H. Res. 1316 
In the House of Representatives, U. S., 
August 1, 2008. 
Whereas the Landing Ship Tank (LST) was the military des-
ignation for naval vessels created during World War II 
to support amphibious operations by carrying significant 
quantities of vehicles, cargo, and landing troops directly 
onto an unimproved shore; 
Whereas the British evacuation from Dunkirk in 1940 dem-
onstrated to the British Admiralty that the Allied Forces 
needed relatively large, ocean-going ships, capable of the 
shore-to-shore delivery of tanks, other vehicles, and 
troops for amphibious assault upon the continent of Eu-
rope; 
Whereas at their first meeting at the Atlantic Conference in 
August 1941, President Franklin D. Roosevelt and Brit-
ish Prime Minister Winston Churchill agreed with the 
Admiralty about the need for improved ships that could 
land on and retract off a beach; 
Whereas in 3 separate acts, dated February 6, 1942, May 26, 
1943, and December 17, 1943, Congress provided the au-
thority for the construction of LSTs; 
Whereas 1,051 LST amphibious craft were constructed dur-
ing World War II;
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Whereas 70 percent of LSTs were built at inland shipyards 
on the Illinois and Ohio Rivers, mainly by female con-
struction, welding, and assembly line workers; 
Whereas the first LST, commissioned on October 27, 1942, 
was a 328-foot ship with unique characteristics of bow 
doors and a ramp to transport troops, a reduced forward 
draft of fewer than 4 feet for successful beaching, 9 knot 
speed, a flat bottom, and equipped with 20-millimeter 
and 40-millimeter guns on the upper and main decks; 
Whereas the LST saw action in every theater of World War 
II, receiving the second most battle stars after Destroy-
ers, and mission flexibility was its hallmark; 
Whereas the multiple missions performed by the LSTs in-
cluded not only the amphibious landings of troops, vehi-
cles, and other materiel, but also serving as motor tor-
pedo boat tenders, battle damage repair ships, aircraft 
engine repair ships, mini-aircraft carriers, launch craft 
for fixed wing reconnaissance aircraft, and medical care; 
Whereas LSTs led the D-Day evacuation of 41,035 wounded 
men back across the English Channel from the Nor-
mandy beaches; 
Whereas World War II naval historian Samuel Eliot Morison 
described the LST as the ‘‘most useful all-around craft 
invented by the Navy’’; 
Whereas during World War II, Navy and Coast Guard sailors 
manned the LST from the ships’ combat debut in the 
Solomon Islands in June 1943 until the end of hostilities 
in August 1945; 
Whereas LSTs were involved in the invasions of Sicily, Italy, 
Normandy, and southern France;
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Whereas LSTs served as an essential element in the island- 
hopping campaigns in the Pacific Theater, including the 
liberation of the Philippines and the capture of Iwo Jima 
and Okinawa; 
Whereas the brave sailors serving on the LSTs survived ty-
phoons and other harsh weather, attacks by kamikaze 
planes and enemy submarines, ocean mines, and the dan-
gers and stress of combat; 
Whereas the Navy’s amphibious forces rolled out tons of 
equipment and thousands of men onto the beaches at 
Normandy, France, in June of 1944, leading the way for 
the massive Allied invasion that wrested Europe from the 
power of the Nazis; 
Whereas the LSTs and the sailors who manned them contin-
ued to provide amphibious landing and other services for 
57 years following World War II, serving in the Inchon 
Landing and other operations during the Korean war, the 
Vietnam war, the 1974 refugee evacuations from Viet-
nam, Operation Sea Angel to provide humanitarian as-
sistance to Bangladesh, Operation Desert Shield, Oper-
ation Desert Storm, and Operation Restore Hope in So-
malia; 
Whereas several thousand surviving Navy and Coast Guard 
World War II veterans are members of the United States 
LST Association, headquartered in Oregon, Ohio; 
Whereas members of the United States LST Association and 
the USS LST Ship Memorial, Inc., successfully secured 
legislation that allowed for the retransfer of the LST 325 
from Greece and volunteered members to go to Greece in 
2000 to restore and refurbish the LST 325;
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Whereas World War II-era LST veterans sailed the LST 325 
from Greece to the United States, arriving in Mobile, 
Alabama, on January 10, 2001; 
Whereas the LST 325 is 1 of only 2 World War II-era LSTs 
to be preserved in the United States, and volunteers with 
the USS LST Ship Memorial have converted the LST 
325 into an operational museum and memorial ship 
based in Evansville, Indiana, to preserve the historic leg-
acy of these ships and honor the men who bravely served 
their country aboard LSTs; 
Whereas the LST 325 has sailed over 9,000 miles and visited 
13 cities since returning to the United States, and is 
scheduled to sail up the Mississippi River in August 
2008; and 
Whereas the Navy decommissioned the last LST, the USS 
Frederick (LST 1184), at a ceremony at Naval Station 
Pearl Harbor on October 5, 2002: Now, therefore, be it 
Resolved, That the House of Representatives— 
(1) recognizes the essential role played by Landing 
Ship Tanks (LSTs) during World War II, the Korean 
war, the Vietnam war, Operation Desert Shield, Oper-
ation Desert Storm, and many other military and hu-
manitarian operations; 
(2) honors the service of the Navy and Coast Guard 
sailors who bravely served their country aboard the 
LSTs; 
(3) acknowledges the debt modern amphibious oper-
ations owe to the LST sailors and ships in pioneering
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the multiple missions carried out by amphibious landing 
craft; and 
(4) commends the many volunteers of the USS LST 
Ship Memorial who have preserved the LST 325 as a 
living memorial in honor and remembrance of the ships 
and veterans in their service. 
Attest: 
Clerk.