LST (471) - Naval Cruise Book

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SHIPS HISTORY The people of the Nation in 1942 little realized when the Navy first started building LSTS that the Navy was embarked on a building program of transport ships that would en- able it to put more men and equipment ashore in a given time than any method existing at that time. The Kaiser shipyard at Vancouver, Washington was well engrossed in the construction of the 6'ATLC fthe original designation for Landing Ship Tank? when the four seven one came down from the yards for commissioning on ll March 1943. ' The crew that came aboard shortly before the ship was waterborne were all green hands. There were six officers and about seventy men under the command of Samuel C. Otto, Lieut., KDIUSNR besides the flag staff of ComLST Group nineteen. None of the officers and only one of the men had ever been to sea in the past. Amphibious training schools had yet to be organized to any degree, yet the men had the determination to win over all odds, and win they did. After partial outfitting at Portland, Oregon, the ship sailed for .San Diego, California, for further tests and outfitting. lt was the first of its type seen in that port and when the Captain shoved the ship's bow onto a beach there were many cries of wonder that such a thing could be done successfully. OFF WE GO As soon as the ship was found fit, it was provisioned for a long voyage at San Francisco, and all loose gear lashed down for sea. The last week of April, in company with a few other ships, it sailed under the Golden Gate Bridge for far distant shores of the Southwest Pacific to join the Seventh Amphibious Force in Australia. Few men realized how far they were to

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1 2 go, how much cargo their ship would carry before they saw the United States again. For the majority it was two years before they returned, for a small number it would be never. After joining the ranks of King Neptune and the Realm of the Golden Dragon, the men finally had the long awaited opportunity to place their feet on solid ground once more as the ship came into New Zealand. In the course of the many weeks voyage from the states on a rolling, pitching, waddling oversized barge, which was the nearest thing to a home available to the crew, it soon began to assume aspects of a comfortable vessel as all hands began to con- struct things out of scraps that would make their life easier. Although many became deathly seasick the first few days, this fear was soon overcome and they became seasoned salts in a short while. Under the light of the Southern Cross the ship proceeded to the land of the Walaby and Koala bear where it was to eventually spend many a month. At Brisbane, Australia, the LCT carried on the maindeck was unloaded by heavy cranes and the ship proceeded to Towns- ville for its first cargo load to be carried near the forward area. Several months were spent in carrying cargo from one recently recovered base to an- other, then on the eleventh of August, l943, the ship had its first real air raid alert while in the vicinity of Woodlark Island, New Guinea. Although several bombs were dropped by the formation of Japanese planes which flew over the convoy, no damage was done, partially be- cause the solid screen of lead thrown up by the LSTS anti-aircraft guns served to bewilder the enemy. George L. Cory, Lieut., KDJUSNR, succeeded Lt. Otto as the second commanding offi- cer of the vessel on 20 August, 1943. Up to that time a few other LSTS had been sunk as a result of enemy action, but the crew had seen no such results.