USS LST-43
USS LST-43 was a LST-1-class tank landing ship in the United States Navy during World War II.[1]
| History | |
|---|---|
| Name | LST-43 | 
| Builder | Charleston Navy Yard, Charleston | 
| Laid down | 19 June 1943 | 
| Launched | 28 August 1943 | 
| Sponsored by | Mrs. C. A. Hill | 
| Commissioned | 6 October 1943 | 
| Stricken | 18 July 1944 | 
| Identification | 
  | 
| Honors and awards  | See Awards | 
| Fate | Sunk as target, 1945 | 
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type | LST-1-class tank landing ship | 
| Displacement | 
  | 
| Length | 328 ft (100 m) oa | 
| Beam | 50 ft (15 m) | 
| Draft | 
  | 
| Installed power | 
  | 
| Propulsion | 
  | 
| Speed | 12 kn (22 km/h; 14 mph) | 
| Range | 24,000 nmi (44,000 km; 28,000 mi) at 9 kn (17 km/h; 10 mph) while displacing 3,960 long tons (4,024 t) | 
| Boats & landing  craft carried  | 2 or 6 x LCVPs | 
| Capacity | 
  | 
| Troops | 16 officers, 147 enlisted men | 
| Complement | 13 officers, 104 enlisted men | 
| Armament | 
  | 
Construction and career
    
LST-43 was laid down on 19 June 1943 at Charleston Navy Yard, Charleston, South Carolina. Launched on 28 August 1943 and commissioned on 6 October 1943, Lt. W. H. Zuehlke in command.[2]
During World War II, LST-43 was assigned to the Asiatic-Pacific theater. She took part in the Occupation of Kwajalein and Majuro Atolls from 31 January to 8 February 1944.
She was destroyed and sunk during the West Loch disaster alongside 5 other LSTs at Pearl Harbor on 21 May 1944.
LST-43 was struck from the Navy Register on 18 July 1944.[3]
In 1945, she was raised but deemed too expensive to be repaired thus she was towed out to sea and sunk again as a target ship for torpedoes.[1]
Awards
    
LST-43 have earned the following awards:
Citations
    
- "Tank Landing Ship LST". www.navsource.org. Retrieved 12 November 2021.
 - "LST-43". public1.nhhcaws.local. Retrieved 12 November 2021.
 - "Tank Landing Ship LST". www.navsource.org. Retrieved 11 November 2021.
 
Sources
    
- United States. Dept. of the Treasury (1962). Treasury Decisions Under the Customs, Internal Revenue, Industrial Alcohol, Narcotic and Other Laws, Volume 97. U.S. Government Printing Office.
 - Moore, Capt. John (1984). Jane's Fighting Ships 1984-85. Jane's Information Group. ISBN 978-0710607959.
 - Saunders, Stephen (2009). Jane's Fighting Ships 2009-2010. Jane's Information Group. ISBN 978-0710628886.
 - Fairplay International Shipping Journal Volume 222. United Kingdom: Fairplay Publishing Limited. 1967.