USS LSM ( R ) - 199 LSM ( R ) - 199 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 12 December 1944 , Lt . Charles D . Cobb , 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 northern half of the six - mile - wide invasion beach was assigned to Task Force 53 , under the command of Rear Admiral Lawrence F . Reifsnider . Embarked were the 1st and 6th Marine Divisions under Major General Roy S . Geiger . The LSMs involved , as part of the Northern Tractor Flotilla were LSMs 84 , 162 , 166 , 175 , 220 , 228 , 246 , 265 , 270 , 271 , 274 , 277 , 278 , 325 , and 326 . The northern support craft included USS LSM ( R ) - 194 , USS LSM ( R ) - 195 , USS LSM ( R ) - 196 , USS LSM ( R ) - 197 , USS LSM ( R ) - 198 , and LSM ( R ) - 199 . On 13 April 1945 LSM ( R ) ' S 192 , 193 , 196 , 197 , 198 199 and LC ( FF ) 535 were assigned to night harassment and destructive bombardment of Ie Shima . These LSM ( R ) ' S utilized irregular rocket fire for destructive harassment 5 " star shell for illumination and harassment , and 40 mm to prevent reinforcement of the beach defenses . The night patrols of the surrounding waters prevented any movement or mine laying . On morning of 16 April , these LSM ( R ) ' s were used for rocket attack in support of assault troops . Approximately 2600 rockets were fired into a large area composed principally of the South Eastern sector of the town of le and the Eastern and South Eastern vicinities of Ie - gushuyama . Okinawa Radar Picket Line ( C . T . G . 52 . 21 ) . The American plan for defense against the kamikazes was to have fighters intercept the Japanese as early as possible . Sixteen radar picket stations were established around the island , in some cases almost 100 miles out , to give early warning of the Japanese planes which might be coming from any direction . Each station was manned around the clock by a handful of ships ranging from destroyers down to minesweepers . Their job was to sound the alarm and vector fighters to intercept before the Japanese could attack the fleet anchored off Okinawa and the Allied forces and supply dumps ashore . Unfortunately , some of the eager - to - die Japanese wanted to attack the first American ships they saw : the pickets . Dennis L . Francis LSM Commander , Flotilla Nine for the period 2 – 20 April , Action Report indicated that . . . " these ships are not particularly suited for picket duty . Since their primary function is to deliver rockets during invasion operations , it seems feasible that subjecting them to continual enemy air attack will allow this secondary duty to seriously effect their ability to perform their primary function due to damage . They have no great value in combating enemy air craft due to the absence of air search radar , adequate director control for the 5 " / 38 main battery , and director control for the 40mm single guns . The fact that they carry a considerable quantity of explosive rockets in their magazines presents another hazard . In general , it is believed that assigning them to picket duty should be avoided since it means risking the operation of a limited number of specialized ships which could be performed by any number of other landing craft whose primary function is more closely coincident with screening operations . " Before these recommendations were implemented the USS LSMR - 195 was sunk on 3 May 1945 with 9 killed and 16 wounded , the USS LSMR - 190 was sunk on 4 May 1945 with 13 killed and 18 wounded , the USS LSMR - 194 was sunk on 4 May 1945 with 13 killed and 23 wounded .