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NavSource Online: Amphibious Photo Archive

HM LST-409


USS LST-409 was transferred to the United Kingdom for the duration of World War II
LST-1 Class Tank Landing Ship:
  • Laid down, 9 September 1942, at Bethlehem Fairfield Co., Baltimore, MD.
  • Launched, 15 November 1942
  • LST-409 never saw active service with the US Navy
  • Transferred to the United Kingdom, 6 January 1943, Commissioned HM LST-409
  • Royal Navy History
    Commissioned into the Royal Navy as HM LST-409, 6 January 1943
    During World War II HM LST-409 was assigned to the Europe-Africa-Middle East and Asiatic Pacific Theaters and participated in the following campaigns:
    Sicily, Reggio, Salerno Anzio, Normandy and Malaya (MacDermott Ships without Names)
    Paid off, 2 July 1946, location unknown
  • Returned to US Naval custody, 2 July 1946
  • Struck from the Naval Register, 29 October 1946
  • Sold, 21 November 1946, to Greece
  • 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-409
    1016040903
    150k Chart of Eastern Sicily's coastline, south of Syracuse, showing 6 rows of ships. Many are Liberty ships, e.g., SS Bigfoot Wallace and SS Mayo Brothers and LSTs, HM LST-368, HM LST-413 and HM LST-409. The LSTs are stationed at D3, E2, and F2 respectively. The 80th Flotilla of Canadian Landing Craft operated in GEORGE Sector, the bay outlined in black marker in top right corner, home today to a seaside community, Fontane Bianche.
    Gordon Harrison wrote "I will visit there in July to recall Dad's service, 80 years ago. I hope to find the cave he lived in w mates for 3 weeks. (His mates in the 81st Flotilla transported troops and supplies in the HOW Sector at Amber, Red and Green beaches right next door to the south, also marked w black outline. Near modern day Gallina). Most details on the map are quite accurate, a few are not (e.g., Avola and Noto are farther south than drawn). I also include a photo from IWM that reveals coastline south of Syracuse, with liberty ships and LSTs in their stations." Gord Harrison, London Ontario
    Related entry on website - 1000 Men, 1000Stories
    Gordon Harrison
    LST-409 979k HM LST-409 with two unidentified LSTs, moored a Palermo, Sicily, Italy, 4 September 1943, probably preparing to load troops and equipment for the Salerno landings, scheduled for 9 September 1943.
    US National Archives photo # III-SC 181095, Box 181 a US Army Signal Corps. photo now in the collections of the US National Archives.
    Dave Kerr
    LST-409 415k HM LST-409 beached in the background of this photo of two soldiers from the US Army 45th Division as they unload at Anzio, Italy, 1 February 1944.
    US Army Signal Corps. photo # MM-5-44-587 by Blau, 163rd Signal Photo Company from the collections of the US National Archives.
    Dave Kerr

    HM LST-409
    Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships (DANFS)
    Back To The Navsource Photo Archives Main Page Back To The Amphibious Ship Type Index Back To The Tank Landing Ship (LST) Photo Index
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    This page is created by David W. Almond and maintained by Gary P. Priolo
    All pages copyright NavSource Naval History
    Last Updated 7 July 2023

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

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