USS LST-355

USS LST-355 unloading trucks while high and dry on the beach at Normandy, circa June 1944.
History
United States
Name	USS LST-355
Builder	Charleston Navy Yard
Laid down	7 September 1942
Launched	16 November 1942
Sponsored by	Mrs. Wendell E. Kraft
Commissioned	22 December 1942
Decommissioned	6 March 1946
Stricken	31 October 1947
Honours and awards	2 battle stars
Fate	Sold for scrap, 10 April 1948
General characteristics
Class and type	LST-1-class tank landing ship
Displacement	4,080 long tons (4,145 t) full
Length	328 ft (100 m)
Beam	50 ft (15 m)
Draft	Light : 2 ft 4 in (0.71 m) forward 7 ft 6 in (2.29 m) aft Sea-going : 8 ft 3 in (2.51 m) forward 14 ft 1 in (4.29 m) aft Landing : 3 ft 11 in (1.19 m) forward 9 ft 10 in (3.00 m) aft
Propulsion	2 × General Motors 900 hp (671 kW) 12-567 diesel engines, 2 shafts, twin rudders
Speed	12 knots (22 km/h; 14 mph)
Range	24,000 nmi (44,000 km) at 9 kn (17 km/h; 10 mph) while displacing 3960 tons
Complement	9 officers, 120 enlisted
Armament	2 × twin 40 mm gun mounts w/Mk.51 directors 4 × single 40 mm gun mounts 12 × single 20 mm gun mounts

USS LST-355 was an LST-1-class tank landing ship of the United States Navy active during the Second World War.

She was laid down in September 1942 at the Charleston Navy Yard, sponsored by Mrs. Wendell E. Kraft and commissioned in December 1942. Lt. Norman L. Knipe, Jr., USNR, in command.

LST-355 first saw service at the invasion of Sicily in July 1943, and then at the Salerno landings in September. In 1944 she moved to England to support the Normandy landings, landing on Omaha Beach on D-Day.

Following the end of the war, she served on occupation duties in the Far East, before being decommissioned in March 1946 and sold for scrapping in April 1948 to Consolidated Builders, Inc., Seattle, Wash.

References[]

• Photo gallery of LST-355 at NavSource Naval History
• This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be found here.