As completed, the LST(2) weighed 3,800 long tons under full load and showcased a length of 328 feet, a beam of 50 feet, and a draught of 14 feet (8 feet at the bow). The ramp provided some run-off into the tide until 1943 when floating pontoon sections were used to aid vehicles coming off the ship (creating a "ship-to-shore causeway" of sorts). The General Motors 12-567 diesel engines outputted 1,800 horsepower (each) and drove two shafts under stern at speeds up to 12 knots. Internally, the cargo hold held space for eighteen tanks (30-ton class) or thirty military trucks. For self-defense the ship was outfitted with 1 x 76mm Dual-Purpose (DP) gun, 6 x 40mm Bofors Anti-Aircraft (AA) guns, 6 x 20mm Oerlikon AA guns, 2 x 0.50 caliber Heavy Machine Guns (HMGs), and 4 x .30 caliber machine guns.
The LST(2) production effort was part of the larger naval construction initiative pushed by the American congress in the early war years and the first keel of the series was laid on June 10th, 1942 at Newport News, Virginia. Twenty-three ships were readied before the end of the year. Such was the need for LSTs that production vehicles were being constructed even before a prototype had been completed and tested. Since the draught of the LST(2) was shallow, the ships could be built inland away from already-committed coastal shipyards of the United States.
In the end, 1,051 LST ships were built between 1942 and 1945 and 113 of these were passed to Britain via Lend-Lease while a further 101 were cancelled as the war progressed. The ships proved so critical to Allied actions that their priority never waned during the course of the war. A vessel could be completed in under two months and modifications were accordingly added to the series as war time use showcased the need in streamlining the ship-to-shore process. For their part in the war, the large movers proved themselves strong, reliable, and robust with only a few lost to enemy action (26 officially noted). They were nicknamed "Large Slow Target" ("LST") by some. Operators included both Britain and the United States as well as Canada.
LST(2) ships were used in every theater that the Allies fought in and saw post-war use for a time - including action in the Korean War (1950-1953) that followed. By this time, the revised design was capable of reaching speeds over 17 knots.
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