Odyssey of the LST 325 December 2000-2001 V 1

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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 (LSTs). 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 Argen-
tia Conference in August 1941, President Roosevelt and Prime Minister
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 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.
Within a few days, John Niedermair
of the Bureau of Ships sketched out an
awkward-looking ship that proved to
be the basic design for the more than
1,000 LSTs 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 LSTs
for the Royal Navy under the terms of
lend-lease.
The preliminary plans initially
called for an LST 280 feet 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 and called for a 50-foot beam and
minimum draft of three feet 9 1/2
inches. 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 load of tanks, and
vehicles. The larger dimension also
permitted the designers to increase the
width of the bow door opening and
ramp from 12 to 14 feet 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. DC.
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.
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 stead. 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. Thorough 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 ship-
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