WHAT IS AN LST?
They were called
Large Slow Targets by their crews!
The TANK LANDING SHIP (LST) was the brain child of Winston Churchill. He conveyed to President Franklin Roosevelt the need for a ship that could transport battle tanks and heavy rolling equipment over the sea to forward battle areas, delivering the load directly to beachhead. Much importance was given this project. The keel of an aircraft carrier was hastily removed from a dry dock in Newport News, VA, to begin construction of the first LST. Twenty-three LSTs were in commission by the end of 1942.
The TANK LANDING SHIP (LST) proved to be much more rugged and versatile than her planners ever dreamed of producing. They were used for the transport of
tanks (of course), general cargo, locomotives, railroad cars, all types of vehicles, prisoners, casualties and for numerous other purposes.
These ships were first built in the traditional coastal shipyards, but the demand was so great that inland shipyards were created for wartime production. 
The main deck was so strong that it could carry a fully loaded LCT (Landing Craft-Tank) across the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. An LCT weighed 285 tons fully loaded and was over 114 feet in length. These WWII LSTs displaced 1653 tons (4,080 tons fully loaded). The length was 328 feet and the beam was 50 feet. Normally, an LST had a crew of about 120 men and 10 officers, but this varied due to the number of LCVPs that were carried. Many of the first LSTs were six davit ships, requiring additional personnel.
Of the 1,051 LSTs that were built for the U.S. Navy during the World War II, 670 were launched by five major inland shipyards on the Ohio and Illinois rivers. Within a year or so, most LST production had been shifted from coastal shipyards to these inland shipyards. Approximately 131 were built for the Royal Navy. The WWII class of the LST is the largest of a single ship design ever built for the U.S. Navy and placed in commission in such a short period of time.
While some WWII LSTs remained in commission long after the war, none of this class is in commission today. Currently, there are only two LSTs of postwar design in service today. These are the USS Frederick (LST 1184), with Pearl Harbor for a home port, and the USS LaMoure County (LST 1194) out of NAB Little Creek, VA. Both are 20-knot vessels. It is worthwhile to check out their home pages under the current Pacific Fleet and the Atlantic Fleet directories.
Almost all WWII LSTs were built in the shipyards listed below:
American Bridge (Ambridge, PA)*
Bethlehem Fairfield (Baltimore, MD)
Bethlehem Steel (Quincy, MA)
Bethlehem-Hingham Shipyard (Hingham, MA)
Chicago Bridge & Iron (Seneca, IL)*
Dravo Corp. (Pittsburgh, PA)*
Jeffersonville Boat & Machine (Jeffersonville, IN)*
Kaiser, Inc. (Vancouver, WA, & Richmond, CA)
Missouri Valley Bridge & Iron (Evansville, IN)*
Newport News Shipbuilding, Newport News, VA.
Navy Yards (Boston, Charleston, New York, Norfolk & Philadelphia)
*Shipyards on the Ohio and Illinois Rivers
There were many LSTs that were converted into various configurations for other duties. Some of these were:
Amphibious repair ships--ARL & ARB
Aircraft repair ships--ARVA & ARVE
Barracks ships(APB)
Helicopter repair ships--ARV(H)
Salvage craft tender--ARST
Small hospital ships (WWII)--thirty-eight LST(H).
M.T.B. (PT boat) "motherships."
There were other "motherships" built in small quantities. One conversion had two quonset huts on the main deck (used as officers quarters), a bake shop, 16 refrigeration boxes, four distilling units and extra fresh water storage tanks.
A few LSTs had improvised flight decks
to launch--but not to recover--Army L-4
Cub artillery spotter planes during
some invasions. LST 386 was converted
for this purpose and was deployed in the
invasions of Sicily, Anzio and Southern France.
Over Iwo Jima, Marine OY-1's flew off of
the LST 776, and then at Okinawa, Army
L-4's operated from her flight ramp.
Thirty-nine LSTs were lost during WWII due to various causes. Twenty-six of these losses were directly attributed to enemy action--submarines, m.t.b.'s (E-boats), mines, German aircraft and Kamikaze attacks. Many other LSTs suffered heavy battle damage and severe casualties. Hence, the well known nickname of "Large Slow Target."
On 21 May 1944, six LSTs were lost in one gigantic explosion
at a West Loch,
Pearl Harbor, munitions facility. This was kept secret for twenty years.
