| History | |
|---|---|
 United States | |
| Name | USSLST-552 |
| Builder | Missouri Valley Bridge and Iron Company,Evansville,Indiana |
| Laid down | 19 January 1944 |
| Launched | 14 March 1944 |
| Sponsored by | Mrs. Robert A. Burns |
| Commissioned | 19 April 1944 |
| Decommissioned | 19 April 1946 |
| Stricken | 1 May 1946 |
| Honors & awards | Fourbattle stars forWorld War II |
| Fate | Sold for scrapping 3 November 1947 |
| General characteristics | |
| Class & type | LST-542-classtank landing ship |
| Displacement | |
| Length | 328 ft (100 m) |
| Beam | 50 ft (15 m) |
| Draft |
|
| Installed power | 1,800horsepower (1.34megawatts) |
| Propulsion | Two 900-horsepower (0.67-megawatt)General Motors 12-567diesel engines, two shafts, twinrudders |
| Speed | 12knots (22 km/h; 14 mph) |
| Range | 24,000 nautical miles (44,448 kilometerss) at 9knots while displacing 3,960 tons |
| Boats & landing craft carried | 2 xLCVPs |
| Capacity | 1,600–1,900 tonscargo depending on mission |
| Troops | 16officers, 147enlisted men |
| Complement | 7 officers, 104 enlisted men |
| Armament |
|
USSLST-552 was aUnited States NavyLST-542-classtank landing ship in commission from 1944 to 1946.
LST-552 was laid down on 19 January 1944 atEvansville,Indiana, by theMissouri Valley Bridge and Iron Company. She waslaunched on 14 March 1944, sponsored by Mrs. Robert A. Burns, andcommissioned on 19 April 1944.
DuringWorld War II,LST-552 was assigned to thePacific Theater of Operations. She participated in thecapture and occupation of the southernPalau Islands in September and October 1944. She then took part in thePhilippines campaign, participating in theLeyte landings in October and November 1944 and the landings atZambales andSubic Bay in January 1945.
LST-552 was damaged in a Japanese air attack on Leyte Gulf on 24 October 1944. A Wildcat fighter pilot, Lt. Ralph Elliott off USS Savo Island, shot down a twin-engine bomber that he thought crashed into an LST. Other information indicates that 552 sustained bomb damage.
She then participated in theassault on and occupation ofOkinawa Gunto in April 1945.
Following the war,LST-552 performed occupation duty in theFar East – during which Lieutenant Robert J. McKenna succeeded Lieutenant Sandvigen ascommanding officer on 23 September 1945 – until mid-October 1945, when she departed to return to theUnited States.
LST-552 wasdecommissioned on 19 April 1946 and stricken from theNavy List on 1 May 1946. On 3 November 1947, she was sold toDulien Steel Products, Inc. ofSeattle,Washington, for scrapping.
LST-552 received fourbattle stars for her World War II service.
This article incorporates text from thepublic domainDictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be foundhere.
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