USS LSM ( R ) - 192 LSM ( R ) - 192 was a LSM ( R ) - 188 class Landing Ship Medium ( Rocket ) of the US Navy during World War II . Laid down at Charleston Navy Yard , Charleston , South Carolina , the ship was commissioned on 21 November 1944 , Lt . ( jg ) Neal B . Hadsell , USNR , in command . Service History ( Turner ) . During World War II the ship was assigned to the Asiatic Pacific theater . At that time the fleet was under the command of Admiral Spruance and named the Fifth fleet . Vice Admiral Richmond Kelly Turner was Commander of Amphibious Forces Pacific and was to be in charge of operations until the beachhead was established . The Kerama Retto islands were a small chain of islands 15 miles west of the southwest tip of Okinawa . The invasion of the Kerma Retto was an opportunity to break in all twelve of the 188 - class LSM ( R ) s . One of the reasons that Admiral Turner wanted to capture Kerama Retto was his knowledge that the Japanese Sea Raiding Units had suicide boats hidden there . On the morning of 29 March three of these boats attacked the USS LSM ( R ) - 189 but were promptly destroyed . The southern half of the six - mile - wide invasion beach was assigned to Task Force 55 , commanded by Rear Admiral John Leslie Hall , Jr . The assault troops were under Major General John R . Hodge . The southern support craft included USS LSM ( R ) - 189 , USS LSM ( R ) - 190 , USS LSM ( R ) - 191 , LSM ( R ) - 192 , and USS LSM ( R ) - 193 . On 3 May 1945 the 188 - class LSM ( R ) ' s were put to the test and were not found wanting . The action at the picket stations proved that the courage and punishment endured by US Navy personnel was unrelated to the size of the ship . The Japanese launched their fifth kikusui attack on 3 May . Picket station 10 was the hardest hit . Shortly before dusk , the destroyer USS Aaron Ward was hit by a series of six kamikazes , suffering 45 killed or missing and 49 wounded . The ship survived , but was later decommissioned because it wasn ' t worth repairing . About the same time , approximately 20 planes attacked destroyer USS Little . She was crashed by four of them and sank within 12 minutes of the first hit . She lost 30 dead or missing and 79 wounded . USS LSM ( R ) - 195 was also on Picket Station 10 and while rushing to the aid of the Aaron Ward and the Little was likewise crashed by a kamikaze . The crash started her rockets exploding and knocked out the fire main and auxiliary pumps . LSM ( R ) 195 had to be abandoned and , after being ripped by heavy explosions , sank . The following day the ordeal for the LSM ( R ) ' s reached its tragic climax . The day dawned bright and ominous . LSM ( R ) 190 was patrolling at Picket Station 12 . Not long after sunrise the anticipated kamikazes arrived and were met by American combat air patrol . Several of the Japanese planes managed to get through and attack the ships on this station . Three kamikazes crashed LSM ( R ) 190 . The ship that had seen so much previous action and had been credited with rescuing 180 survivors of other stricken ships was herself sunk . In the same attack the destroyer USS Luce was sunk , carrying 126 of her 312 officers and men with her . At the same time as LSM ( R ) 190 was fighting her final battle , USS LSM ( R ) - 194 was facing the same fate at Picket Station 1 . This was the most critical station on the picket line . The capture of the Kerama Islands did not come without a price . On the night of 28 March , Japanese planes from Okinawa airfields made a special attack on the small patrol craft assembled between the islands and Okinawa . About a dozen were shot down , but one crashed into USS LSM ( R ) - 188 . There were 15 men killed and another 32 wounded . The badly damaged ship survived , but she was sent back to Pearl Harbor and saw no further combat . No one realized at the time that this was a preview of what this class of ship would suffer six weeks later on the picket line . On13 April 1945 , LSM ( R ) ' s 192 , 193 , 196 , 197 , 198 , 199 and LC ( FF ) 535 were assigned to night harassment patrols and destructive bombardment of Ie Shima from period beginning 13 April through 16 April 1945 . The LSM ( R ) ' s utilized irregular rocket fire for destructive harassment , 5 " star shell for illumination and harassment , and 40 mm to prevent any reinforcement of the beach defenses . A Small Boy with the Firepower of a Battleship ( James M . Stewart ) . The LSM ( R ) was heralded in the 16 April 1945 Life Magazine with a centerfold picture . Each of these tiny ships had amazing firepower , greater at short range than the combined firepower of two mammoth Iowa class battleships , ran the caption . The interim group of 12 LSM ( R ) s transited the Panama Canal and via San Diego , Honolulu , and the Philippines , headed for battle against Japan in March 1945 . Unaware of their destination , the crews were nonetheless well equipped and trained . In a preliminary assault on 26 March 1945 , they laid down a rocket barrage at dawn on Kerama Retta , a small cluster of islands off the southwestern shore of Okinawa . Their objective : to allow the Marines to swiftly land and secure the islands and the harbor for protection of the hospital , supply and communication ships , and floating drydocks . The early dawn assault surprised the Japanese . The marines took control with a minimum of casualties and established this haven for damaged ships .