USS LST-374


LST-374, starboard of LST-376, loads a DUKW amphibious truck at an unidentified English port prior to the Invasion of Normandy
Career
Name: USS LST-374
Builder: Bethlehem Shipbuilding Corporation
Laid down: 12 November 1942
Launched: 19 January 1943
Commissioned: 29 January 1943
Decommissioned: 29 May 1945
Struck: 12 March 1946
Fate: Sold to merchant service, 14 January 1947
General characteristics
Class and type: LST-1 class tank landing ship
Displacement: 1,625 long tons (1,651 t) light
4,080 long tons (4,145 t) full
Length: 328 ft (100 m)
Beam: 50 ft (15 m)
Draft: Unloaded :
2 ft 4 in (0.71 m) bow
7 ft 6 in (2.29 m) stern
Loaded :
8 ft 2 in (2.49 m) bow
14 ft 1 in (4.29 m) stern
Propulsion: 2 × General Motors 12-567 diesel engines, two shafts, twin rudders
Speed: 12 knots (14 mph; 22 km/h)
Boats and landing
craft carried:		 Six LCVPs
Troops: 14 officers, 131 enlisted men
Complement: 9 officers, 120 enlisted men
Armament: • 2 × twin 40 mm gun mounts (Mark 51 director)
• 4 × single 40 mm gun mounts
• 12 × single 20 mm gun mounts
Service record
Operations: World War II
• Operation Husky
• Operation Overlord
Awards: 2 battle stars

USS LST-374 was one of over 1,000 tank landing ships (LSTs) built for the United States Navy during World War II.

Laid down on 12 November 1942 at Quincy, Massachusetts by the Bethlehem Steel Company; launched on 19 January 1943; sponsored by Mrs. Victor D. Herbster; and commissioned on 29 January 1943.

Service history

During World War II, LST-374 participated in the Allied invasion of Sicily in July and August 1943 and the invasion of Normandy in June 1944.

Decommissioned 29 May 1945 at Baltimore, Maryland, the ship was redesignated USS Minerva (ARL-47) 29 May 1945. Conversion to a landing craft repair ship commenced on 30 May 1945 at the Maryland Drydock Company of Baltimore; the conversion was subsequently canceled 11 September 1945 and the ship reverted to LST-374. Struck from the Naval Vessel Register 12 March 1946, the tank landing ship was sold to A. G. Schoonmaker for conversion to merchant service 14 January 1947.

LST-374 earned two battle stars for World War II service.


References

This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships.

See also