USS ''LST-552'' was a

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

in commission from 1944 to 1946.

Construction and commissioning

''LST-552'' was laid down on 19 January 1944 at Evansville,

Indiana Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th s ...

, by the

Missouri Valley Bridge and Iron Company The Missouri Valley Bridge & Iron Co., also known as Missouri Valley Bridge Company, was a engineering, construction, and steel fabrication firm that operated through the late nineteenth and most of the twentieth centuries. It was based in Leavenwo ...

. She was launched on 14 March 1944, sponsored by Mrs. Robert A. Burns, and commissioned on 19 April 1944.

Service history

During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, ''LST-552'' was assigned to the Pacific Theater of Operations. She participated in the capture and occupation of the southern Palau Islands in September and October 1944. She then took part in the Philippines campaign, participating in the Leyte landings in October and November 1944 and the landings at

Zambales Zambales, officially the Province of Zambales ( fil, Lalawigan ng Zambales; ilo, Probinsia ti Zambales; Pangasinan: ''Luyag/Probinsia na Zambales''; xsb, Probinsya nin Zambales), is a province in the Philippines located in the Central Luzon re ...

and Subic 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 the assault on and occupation of

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Gunto in April 1945. Following the war, ''LST-552'' performed occupation duty in the

Far East The ''Far East'' was a European term to refer to the geographical regions that includes East and Southeast Asia as well as the Russian Far East to a lesser extent. South Asia is sometimes also included for economic and cultural reasons. The ter ...

– during which Lieutenant Robert J. McKenna succeeded Lieutenant Sandvigen as

commanding officer The commanding officer (CO) or sometimes, if the incumbent is a general officer, commanding general (CG), is the officer in command of a military unit. The commanding officer has ultimate authority over the unit, and is usually given wide latitu ...

on 23 September 1945 – until mid-October 1945, when she departed to return to the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

Decommissioning and disposal

''LST-552'' was decommissioned on 19 April 1946 and stricken from the

Navy List A Navy Directory, formerly the Navy List or Naval Register is an official list of naval officers, their ranks and seniority, the ships which they command or to which they are appointed, etc., that is published by the government or naval author ...

on 1 May 1946. On 3 November 1947, she was sold to Dulien Steel Products, Inc. of

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, for scrapping.

Honors and awards

''LST-552'' received four

battle star A service star is a miniature bronze or silver five-pointed star inch (4.8 mm) in diameter that is authorized to be worn by members of the eight uniformed services of the United States on medals and ribbons to denote an additional award or ser ...

s for her World War II service.

References

*
NavSource Online: Amphibious Photo Archive LST-552
{{DEFAULTSORT:LST-0552 LST-542-class tank landing ships World War II amphibious warfare vessels of the United States Ships built in Evansville, Indiana 1944 ships