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NavSource Online: Amphibious Photo Archive

HM LST-421


USS LST-421 was turned over the United Kingdom for the duration of World War II
LST-1 Class Tank Landing Ship:
  • Laid down, 11 November 1942, at Bethlehem Fairfield Co., Baltimore, MD.
  • Launched, 5 December 1942
  • LST-421 never saw active service in the US Navy
  • Delivered to the Royal Navy, 26 January 1943
  • Royal Navy History
  • Commissioned into the Royal Navy as HM LST-421, 26 January 1943
  • HM LST-421 sailed from New York in company with HM LST-324 and HM LST-412, 13 March 1943 transporting refinery equipment to Curacao
  • From Georgetown, Curacao HM LST-421 set sail for Freetown, Sierra Leone
  • HM LST-421 participated in the following campaigns:
    Sicilian occupation
    Salerno landings
    West Coast of Italy operations-1944 - Anzio-Nettuno advanced landings
    Invasion of Normandy
  • Paid off and returned to US Naval control, 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: (as reported by Office of Naval Intelligence-1945)
    Displacement 1,625 t.(lt), 4,080 t.(fl) (sea-going draft w/1675 ton load)
    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)
    Speed 12 kts. (maximum)
    Endurance 24,000 miles @ 9kts. while displacing 3960 tons
    Complement
    7 officers, 104 enlisted
    Troop Accommodations
    16 officers, 147 enlisted
    Boats 6 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
    1 - 12 Pounder anti-aircraft multi-barrel mount
    6 - 20MM mounts
    4 - Fast Aerial Mine (FAM) mounts
    Propulsion two General Motors 12-567, 900hp diesel engines, two shafts, twin rudders
    Click On Image
    For Full Size Image    		 Size Image Description Source
    LST-421 62k HM LST-421 underway in the English Channel enroute to France with ammunition and US vehicles. Roger Smoothy
    View the LST-421
    DANFS history entry located at the US Naval Historical Center web site
    Crew Contact And Reunion Information
    Not Applicable to this Vessel
    Additional Resources and Web Sites of Interest
    The USS LST Ship Memorial
    LST Home Port
    State LST Chapters
    United States LST Association
    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 3 November 2006