USS LST-16 was a built for the U.S. Navy

United States Navy

The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...

 during World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

. Like most ships in her class, she was not named and was known only by her designation. She was manned by a U.S. Coast Guard

United States Coast Guard

The United States Coast Guard is a branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven U.S. uniformed services. The Coast Guard is a maritime, military, multi-mission service unique among the military branches for having a maritime law enforcement mission and a federal regulatory agency...

 crew throughout her service career.

Operational history

LST-16 was laid down on 1 September 1942 at Wilmington, Delaware

Wilmington, Delaware

Wilmington is the largest city in the state of Delaware, United States, and is located at the confluence of the Christina River and Brandywine Creek, near where the Christina flows into the Delaware River. It is the county seat of New Castle County and one of the major cities in the Delaware Valley...

, by the Dravo Corp.

Dravo Corporation

Dravo Corporation was a shipbuilding company with shipyards in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and Wilmington, Delaware. It was founded by Frank and Ralph Dravo in Pittsburgh during the 1890s.-Facilities:...

; launched on 19 December 1942; sponsored by Mrs. Lois M. Alexander; and commissioned on 17 March 1943 with Lt.

Lieutenant

A lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer in many nations' armed forces. Typically, the rank of lieutenant in naval usage, while still a junior officer rank, is senior to the army rank...

 Rufus W. L. Horton, USCGR

United States Coast Guard Reserve

The United States Coast Guard Reserve is the reserve component of the United States Coast Guard. It is organized, trained, administered, and supplied under the direction of the Commandant of the Coast Guard through the Director of Reserve and Leadership....

 in command.

Assigned to Flotilla 18, Group 53, Division 105, for Operation Husky, the invasion of Sicily

Allied invasion of Sicily

The Allied invasion of Sicily, codenamed Operation Husky, was a major World War II campaign, in which the Allies took Sicily from the Axis . It was a large scale amphibious and airborne operation, followed by six weeks of land combat. It launched the Italian Campaign.Husky began on the night of...

, the Coast Guard-manned LST-16 departed Tunis

Tunis

Tunis is the capital of both the Tunisian Republic and the Tunis Governorate. It is Tunisia's largest city, with a population of 728,453 as of 2004; the greater metropolitan area holds some 2,412,500 inhabitants....

 on 8 July 1943, and arrived at Transport Area 1, Woods Hole Beach on 10 July 1943, carrying . While engaged in unloading operations the LST-16 discovered that an enemy shore battery, four miles (6 km) away, had her range. The battery was located and 3"/50 caliber shells were fired at a range of 8700 yards (7,955.3 m) were apparently hits. The LST ceased firing as a U.S. destroyer opened fire on the same target, putting it out of action. Crew members on LST-16 observed small arms fire on the beach with our troops and the enemy separated by small ridges 6 or 8 feet (2.4 m) high about 100 feet (30.5 m) from the water line.

Ordered to proceed to Bailey's Beach four miles (6 km) south of Scoglitti

Scoglitti

Scoglitti is a small fishing village near the town of Vittoria on the south coast of Sicily.In addition to its fishing industry, the village derives a substantial part of its income from tourism...

 she discharged DUKW

DUKW

The DUKW is a six-wheel-drive amphibious truck that was designed by a partnership under military auspices of Sparkman & Stephens and General Motors Corporation during World War II for transporting goods and troops over land and water and for use approaching and crossing beaches in amphibious...

s before beaching. Both ramp chains parted while discharging DUKWs and a jury rig of wire pennants was installed. The Beachmaster advised that no pontoons were available. The vessel was beached on 11 July and the commanding officer went ashore to arrange for a causeway. While awaiting the causeway, then in use by another LST, several enemy aircraft attempted to attack the beach and the LST-16 opened fire.

At 17:00 the causeway was received and all vehicles and Army were off by 19:00. The ship's company unloaded 470 tons of supplies by hand, completing the task by 14:00 on 12 July. At 17:00 she proceeded to a newly marked beach north of Scoglitti and on 13 July loaded 300 tons of ammunition and supplies from and proceeded to anchorage. Gunners aboard LST-16 fired on enemy aircraft at 21:50 on 14 July, and the ship began discharging ammunition and supplies via DUKWs. On 15 July the LST was underway, anchoring in Tunis Bay on next day.

LST-16 returned to Gela

Gela

Gela is a town and comune in the province of Caltanissetta in the south of Sicily, Italy. The city is at about 84 kilometers distance from the city of Caltanissetta, on the Mediterranean Sea. The city has a larger population than the provincial capital, and ranks second in land area.Gela is an...

, Sicily

Sicily

Sicily is a region of Italy, and is the largest island in the Mediterranean Sea. Along with the surrounding minor islands, it constitutes an autonomous region of Italy, the Regione Autonoma Siciliana Sicily has a rich and unique culture, especially with regard to the arts, music, literature,...

, on 19 July 1943, with 7 officers and 142 enlisted men of the U.S. Army

United States Army

The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...

 and returned to Tunis Bay with 62 Italian

Italian Army

The Italian Army is the ground defence force of the Italian Armed Forces. It is all-volunteer force of active-duty personnel, numbering 108,355 in 2010. Its best-known combat vehicles are the Dardo infantry fighting vehicle, the Centauro tank destroyer and the Ariete tank, and among its aircraft...

 officers and 408 Italian soldiers as prisoners of war on 22 July 1943. Again loading 35 vehicles, 2 officers end 44 enlisted men of the U.S. Army the LST anchored off Gela on 24 July and was back in Tunis Bay the next day. On 28 July 1943, she made her final trip to Gela with 13 officers, 153 enlisted men and 63 vehicles. She returned to Biserte on 14 August 1943, towing two sections of pontoon causeways in tandem. In 14 trips and one shuttle trip 48 officers, 537 enlisted men, 894 tons of cargo and 167 vehicles were transported to Sicily. Thirty-six U. S. military personnel and 471 prisoners of war were returned to North Africa.

While in the Mediterranean

Mediterranean Sea

The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean surrounded by the Mediterranean region and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Anatolia and Europe, on the south by North Africa, and on the east by the Levant...

, Seabee

Seabee

Seabees are members of the United States Navy construction battalions. The word Seabee is a proper noun that comes from the initials of Construction Battalion, of the United States Navy...

s converted LST-906 into a makeshift aircraft carrier

Aircraft carrier

An aircraft carrier is a warship designed with a primary mission of deploying and recovering aircraft, acting as a seagoing airbase. Aircraft carriers thus allow a naval force to project air power worldwide without having to depend on local bases for staging aircraft operations...

 sporting a custom-built mesh airstrip above deck. She was the base for two USAAF

United States Army Air Forces

The United States Army Air Forces was the military aviation arm of the United States of America during and immediately after World War II, and the direct predecessor of the United States Air Force....

 L-4B Grasshoppers. Missions flown were typically as artillery spotters. LST-906 was one of six LSTs so converted.

LST-16 participated in the Salerno landings in September 1943, and advanced landings at Anzio-Nettuno

Operation Shingle

Operation Shingle , during the Italian Campaign of World War II, was an Allied amphibious landing against Axis forces in the area of Anzio and Nettuno, Italy. The operation was commanded by Major General John P. Lucas and was intended to outflank German forces of the Winter Line and enable an...

 in January and February 1944.

On 31 March 1944, LST-16 departed Naples

Naples

Naples is a city in Southern Italy, situated on the country's west coast by the Gulf of Naples. Lying between two notable volcanic regions, Mount Vesuvius and the Phlegraean Fields, it is the capital of the region of Campania and of the province of Naples...

 for Plymouth

Plymouth

Plymouth is a city and unitary authority area on the coast of Devon, England, about south-west of London. It is built between the mouths of the rivers Plym to the east and Tamar to the west, where they join Plymouth Sound...

, England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

, via Oran

Oran

Oran is a major city on the northwestern Mediterranean coast of Algeria, and the second largest city of the country.It is the capital of the Oran Province . The city has a population of 759,645 , while the metropolitan area has a population of approximately 1,500,000, making it the second largest...

, to make preparations for the invasion of the coast of France. She arrived at Plymouth 25 April 1944. On 2 June 1944 she began to take on board 34 officers, 486 enlisted men, and 79 vehicles of the U.S. Army and she also carried two barrage balloon

Barrage balloon

A barrage balloon is a large balloon tethered with metal cables, used to defend against low-level aircraft attack by damaging the aircraft on collision with the cables, or at least making the attacker's approach more difficult. Some versions carried small explosive charges that would be pulled up...

s. On 5 June 1944 she was anchored in the mouth of the Helford River

Helford River

The Helford River is a ria located in Cornwall, England, UK, and not a true river. It is fed by a number of small streams into its numerous creeks...

 awaiting the order to set sail for Normandy. By this time she was equipped to evacuate and care for casualties, including bringing aboard, in addition to the ship's crew, two doctors and 20 enlisted personnel to care for the casualties. She got underway at 08:23 to join Convoy B-3 from Falmouth

Falmouth, Cornwall

Falmouth is a town, civil parish and port on the River Fal on the south coast of Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It has a total resident population of 21,635.Falmouth is the terminus of the A39, which begins some 200 miles away in Bath, Somerset....

 en route to Omaha Beach

Omaha Beach

Omaha Beach is the code name for one of the five sectors of the Allied invasion of German-occupied France in the Normandy landings on 6 June 1944, during World War II...

.

She anchored five miles (8 km) off the coast of Normandy at 10:10 on 7 June 1944. She continually shifted anchorage closer to shore that day, observing some close shell-fire from enemy batteries ashore. One shell landed only 100 yards off the starboard bow. At 21:55 that same day she anchored one mile (1.6 km) off shore and opened her bow doors and lowered her landing ramp. She then commenced unloading some of the Army personnel into small boats for transport to Omaha Beach. She closed her bow doors at 00:05 on 8 July 1944. At 01:02 hours she launched her LCVP

LCVP

The Landing Craft, Vehicle, Personnel or Higgins boat was a landing craft used extensively in amphibious landings in World War II. The craft was designed by Andrew Higgins of Louisiana, United States, based on boats made for operating in swamps and marshes...

 #1 to pick up casualties on the beach for return to LST-16, but it struck a mine en route and sank, killing one of the crew and injuring another. She attempted to beach herself unsuccessfully at 09:18 on 8 June 1944. At 10:32 that same day the local control vessel ordered her to beach on Omaha Beach at 14:00. Until that time she unloaded 150 Army personnel into for transport to the beach.

At 13:30 on 8 June 1944 she beached at the western-end of Omaha Beach, dropping her bow and stern anchors as she came to a stop. She then opened her bow doors and lowered the landing ramp and commenced unloading the remaining troops and equipment beginning at 16:00. By 18:00 all of the Army personnel, their equipment, vehicles and the two barrage balloons were safely ashore. She took aboard five casualties and 17 survivors of and retracted from the beach. She joined a convoy on 9 June that was making its way back to England and arrived at Solent at 22:05 on 9 June 1944. She continued making cross-Channel trips, carrying supplies and reinforcements from England to Normandy and returning with casualties. LST-16 was ordered on 25 September 1944, to return to the United States. She did not actually leave Plymouth until 26 January 1945, and after arriving at Norfolk

Norfolk, Virginia

Norfolk is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. With a population of 242,803 as of the 2010 Census, it is Virginia's second-largest city behind neighboring Virginia Beach....

 on 17 February 1945, proceeded to Davisville, Rhode Island

Davisville, Rhode Island

Davisville, Rhode Island was the former home of the U.S. Navy SeaBees. It was located at Quonset Point on Narragansett Bay, an area now included in the town of North Kingstown. The Navy acquired the property in 1939 and built Naval Air Station Quonset Point...

, to unload.

LST-16 proceeded to Galveston, Texas

Galveston, Texas

Galveston is a coastal city located on Galveston Island in the U.S. state of Texas. , the city had a total population of 47,743 within an area of...

 via Boston and New Orleans

New Orleans, Louisiana

New Orleans is a major United States port and the largest city and metropolitan area in the state of Louisiana. The New Orleans metropolitan area has a population of 1,235,650 as of 2009, the 46th largest in the USA. The New Orleans – Metairie – Bogalusa combined statistical area has a population...

 for an availability from 11 March to 17 April 1945. Returning to New Orleans she proceeded on 27 April 1945, via Theodore

Theodore, Alabama

Theodore is a census-designated place in Mobile County, Alabama, United States. The population was 6,811 at the 2000 census. It is a part of the Mobile metropolitan statistical area...

, Mobile

Mobile, Alabama

Mobile is the third most populous city in the Southern US state of Alabama and is the county seat of Mobile County. It is located on the Mobile River and the central Gulf Coast of the United States. The population within the city limits was 195,111 during the 2010 census. It is the largest...

, Canal Zone

Panama Canal Zone

The Panama Canal Zone was a unorganized U.S. territory located within the Republic of Panama, consisting of the Panama Canal and an area generally extending 5 miles on each side of the centerline, but excluding Panama City and Colón, which otherwise would have been partly within the limits of...

, Pearl Harbor

Pearl Harbor

Pearl Harbor, known to Hawaiians as Puuloa, is a lagoon harbor on the island of Oahu, Hawaii, west of Honolulu. Much of the harbor and surrounding lands is a United States Navy deep-water naval base. It is also the headquarters of the U.S. Pacific Fleet...

, Eniwetok

Enewetak

Enewetak Atoll is a large coral atoll of 40 islands in the Pacific Ocean, and forms a legislative district of the Ralik Chain of the Marshall Islands. Its land area totals less than , surrounding a deep central lagoon, in circumference...

, Saipan

Saipan

Saipan is the largest island of the United States Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands , a chain of 15 tropical islands belonging to the Marianas archipelago in the western Pacific Ocean with a total area of . The 2000 census population was 62,392...

, Leyte

Leyte

Leyte is a province of the Philippines located in the Eastern Visayas region. Its capital is Tacloban City and occupies the northern three-quarters of the Leyte Island. Leyte is located west of Samar Island, north of Southern Leyte and south of Biliran...

, Luzon

Luzon

Luzon is the largest island in the Philippines. It is located in the northernmost region of the archipelago, and is also the name for one of the three primary island groups in the country centered on the Island of Luzon...

 and Batangas

Batangas

Batangas is a first class province of the Philippines located on the southwestern part of Luzon in the CALABARZON region. Its capital is Batangas City and it is bordered by the provinces of Cavite and Laguna to the north and Quezon to the east. Across the Verde Island Passages to the south is the...

 to Tokyo

Tokyo

, ; officially , is one of the 47 prefectures of Japan. Tokyo is the capital of Japan, the center of the Greater Tokyo Area, and the largest metropolitan area of Japan. It is the seat of the Japanese government and the Imperial Palace, and the home of the Japanese Imperial Family...

, where she arrived 15 September 1945. During the journey, the ship welcomed a new commanding officer, Lt. (jg)

Lieutenant, Junior Grade

Lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer rank in the United States Navy, the United States Coast Guard, the United States Public Health Service Commissioned Corps, United States Merchant Marine USMM, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Commissioned Corps, with the pay grade...

 W. J. Kenneally, USCGR, on 22 May 1945.

The veteran landing craft remained in Tokyo for more than two months and on 28 November 1945, she arrived at Saipan on her homeward voyage, which included stops at Pearl Harbor, San Francisco

San Francisco, California

San Francisco , officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the financial, cultural, and transportation center of the San Francisco Bay Area, a region of 7.15 million people which includes San Jose and Oakland...

 and the Canal Zone before Charleston

Charleston, South Carolina

Charleston is the second largest city in the U.S. state of South Carolina. It was made the county seat of Charleston County in 1901 when Charleston County was founded. The city's original name was Charles Towne in 1670, and it moved to its present location from a location on the west bank of the...

 was reached 20 February 1946.

She was decommissioned and her Coast Guard crew removed on 8 March 1946. She was struck from the Navy List

Naval Vessel Register

The Naval Vessel Register is the official inventory of ships and service craft in custody of or titled by the United States Navy. It contains information on ships and service craft that make up the official inventory of the Navy from the time a vessel is authorized through its life cycle and...

 on 12 April 1946. On 5 December 1947, she was sold to Ships and Power Equipment Co., of Barber, New Jersey

Barber, New Jersey

Barber was a community in Middlesex County, New Jersey. It was active during World War II in building and decommissioning ships for the U.S. Navy. One of the primary ship builders during World War II was the New Jersey Shipbuilding Company. The town also housed the American Smelting and Refining...

, for scrapping.

LST-16 earned five battle stars for World War II service.