Read an Excerpt
Pacific LST 791
A Gallant Ship and Her Hardworking Coast Guard Crew at the Invasion of Okinawa
By Stephen C. Stripe
iUniverse, Inc.
Copyright © 2011 Stephen C. Stripe
All right reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-4620-3248-8
Chapter One
WHAT WERE THESE SHIPS?
The Landing ship tank (LST) epitomized the war in the Pacific. Many are familiar with the more famous Higgins boats—there were three types—the earliest were called LCP(L) or Landing Craft Personnel/Large. They were designed by Andrew Jackson Higgins and built in his New Orleans factory. Almost all types had bow ramps that could be lowered to facilitate disembarking troops and supplies onto the beaches. However, these small craft were not seagoing vessels and had to be transported to the target invasion points on larger ones, such as LSTS and other ships.
The LST had been born in the United Kingdom from lessons learned from previous amphibious operations, such as Gallipoli, turkey, during World War I. Winston S. Churchill gave directions for the design and production of such ships. Nevertheless, the details for the manufacture had to be worked out within the United states. The LST had been a successful design; the last Us Lst—decommissioned in October 2002—had been the USS Frederick (LST-1184). These ships were true amphibious transports; with a length of 328 feet and a 50-foot beam with their clamshell bow doors open and the ramp lowered, they could disgorge 500 tons of supplies, 20 Sherman tanks, or 200 troops directly onto hostile beaches from the cavernous tank deck at one time.
The LST needed only three feet of water under its bow to get close to shore. Like a submarine, it had a system of pumps and ballast tanks that enabled the ship to decrease its forward draft for such operations. Total capacity of the four ballast tanks was 398 tons. The forward tank had a capacity of 118 tons, with the port and starboard tanks having 40-ton capacities each and the stern tank 200 tons. When necessary, these tanks could also be loaded with fuel oil so the ship could perform like a tanker. An LST could then winch itself off the beach by using a stern anchor that had been let go several hundred yards off the beach before landing, a technique called kedging. If a dock existed, the ship could come up alongside and unload up to two thousand tons of cargo. In short, the LST became the workhorse of the Pacific war, carrying fuel, ammunition, troops, vehicles, tanks, and any other cargo that needed transport to combat.
The LST was one of the most versatile ships ever designed; beyond hauling cargo and troops, the LSTs could—and did—function as combat ships. Other variants of the basic design included hospital ships, torpedo boat tenders, battle damage repair ships, barracks ships, aircraft repair ships, landing craft repair ships, fighter direction tenders, and aircraft carriers for launching L-4 spotter planes. Armaments on a typical LST included 20 mm and 40 mm guns used for antiaircraft defense and beach assault. But they could also be armed with three-inch naval rifles and rockets. Optimum or maximum speed that an LST could attain was eleven knots, but its cruising speed was a paltry nine knots. Because of these slow speeds at which these ships sailed, they sometimes had the moniker Large Slow Targets attached to them. Many years later, Max recalled a destroyer passing them and its sailors yelling to them to quit dragging their anchor. An LST could be built at an expected cost of approximately $1.5 million. At peak production, one LST would be produced every 3.5 days. This ship truly made the United states Marine Corps amphibious.
CAMP BRADFORD
In the summer of 1944, Max, Bob, and other Coast Guardsmen and navy sailors trained for amphibious operations at Camp Bradford. During World War II, more than 160,000 Army and Marine troops trained for amphibious operations at the camp. Over 200,000 navy sailors and Coast Guardsmen received instruction in operating various amphibious vessels there. Men, tanks, and guns practiced loading and disembarking from LSTs, LSMs (Landing Ship Medium), LCVPs (Landing Craft Vehicle/ Personnel), and other types of landing craft on the beaches and rivers of the Chesapeake Bay. Thousands of men trained at the facility to man hundreds of LSTs. Since Camp Bradford did not have enough barracks to house all the men, some had to be billeted in tents. Veterans of Mediterranean seaborne combat assaults provided the training. A mock up made out of wood and concrete of the top deck and bridge of an LST built on dry land—the USS Neversail—was used in intense training. Most of the young trainees, still in or just out of their teens and fresh from boot camp, made up the majority. Others, like Max and Bob, transferred in from other duty assignments.
During training, many casualties inevitably occurred from drowning, falls, accidental gunshots, and other assorted mishaps. this was especially true of young men who had the attitude that nothing could happen to them coupled with an adventurous spirit. Lt. Duncan, the future skipper of the LST 791, said, "In time, one grew to accept casualties as an inevitable result of the extraordinary risks of the business, but when it was possible to reduce the risks, it was wasteful and shameful not to do so." (Adams, 2002)
Far more formidable than all the other risks was the omnipresent menace of the sea itself. It was most deceptively dangerous when it was quiet and peaceful, for then it might either lash out in an unheralded storm and so trap the unwary or simply draw down into its fatal embrace the weak swimmer, the stunned, the drunken, the sick, or the careless. A growing familiarity with the sea's vastness made some of the men contemptuous of the fact that six feet of water could drown an able man and six inches a disabled one. (Adams, 2002)
Training at Camp Bradford covered everything that an LST sailor needed to know—from ship operations, landing operations, and combat to emergency operations. The organization of each ship or landing craft crew started at Camp Bradford. New crews were housed together in the same Quonset huts. Officers and crews thought of their LSTs as fighting ships. On the eve of going to the shipyard in Pittsburgh to crew a new ship, the officers received orders. Each crewman's personnel jacket was examined by the skipper and the executive officer. They—especially the skipper, Lt. Duncan—were worried that the new crew "most of whom were softened by long stretches of coddling shore duty" had the spirit and desire to fight. (Adams, 2002) Lt. Duncan went on to say:
Thank heaven for the few men we have who do look as if they might be able to stand up and be counted. There are some quiet ones that we'll hear from later on. It's a good thing. We'll need them." (Adams, 2002) ... Well, plenty of things will come up tomorrow. They always do at the last minute. But I think we're ready. (Adams, 2002)
Almost as an afterthought, Horton, the executive officer added, "I'll be glad to get the men out of this place. I wish we were going to sea tomorrow." (Adams, 2002)
On September 2, 1944, Max and Bob left for Pittsburgh to join others to crew the new LST 791. The Dravo Corporation shipyard at Neville Island Pittsburgh, one of five inland yards, had a workforce of 16,000 workers that produced a total of 145 LSTS during the war. Dravo Corporation produced primarily these types of ships during the war and contributed two-thirds of the Navy's fleet of over a thousand LSTs. The keel of 791 had been laid on July 16, 1944, and she launched on August 26, 1944.
Max and Bob arrived in Pittsburgh at 11:00 a.m. On Sunday, September 3. Carnegie technical Institute dormitories provided the bunks for the fresh crews in Pittsburgh until the ship was ready to sail. They spent their off hours going to USOs (United Service Organization), movies, dances, bars, restaurants, and playing jokes on each other. Max recalled with much amusement one sailor's drunkenness when he came back from late-night partying and tried to put his shirt on as pants. Also, when the crew got liberty in Pittsburgh, Fern rode a train for several days from Omaha to be with Max for those few days of liberty. While waiting for the ship to be ready to sail the rivers to New Orleans, the crew had their duties. They had to acquaint themselves with their new ship and home to be ready for overseas duty.
COMMISSIONING
The 791—partially commissioned and manned—left Pittsburgh on September 16 at 1800 hours. A Navy pilot navigated the treacherous Ohio and Mississippi rivers to New Orleans. No mast had been installed in Pittsburgh because of the necessity of passing under river bridges. During the inland voyage, the ship ran aground on the Mississippi, making it necessary for repairs once they arrived in New Orleans. During the trip, the crew practiced General Quarters (GQ) or battle stations, along with performing routine ship operations; otherwise they had a pleasant trip through the heartland of America, arriving September 26 at 11:00 a.m. at naval station Algiers in new Orleans. Moored on the port side to Berth 3 and 4 at Us naval Repair Base Algiers, the repairs were accomplished and the ship was outfitted for sea, including the mast being installed.
LST 791 was fully commissioned on September 27, 1944, at 1400 hours on the tank deck as the main weather deck was undergoing authorized outfitting. Lt. Comdr. J. Wildman, E-V(s) USNR, the designated representative of the Commandant, eighth Naval District and Chaplain J. J. Travis, USNR (United states Naval Reserve), conducted the commissioning ceremonies. The chaplain read a prayer, and the commandant's representative read the directive, causing the national ensign and the commission pennant to be hoisted. Lt. Andrew Duncan Jr., USCGR (United states Coast Guard Reserve), assumed command according to the orders dated September 2, 1944, Comphibtrabase, Camp Bradford, NOB (Naval Operations Base) in Norfolk, Virginia. He then ordered the executive officer to set the watch at 1410 hours. After the commissioning party left at 1415 hours, the ship became part of LST Flotilla 29, Group 86, and Division 172. the crew consisted of 118 men—7 officers and 111 enlisted men—at the time of commissioning. The homes of the crew members included most of the other states and representatives from the District of Columbia reproducing in microcosm the population of the United states. Other men would join the crew and others would leave it at various times during its career as part of the Pacific fleet.
TECHNICAL INFORMATION 791
LST 791's vital statistics provide an idea of the operations of these magnificent ships. Two 900-HP General Motors Diesel 12-cylinder engines furnished the main propulsion. The ship carried a total of 188,000 gallons of fuel or 600 tons. At an engine speed of 275 RPM, or full speed of 9.8 knots, the average amount of daily fuel the 791 consumed ran about 2,100 gallons. Crewmen living and working in the engines paces, responsible for mechanical operation of the ship and engines called themselves the "black gang." the terminology of "black gang" dates from the time when most, if not all, ships were powered by coal-fired steam engines. Coal dust would cover everything—equipment and men—turning them black. She could travel 24,000 miles at 9 knots.
The ship displaced 1,625 tons empty. Outfitted, the 791 carried two landing boats, LCVPs (Landing Craft, Vehicle/ Personnel) slung from davits on the stern. Other versions of LSTs had four or more landing boats. Combat cargo capacity was up to 1,900 tons. Fully loaded, she would displace 4,080 tons. The water tanks held 85,000 gallons or 316 tons of fresh water. She had two water evaporators with a capacity of producing 2,000 gallons of fresh water per day. At the end of the war, Lt. Reed Adams noted, "the old girl has made over a million gallons of fresh water" (Adams, 2002).
The ship provided berths for a normal crew of 116 men and 10 officers, plus 111 men and 19 officers as transients or casuals. Mess tables could seat 104 men below, 38 in crew's quarters, 66 on the starboard side, and 21 in the ward room. The anchor weighed 5,000 pounds and had 60 fathoms (or 360 feet) of chain winched onto the windlass and capstan by a 20-HP motor. A 50-HP motor operated the stern winch that had its chain and Cable attached to a 3,000-pound anchor. In earlier marks or series of LSTS, an elevator-like apparatus moved vehicles between the main deck/weather deck and the tank deck as standard. LST 791, being a later mark, had been fitted with a truck ramp that weighed 29,000 pounds and measured 12 ½ feet by 39 ½ ft. The ramp, when lowered, allowed vehicles to be driven between the two decks and directly out the bow. When the ramp became flat and in line with the weather deck, it supported a load of 60,000 pounds plus loading impact or 38,000 pounds at a 15-degree angle to the horizontal. The bow ramp weighed 24,000 pounds. she had four naval receivers, two transmitters, three army type receivers and transmitters, and one RBO (recreational radio) receiver. They also possessed Radar and IFF (Identification Friend or Foe) equipment. Radar could detect high land eighty miles out, a low atoll twenty miles, aircraft at sixteen miles, and another LST at seventeen miles.
Fighting the ship involved firing the mounted guns and beaching the ship to disembark vehicles and troops. Each gun crew operated in two sectors, termed primary and secondary. If an enemy aircraft entered the primary range of a gun crew, their first obligation was to take those targets under fire. This applied even if it involved shifting from another target outside its zone of primary responsibility. If the crew was not engaged in the zone of primary responsibility, they were obligated to fire on aircraft in their secondary zones.
The 791 armaments consisted of two twin 40 mm mounts with MK 51 gun directors, four single 40 mm mounts, and twelve 20 mm guns. Twin 40 mm gun positions were on the stern and the bow. Single 40 mm were just mounted behind the bow twin or ahead of the stern twin mount on both sides of the ship. The twin 40 mm's crew was composed of 7 men: a pointer, trainer, gun captain, two first loaders, and two second loaders. A single 40 mm crew composed of five men, just lacking two additional loaders, but otherwise it had the same positions as the twin. A 40 mm had a maximum range of around 11,000 yards and effective range of 3,000 to 4,000 yards. The 20 mm's were mounted on both sides of the bridge—on the stern and bow—behind the 40 mm and sometimes along either side of the main deck. The 20 mm mounts were crewed by three or four men and had a maximum range at 45-degree elevation of around 5,000 yards.
The 40 mm guns had three types of ammunition. HET, or High explosive tracers, were used mainly against aircraft. APT, or Armor Piercing tracers, were directed against tanks or pillboxes ashore. APT also had submarines on its menu. The first shell loaded into 40 mm guns—in case it became necessary to fire through the muzzle cover in an emergency—usually consisted of the BL&P. Or Blind Loaded and Plugged round. All 40 mm ammunition was packed four shells to a clip, four clips to a can. A shell weighed 4.75 pounds, the projectile weighed 2 pounds, and a clip of four weighed 20 pounds. So the loader of a 40 mm gun had to be strong and have endurance during battle. Three types of 20 mm ammunition used HEI, or High explosive Incendiary; HET, or High explosive tracer; and BL&P. A complete 20 mm shell weighed half a pound, and the projectile weighed a quarter of a pound. They came packed 180 rounds to a can. The clips fed to the gun and each clip had 57 rounds in a magazine. A full magazine weighed 60 pounds. Total 40 mm stowage capacity including magazines consisted of 15,400 rounds or 3,850 clips. The ships allowance, however, only consisted of 12,000 rounds or 3,000 clips. The 40 millimeter gun had a theoretical rate of fire of 120 rounds per minute or 30 clips per minute. The total 20 mm ammunition capacity for an LST consisted of about 108,000 rounds; however, the ships allowance made only 48,000 rounds. The 20 millimeter gun had a practical rate of fire of 228 rounds per minute or four magazines per minute. The 20 mm's fire was less effective against aircraft, especially kamikazes than the 40 mm's was.
(Continues...)
Excerpted from Pacific LST 791 by Stephen C. Stripe Copyright © 2011 by Stephen C. Stripe. Excerpted by permission of iUniverse, Inc.. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.
