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NavSource Online: Amphibious Photo Archive

HM LST-305


LST-305 was transferred to the United Kingdom for the duration of World War II
LST-1 Class Tank Landing Ship:
  • Laid down, 24 July 1942, at Boston Navy Yard, Boston, MA.
  • Launched, 10 October 1942
  • LST-305 performed no active service with the United States Navy
  • Transferred to the United Kingdom, 7 December 1942
  • Royal Navy History
  • Commissioned into the Royal Navy as HM LST-305, 7 December 1942
  • Sailed from Halifax, Nova Scotia, in convoy SC122 / HX229 in company with HM LST-365
  • Sailed from Scotland in convoy KMS18A to the Mediterranean
  • HM LST-305 participated in the following campaigns:
    Sicilian occupation
    Salerno landings
    West Coast of Italy operations-1944 - Anzio-Nettuno advanced landings
  • Torpedoed and sunk by German U-boat U-230 during Operation Shingle, near Anzio, 20 February 1944, sinking the next day
  • Struck from the Naval Register, 16 May 1944
    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-305 191k Miss Lillian E. Earley, sponsor, at the launching of LST 305, 10 October 1942, Boston Navy Yard with Rear Admiral Wilson Brown, USN, Commandant of Boston Navy Yard.
    US National Archives Photo # 60-G-13867    		 US Naval History and Heritage Command
    LST-305 325k An early Valentine DD tank with raised screen launching from HM LST-305 in the Kyles of Bute, a sheltered stretch of water near the northern end of the island of the same name. The tank is obviously carrying more than its normal crew complement; note the soldier watching half way up the port side door. Photo courtesy of the Tank Museum, Bovington, Dorset.
    Photo scanned from British Battle Tanks: American-made World War 11 Tanks, by David Fletcher and Steven J. Zaloga. Pub: Osprey Publishing Ltd. 2018. ISBN: HB 978147280068.    		 Robert Hurst
    LST-305
    Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships (DANFS)
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    This page created and maintained by Gary P. Priolo
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    Last Updated 30 November 2018