USS ''LST-247'' was a tank landing ship in the United States Navy. Like many of her class, she was not named and is properly referred to by her

hull Hull may refer to: Structures * Chassis, of an armored fighting vehicle * Fuselage, of an aircraft * Hull (botany), the outer covering of seeds * Hull (watercraft), the body or frame of a ship * Submarine hull Mathematics * Affine hull, in affi ...

designation.

History

''LST-247'' was laid down on 12 May 1943 in Evansville, IN. During World War II, ''LST-247'' was assigned to the

Pacific theater The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the continen ...

and participated in the following operations: * Bougainville – February 1944 * Invasion of Hollandia – April 1944 * Invasion of Guam – July 1944 * Invasion of

Iwo Jima Iwo Jima (, also ), known in Japan as , is one of the Japanese Volcano Islands and lies south of the Bonin Islands. Together with other islands, they form the Ogasawara Archipelago. The highest point of Iwo Jima is Mount Suribachi at high. ...

– February 1945 ''LST-247'' beached at Kukum Beach, on the US-held island of

Guadalcanal Guadalcanal (; indigenous name: ''Isatabu'') is the principal island in Guadalcanal Province of Solomon Islands, located in the south-western Pacific, northeast of Australia. It is the largest island in the Solomon Islands by area, and the seco ...

on 21 January 1944 accompanied by LSTs ''399'' and ''200''. She delivered over 500 tons of deck cargo, 170 tons of rolling cargo, 14 officers, and 235 enlisted men from the

106th Reconnaissance Squadron 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. ...

. Immediately following this, ''LST-247'' then headed for Bougainville, where she delivered additional troops and equipment. In February the crew shot down a Japanese Betty Bomber. In late March, the crew received orders to sail for Milne Bay, New Guinea, where they began preparations for the Hollandia invasion at Aitape. The ship beached at Aitape at sunrise on 23 April but damaged her anchor winch. She managed to retract from the beach by sunset. ''LST-247'' set sail for

Saipan Saipan ( ch, Sa’ipan, cal, Seipél, formerly in es, Saipán, and in ja, 彩帆島, Saipan-tō) is the largest island of the Northern Mariana Islands, a Commonwealth (U.S. insular area), commonwealth of the United States in the western Pa ...

in June 1944, where there were run-ins with the Japanese. The task group came under attack by

torpedo planes A torpedo bomber is a military aircraft designed primarily to attack ships with aerial torpedoes. Torpedo bombers came into existence just before the First World War almost as soon as aircraft were built that were capable of carrying the weight ...

on two separate occasions, and during one incident, shot down friendly aircraft when it approached unexpectedly. The ship's task during the Guam invasion was in picking up casualties and bringing them to Pearl Harbor, where she arrived in August 1944. She underwent maintenance and resumed sail in January 1945, where she participated in the February amphibious assault on the Japanese stronghold island of

. She retracted from Iwo Jima after spending nearly a month on the beach. By April 1945, ''LST-247'' was back at Pearl Harbor. She set sail for Seattle to undergo extensive repairs. In August, she arrived at Pearl Harbor, where she was redesignated as a Landing Ship Tank (Hospital) ''LST(H)-247'' on 15 September 1945. She was decommissioned nearly a year after this, and was sold for scrap to William H. Skinner in 1947. ''LST-247'' was awarded one battle star for World War II service.

Sources

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External links

Service Timeline

Crew list
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lst-0247 World War II amphibious warfare vessels of the United States Ships built in Evansville, Indiana 1943 ships