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NavSource Online: Amphibious Photo Archive

HM LST-304


LST-304 was transferred to the United Kingdom for the duration of World War II
LST-1 Class Tank Landing Ship
  • Laid down, 3 July 1942, at Boston Navy Yard, Boston, MA.
  • Launched, 21 September 1942
  • LST-304 saw no active service with the US Navy
  • Transferred to the United Kingdom, 30 November 1942
  • Royal Navy History
  • Commissioned into the Royal Navy as HM LST-304, 30 November 1942
  • Sailed from New York, 27 January 1943 as part of the 1st Flotilla for Mediterranean duty via Bermuda
  • During World War II HM LST-304 was assigned to the European Theater and participated in the following campaigns:
    Sicilian occupation
    Salerno landings
    West Coast of Italy operations-1944 - Anzio-Nettuno advanced landings
    Invasion of Normandy
  • Operated as part of shuttle service between Tilbury, Ostend and Antwerp
  • Collided with blockship at Ostend, October 1944, badly holed
  • Sailed to take part in invasion of Malaya but orders changed, instead sailed from Trincomalee as part of a special force for Hong Kong (believed to be Operation 'Tiderace')
  • Paid off, possibly at Singapore, 19 February 1946
  • Returned to United States Navy custody, 29 November 1946
  • Struck from the Naval Register, 1 August 1947
  • Sold for conversion to merchant service, 7 October 1947, to Tung Hwa Trading Co., Singapore
  • Final Disposition, fate unknown
    Specifications:
    Displacement
    1,625 t.(lt)
    4,080 t.(fl) (sea-going draft w/1675 ton load)
    2,366 t. (beaching displacement)
    Length 328' o.a.
    Beam 50'
    Draft
    light 2' 4" fwd, 7' 6" aft
    sea-going 8' 3" fwd, 14' 1" aft
    landing 3' 11" fwd, 9' 10" aft (landing w/500 ton load)
    limiting 11' 2"
    maximum navigation 14' 1"
    Speed 11.6 kts. (trial)
    Endurance 24,000 miles @ 9kts. while displacing 3960 tons
    Complement
    13 officers
    104 enlisted
    Troop Accommodations
    16 officers
    147 enlisted
    Boats 2 LCVP
    Cargo Capacity (varied with mission - payloads between 1600 and 1900 tons)
    Typical loads
    One Landing Craft Tank (LCT), tanks, wheeled and tracked vehicles, artillery, construction equipment and military supplies. A ramp or elevator forward allowed vehicles access to tank deck from main deck
    Additional capacity included sectional pontoons carried on each side of vessel amidships, to either build Rhino Barges or use as causeways. Married to the bow ramp, the causeways would enabled payloads to be delivered ashore from deeper water or where a beachhead would not allow the vessel to be grounded forward after ballasting
    Armament - US Varied with availability when each vessel was outfitted. Retro-fitting was accomplished throughout WWII. The ultimate armament design for United States vessels was
    two - Twin 40MM gun mounts w/Mk. 51 directors
    four - Single 40MM gun mounts
    twelve single 20MM gun mounts
    Armament - UK Lend Lease built vessels were to be outfitted with armament after convoying across Atlantic and included
    one - 12 Pounder anti-aircraft multi-barrel mount
    six - 20MM single gun mounts
    four - Fast Aerial Mine (FAM) mounts
    Fuel Capacity
    Diesel 4,300 Bbls
    Propulsion
    two General Motors 12-567A, 900hp Diesel engines
    single Falk Main Reduction Gears
    three Diesel-drive 100Kw 230V D.C. Ship's Service Generators
    two propellers, 1,700shp
    twin rudders

    Click On Image
    For Full Size Image
    Size Image Description Source
    LST-304 64k HM LST-304 high and dry on the beach at Normandy, June 1944. Robert Hurst
    LST-505 75k HM LST-304 high and dry on the beach at Normandy, June 1944. Note her kedge anchor cable extend. In the background is the high and dry US LST-505. Robert Hurst
    LST-304 120k HM LST-304 underway in 1945. HM LST-304 sailed as part of the first convoy to Hong Kong following the Japanese surrender.
    Photo taken by Sgt R. Watson, No 9 Army Film & Photographic Unit. Photo No. SE 4950 from the collections of the Imperial War Museums. Part of the War Office, Central Office of Information and American Second World War Official Collection.
    Robert Hurst
    LST-304
    1016030402
    107k Chinese sampans coming along HM LST-304 as she enters Hong Kong Harbor after the Japanese surrender. HM LST-304 was part of the first convoy to enter Hong Kong.
    Imperial War Museum, War Office Central Office of Information, Photo No. IWM (SE 4970).
    Mike Green

    LST-304
    Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships (DANFS)
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    This page is created and maintained by Gary P. Priolo
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    Last Updated 17 April 2020