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NavSource Online: Amphibious Photo Archive

HM LST-324


LST-324 was transferred to the United Kingdom for the duration of World War II
LST-1 Class Tank Landing Ship:
  • Laid down, 10 August 1942, at Philadelphia Navy Yard, Philadelphia, PA.
  • Launched, 5 November 1942
  • LST-324 never saw active service with the United States Navy
  • Transferred to the United Kingdom under terms of the Lend-Lease Act
  • Royal Navy History
  • Commissioned into the Royal Navy as HM LST-324, 23 January 1943
  • HM LST-324 sailed from New York in company with HM LST-412 and HM LST-421, 13 March 1943 transporting refinery equipment to Curacao
  • From Georgetown, Curacao HM LST-324 set sail for Freetown, Sierra Leone
  • HM LST-324 participated in the following campaigns:
    Sicilian occupation
    Salerno landings
    West Coast of Italy operations-1944 - Anzio-Nettuno advanced landings
    Invasion of Normandy
  • Operated in the shuttle service between Tilbury, Ostend and Antwerp
  • Assisted in the liberation of the Channel islands
  • HM LST-324 was reassigned to the Pacific Theater and participated in the Invasion of Malaya.
  • Repatriated Australian troops to Brisbane >
  • Paid off and returned to the US Navy at Subic Bay, Philippines, 4 May 1946
  • Struck from the Naval Register, 3 July 1946
  • Final Disposition, sold, 13 February 1948, to Bosey, Philippines, 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 (varied with availability when each vessel was outfitted. Retro-fitting was accomplished throughout WWII. The ultimate armament design for United States vessels was
    2 - Twin 40MM gun mounts w/Mk. 51 directors
    4 - Single 40MM gun mounts
    12 single 20MM gun 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-324 14k HM LST-324 heads for the Anzio beachhead, January 1944. Note the barrage balloon which was often flown from LST's to discourage strafing attacks by low-flying planes. Also of note is the British surface-search radar above LST-324's wheelhouse US Navy DANFS
    LST-361 77k HM LST-361 and HM LST-324 loading vehicles and equipment at Gosport, England, preparing for the upcoming Invasion of Normandy.
    Imperial War Museum War Office Second World War Official Collection, by Knight (Capt), Photo No. © IWM (H 38976).
    Mike Green
    LST-49
    US National Archives
    photo # 80-G-46817
    370k LSTs land invasion supplies on "Utah" Beach, shortly after the 6 June 1944 "D-Day" assault.
    LSTs on the beach include from (right to left):
    USS LST-312
    HM LST-320
    HM LST-321
    USS LST-72
    USS LST-51? last digit not visible)
    HM LST-324
    USS LST-311
    USS LST-49
    USS LST-373
    USS LST-47 and two unidentified LSTs.
    Note: bow numbers of the British ships enclosed in colored blocks; crowd of shipping offshore; barrage balloons over many of the ships. Photo was released for publication, 23 October 1944
    US National Archives photo # 80-G-46817 a US Navy photo now in the collections of the US National Archives.

    Note: This image is labeled as Omaha Beach but is actually taken on Utah Beach. [See - The movie "A Newsreel Camaraman's View if D-Day" in color by Jack Lieb. About 15 minutes into the film Jack Lieb pans the beach one can see that this is Utah Beach showing LSTs 72, 324, 311, 46, 47 in the same sequence as in the NARA photo 80-G-46817.]

    Riley R. Re Qua MoMM3/C USS LST-49 and Arthur L Long MoMM2/C USS LST-49
    Marilyn Smith for her father Coastguardsman Jack Davenport USCGC Blackhaw (WLB-390)
    LST-312
    US National Archives
    photo
    180k
    LST-324 61k HM LST-324 sailing proudly up the Solent after returning from the Normandy beachhead sometime in June 1944. The dustbin aerial of her Type 217P radar unit can be seen just below the flags on her mast. Robert Hurst
    LST-324 68k HM LST-324 unloading a cargo of timber from the United States at the West African port of Freetown, Sierra Leone. The timber was required for new docks and harbor works.
    Royal Navy photo # A 17840 from the collections of the Imperial War Museums.
    Robert Hurst
    LST-324 50k HM LST-324 and HM LST-412 unloading logs at Freetown, Sierra Leone, date unknown. Robert Hurst
    LST-324 30k HM LST-324 beached at Sandakan, 27 October 1945. North East Borneo Force while loading tools and medical supplies. Australian War Memorial
    LST-324
    1016032405
    229k HM LST-324, HM LST-321 and HM LST-160 beached at Borneo in 1945 to pickup repatriated Australian POWs and bring them back to Brisbane.
    Simon Wilson's father served in HM LST-160
    © Simon Wilson

    LST-324
    Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships (DANFS)
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    Last Updated 11 October 2024