shipyards could concentrate on building vessels for the Royal Navy. The specification called for vessels capable of crossing the Atlantic and the original title given to them was "Atlantic Tank Landing Craft" (Atlantic (T.L.C.)). Calling a vessel 300 ft long a "craft" was considered a misnomer and the class was re-christened "Landing Ship, Tank (2)". LST (2).

Within a few days, John C. Neidermair of the Bureau of Ships sketched out an awkward looking ship that proved to be the basic design for the more than 1,000 LST (2) which would be built during World War II. To meet the conflicting requirements of deep draft for ocean travel and shallow draft for beaching, the ship was designed with a large ballast system that could be filled for ocean passage and pumped out for beaching operations. The rough sketch was sent to Britain on 5 November 1941 and accepted immediately. The Admiralty then requested the United States to build 200 LST (2) for the Royal Navy under the terms of lend-lease.

The preliminary plans initially called for an LST 280 feet (85 m) in length; but, in January 1942, the Bureau of Ships discarded these drawings in favor of specifications for a ship 290 feet long. Within a month, final working plans were developed which further stretched the overall length to 328 feet (100 m) and called for a 50-foot (15 m) beam and minimum draft of 3.8 feet (1.2 m). This scheme distributed the ship's weight over a greater area enabling her to ride higher in the water when in landing trim. The LST could carry a 2,100-ton (1,900 t) load of tanks and vehicles. The larger dimensions also permitted the designers to increase the width of the bow door opening and ramp from 12 to 14 feet (3.7 to 4.3 m) and thus accommodate most Allied vehicles. Provisions were made for the satisfactory ventilation of the tank space while the tank motors were running, and an elevator was provided to lower vehicles from the main deck to the tank deck for disembarking. By January 1942, the first scale model of the LST had been built and was undergoing tests at the David Taylor Model Basin in Washington, D.C.

In April 1942 a mock-up of the well deck of a LST was constructed at Fort Knox, Kentucky to resolve the problem of ventilation within the LST well deck. The interior of the building was constructed to duplicate all the features found within an actual LST. Being the home to the Armored Force Board, Fort Knox supplied tanks to run on the inside while Naval architects developed a ventilation system capable of evacuating the well deck of harmful gases. Testing was successfully completed in three months. This historic building remains at Fort Knox today.^[1]

[edit] Production LST (2)

In three separate acts dated 6 February 1942, 26 May 1943, and 17 December 1943, Congress provided the authority for the construction of LSTs along with a host of other auxiliaries, destroyer escorts, and assorted landing craft. The enormous building program quickly gathered momentum. Gibbs & Cox were designated the Naval Architects and the Dravo Corporation was designated the Lead Shipyard. Such a high priority was assigned to the construction of LSTs that the keel of an aircraft carrier, previously laid in the dock, was hastily removed to make place for several LSTs to be built in her place. The keel of the first LST was laid down on 10 June 1942 at Newport News, Va., and the first standardized LSTs were floated out of their building dock in October. Twenty-three were in commission by the end of 1942.

The LST building program was unique in several respects. As soon as the basic design had been developed, contracts were let and construction was commenced in quantity before the completion of a test vessel. Preliminary orders were rushed out verbally or by telegrams, telephone, and air mail letters. The ordering of certain materials actually preceded the completion of design work. While many heavy equipment items such as main propulsion machinery were furnished directly by the Navy, the balance of the procurement was handled centrally by the Material Coordinating Agency—an adjunct of the Bureau of Ships—so that the numerous builders in the program would not have to bid against one another. Through vigorous follow-up action on materials ordered, the agency made possible the completion of construction schedules in record time.

The need for LSTs was urgent, and the program enjoyed a high priority throughout the war. Since most shipbuilding activities were located in coastal yards and were largely used for construction of large, deep-draft ships, new construction facilities were established along inland waterways. In some instances, heavy-industry plants such as steel fabrication yards were converted for LST construction. This posed the problem of getting the completed ships from the inland building yards to deep water. The chief obstacles were bridges. The Navy successfully undertook the modification of bridges and, through a "Ferry Command" of Navy crews, transported the newly constructed ships to coastal ports for fitting out. The success of these "cornfield" shipyards of the Middle West was a revelation to the long-established shipbuilders on the coasts. Their contribution to the LST building program was enormous. Of the 1,051 LSTs built during World War II, 670 were constructed by five major inland builders. The most LSTs made during WWII were made in Evansville, Indiana.

By 1943, the construction time for an LST had been reduced to four months; and, by the end of the war, it had been cut to two months. Considerable effort was expended to hold the ship's design constant; but, by mid-1943, operating experience led to the incorporation of certain changes in the new ships. These modifications included: the replacing of the elevator by a ramp from the main deck to the tank deck, an increase in armament, and the addition of a distilling plant to make potable water. The main deck was strengthened to accommodate a fully-equipped landing craft tank (LCT).

[edit] Design and production LST (3)

So successful had been the design and production of LST (2), described above, and so much needed were such vessels for British operations, that it was decided to build a further 80 of them in UK and Canada to be available in the Spring of 1945. Two major problems made redesign necessary. The locomotive type diesel engines were not available and welding facilities were scarce. Staff wanted more power and higher speeds if possible. The only engines available were very heavy steam reciprocating engines designed for frigates and delivering two and a half times the power of the diesels. So large were they, that significant changes had to be made to accommodate them. At the same time some other improvements were made as well as simplifications needed to allow for rivetting most of the structure. The cutaway hard chine which had been dropped in the American version of the design of the Mark 2 vessels was restored. The tank deck, which was above the waterline, was made parallel to the keel, there was no round down to the upper deck, the ship was enlarged to accommodate the more bulky machinery. The beaches for which these vessels were designed were known to be very flat and it was not feasible to design a satisfactory vessel with a 3 ft draught forward and a flat keel. So the one in fifty keel slope was retained and heavy skegs were added to enable cargo to be discharged when fully grounded. Provision was made for carrying the British Landing Craft Assault (LCA) in gravity davits instead of American assault craft. Provision was made for carrying Landing Craft Tank (LCT) and Landing Craft Mechanized (LCM), and NL pontoon causeways. The ships were fitted out for service in both very cold and tropical conditions. The accommodation provided for both crew and army personnel was greatly improved compared with LST (2). The main hazard, apart from enemy action, was fire on the tank deck. Fire sprinklers were provided but the water drenching system, installed in later American vessels could not be provided.

Orders were placed in December 1943, 45 to be built in UK and 35 in Canada. The first ship was delivered by Swan Hunter in December 1944. A repeat order was placed for a further 36 to be built in Canada. The war ended before this programme was completed.

[edit] Service in World War II

At the Armor Training School in Ft. Knox, KY, buildings were erected as exact mock-ups of an LST. Tank crews in training learned how to maneuver their vehicles onto, in and from an LST with these facilities. One of these buildings has been preserved at Ft. Knox for historic reasons and can still be seen there to this day.

From their combat debut in the Solomon Islands in June 1943 until the end of the hostilities in August 1945, the LSTs performed a vital service in World War II. They participated in the invasions of Sicily (Operation Husky), Italy, Normandy, and southern France in the European Theater and were an essential element in the island-hopping campaigns in the Pacific which culminated in the liberation of the Philippines and the capture of Iwo Jima and Okinawa.

The LST proved to be a remarkably versatile ship. A number of them were converted to become landing craft repair ships (ARL). In this design, the bow ramp and doors were removed, and the bow was sealed. Derricks, booms, and winches were added to haul damaged landing craft on board for repairs, and blacksmith, machine, and electrical workshops were provided on the main deck and tank deck. Another successful conversion was the LST "Mother Ship". This version of the standard LST hull had two Quonset huts erected on the main deck to accommodate 40 officers. Bunks on the tank deck berthed an additional 196 men. A bake shop and 16 refrigeration boxes for fresh provisions augmented the facilities normally provided the crew. Four extra distilling units were added, and the ballast tanks were converted for storage of fresh water.

Thirty-eight LSTs were converted to serve as small hospital ships and designated LSTH. They supplemented the many standard LSTs which removed casualties from the beach following the landing of their cargo of tanks and vehicles. For example, on D-Day, LSTs brought 41,035 wounded men back across the English Channel from the Normandy beaches.^{[citation needed]} Other LSTs, provided with extra cranes and handling gear, were used exclusively for replenishing ammunition. They possessed a special advantage in this role, as their size permitted two or three LSTs to go simultaneously alongside an anchored battleship or cruiser to accomplish replenishment more rapidly than standard ammunition ships. In the latter stages of World War II, some LSTs were even fitted with flight decks from which small observation planes were sent up during amphibious operations. It has been estimated that, in the combined fleets assembled for the war on Japan, the tonnage of landing ships, excluding landing craft, would have exceeded 5 million tons and nearly all built within four years.

Throughout the war, LSTs demonstrated a remarkable capacity to absorb punishment and survive. Despite the sobriquet "Large Slow Target" which was applied to them by irreverent crew members, the LSTs suffered few losses in proportion to their number and the scope of their operations. Their brilliantly conceived structural arrangement provided unusual strength and buoyancy; HMS LST-3002 was struck and holed in a post-war collision with a Victory ship and survived. Although the LST was considered a valuable target by the enemy, only 26 were lost due to enemy action, and a mere 13 were the victims of weather, reef, or accident. A total of 1,152 LSTs were contracted for in the great naval building program of World War II, but 101 were cancelled in the fall of 1942 because of shifting construction priorities. Of 1,051 actually constructed, 113 LSTs were transferred to Britain under the terms of Lend-Lease, and four more were turned over to the Greek Navy. Conversions to other ship types with different hull designations accounted for 116.

[edit] Post-War developments

The end of World War II left the Navy with a huge inventory of amphibious ships. Hundreds of these were scrapped or sunk, and most of the remaining ships were put in "mothballs" to be preserved for the future. Additionally, many of the LSTs were demilitarized and sold to the private sector, along with thousands of other transport ships, contributing to a major downturn in shipbuilding in the United States following the war. World War II era LSTs have become somewhat ubiquitous, and have found a number of novel commercial uses, including operating as small freighters, ferries, and dredges. Consequently, construction of LSTs in the immediate post-war years was modest. LST-1153 and LST-1154, commissioned respectively in 1947 and 1949, were the only steam-driven LSTs ever built by the Navy. They provided improved berthing arrangements and a greater cargo capacity than their predecessors.

The success of the amphibious assault at Inchon during the Korean War pointed out the utility of LSTs once again. This was in contrast with the earlier opinion expressed by many military authorities that the advent of the atomic bomb had relegated amphibious landings to a thing of the past. As a consequence, 15 LSTs of what were later to be known as the Terrebonne Parish-class were constructed in the early 1950s. These new LSTs were 56 feet longer and were equipped with four, rather than two, diesel engines, which increased their speed to 15 knots. Three-inch 50-caliber twin mounts replaced the old twin 40-millimeter guns, and controllable pitch propellers improved the ship's backing power. On 1 July 1955, county or parish names (Louisiana counties are called "parishes") were assigned to many LSTs, which up to then had borne only a letter-number hull designation.

In the late 1950s, seven LSTs of the De Soto County-class were constructed. These were an improved version over earlier LSTs, with a high degree of habitability for the crew and embarked troops. Considered the "ultimate" design attainable with the traditional LST bow door configuration, they were capable of 17.5 knots.

[edit] Modern developments

The commissioning of the Newport-class in 1969 marked the introduction of an entirely new concept in the design of LSTs. She was the first of a new class of 20 LSTs capable of steaming at a sustained speed of 20 knots. To obtain that speed, the traditional blunt bow doors of the LST were replaced by a pointed ship bow. Unloading is accomplished through the use of a 112-foot (34 m) ramp operated over the bow and supported by twin derrick arms. A stern gate to the tank deck permits unloading of amphibious tractors into the water or the unloading of other vehicles into a landing craft utility (LCU), onto a pier, or directly into the water. Capable of operating with high-speed amphibious squadrons consisting of LHAs, LPDs, and LSDs, the Newport-class LST can transport tanks, other heavy vehicles, and engineer equipment which cannot readily be landed by helicopters or landing craft. The Newport type has been removed from the U.S. Navy, but serves on in the navies of Brazil, Chile, Mexico, Morocco, Taiwan, Spain and, in a modified form, Australia.

[edit] Specifications

[edit] LST-1 class specifications

• Displacement:

unloaded: 1,780 tons (1,615 metric tons),

fully loaded: 3,880 tons (3,520 metric tons)

• Length: 327 ft, 9 in (99.8982 m)
• Beam: 50 ft (15.24 m)
• Draft

unloaded: bow 2 ft 4 in (0.711 m); stern 7 ft 6 in (2.286 m)

loaded:   bow 8 ft 2 in (2.489 m); stern 14 ft 1 in (4.293 m)

• Speed: 12 knots (22 km/h)
• Complement: 8 to 10 officers, 100 to 115 enlisted;
• Troop Capacity: approx. 140 officers and other ranks;

Boats: 2-6 LCVP;

• Armament:

1 x 3 in (76 mm) gun

6 x 40 mm gun

6 x 20 mm gun

2 x .50 cal (12.7 mm) machine guns,

4 x .30 cal (7.62 mm) machine guns

• Propulsion: two General Motors 12-567 diesel engines, two shafts, twin rudders.

[edit] LST-3 class specifications

• Overall length: 347 ft
• Breadth extreme 55 ft 2 in
• Depth moulded 27 ft
• Propeller diameter 10 ft
• Deep displacement 4,980 t
• Beaching draught

Forward: 4 ft 7 in

Aft: 11 ft 6 in

• Machinery: Twin screw steam reciprocating
• Horsepower: 5,500 hp
• Speed 13 knots

• Complement

Army: 13 officers 150 men

Ships: 14 officers 90 men

• Staff specification:

To embark and disembark tanks, motor transport etc. on beaches of varying slopes, and amphibians and DD Shermans into deep water.

To carry five LCAs or similar craft and one LCT (5) or LCT (6) on the upperdeck in place of transport and as an alternative to LCT (5) two NL causeway to be carried; the LCT (5) and NL causeways to be capable of launching direct from the upper deck.

To carry 500 tons of military load and to beach with that and sufficient fuel and stores for 1000 miles return journey at 10 knots, on draughts 4 ft 6 in forward and 11 ft 6 in aft.

To be capable of carrying a load of sixty tons over the main ramp and ten tons over the vehicle ramp (i.e. the 50 ft ramp from the upper deck to the bow door. After trials, this was removed from some vessels)

To be fitted for operations in the tropics and in cold climates.

• Built in UK: 31 as LST (3); two as LST (C); two as LST (Q)
• Built in Canada: twenty-six as LST (3).

[edit] References

This article includes text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships.

• Rottman, Gordon (2005) Landing Ship, Tank (LST) 1942–2002
• New Vanguard 115, Osprey Publishing
• Brown, D. K. (ed.) (1996) The Design and Construction of British Warships 1939 – 1945 The Official Record. Conway Maritime Press London. pp 73-80.
• Baker, R. (1947) Ships of the Invasion Fleet. Proceeding of the Royal Institute of Naval Architects, Vol. 89 pp. 59-72.

[edit] See also

• List of amphibious warfare ships
• List of LSTs
• LSTH

[edit] External links

• DANFS: TANK LANDING SHIPS (LST)
• NavSource Online: Tank Landing Ship (LST) Index
• LST Home Page
• InsideLST.com - a selection of information on the construction, complement, &c of LSTs, mostly taken from LST-325
• United States LST Association website
• History of LSTs including description of LSTs in use as aircraft carriers etc..
• [1] The LST SHIP MEMORIALel:Αρματαγωγό

fr:Bâtiment de débarquement it:Landing Ship Tank ja:戦車揚陸艦