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A Landing Ship Medium (LSM) was originally an amphibious assault ship of the United States Navy in World War II. Of a size between that of Landing Ships Tank and Landing Craft Infantry, 558 LSMs were built for the USN between 1944 and 1945. Most of vessels built on this frame were regular transports, while several dozen were converted during construction to specialized roles. Most LSMs were scrapped during the Cold War, but several were sold by the United States Department of Defense to foreign nations or private shipping companies.
OPNAV N95 established a new LSM program in 2020. The new LSM will be 350 to 400 feet (110 to 120 m) long, able to operate at 22 knots and have a range of 6,500 miles (10,500 km). The cost will be much lower than traditional amphibious shipping, according to a story in the March 2023 Marine Corps Gazette. The piece suggests that a MLR (Marine Littoral Regiment) would need nine LSMs. [1] [2] [3] As a comparison the Jason-class of the Greek Navy is about 380 feet (120 m) long, with a top speed of 18 knots
USS LSM-175 underway off Charleston Navy Yard in 1944 | |
General characteristics | |
---|---|
Class and type | LSM-1 class Landing Ship Medium |
Displacement |
|
Length | 203 ft 6 in (62.03 m) |
Beam | 34 ft (10 m) |
Draft |
|
Propulsion | Fairbanks-Morse or GM Cleveland diesel engines, 2,800 shp (2,088 kW), direct drive, 2 screws |
Speed | 13.3 knots (24.6 km/h; 15.3 mph) |
Range | 5,000 nmi (9,300 km) at 7 kn (13 km/h; 8.1 mph) |
Capacity |
|
Troops | 54 troops |
Complement | 4 officers, 54 enlisted |
Armament |
|
In total, 558 LSM ships were launched. Some notable examples include:
Name | Year launched | Fate | Short summary |
---|---|---|---|
USS LSM-17 | May 7, 1944 | Sold on November 15, 1974 | |
USS LSM-19 | May 14, 1944 | Unknown | |
USS LSM-20 | May 14, 1944 | Sank on December 5, 1944 | |
USS LSM-45 | June 30, 1944 | Scrapped after 1998 | |
USS LSM-46 | June 30, 1944 | Sold on October 23, 1948 | |
USS LSM-56 | July 21, 1944 | Sold on October 23, 1948 | |
USS LSM-60 | July 29, 1944 | Scuttled on July 25, 1946 | |
USS LSM-105 | October 21, 1944 | Sold on December 10, 1958 | |
USS LSM-110 | October 28, 1944 | Scrapped on June 9, 1976 | |
USS LSM-115 | November 11, 1944 | Sold on December 29, 1946 | |
USS LSM-125 | November 25, 1944 | Scrapped on October 4, 1977 | |
USS LSM-135 | April 23, 1944 | Sank on May 25, 1945 | |
USS LSM-149 | May 27, 1944 | Grounded on December 5, 1944 | |
USS LSM-157 | — | Sank in September 1958 | Transferred to Nationalist China in 1949, recommissioned as Mei Le, sunk by Red Chinese artillery 9/1958 |
USS Kodiak (LSM-161) | June 27, 1944 | Scrapped on August 14, 1972 | |
USS Oceanside (LSM-175) | August 3, 1944 | Scrapped in 1989 | |
USS LSM-216 | — | Scrapped in 1960 | |
USS LSM-217 | — | Unknown | |
USS LSM-236 | July 4, 1944 | Scrapped in 1972 | |
USS LSM-247 | — | Sold in February 1947 | |
USS LSM-256 | — | Sank on June 16, 1969 | Transferred to Nationalist China in 1949, recommisioned as Mei Hua, sunk in a collision with M.V. Ta Tung 16/6/69 |
USS LSM-275 | September 11, 1944 | Scrapped in 1976 | Later renamed and reclassified USS Portunus (ARC-1) |
USS LSM-297 | October 30, 1944 | Scrapped in 1958 | |
USS LSM-315 | — | Unknown | |
USS LSM-319 | — | Sank in 1971 | |
USS LSM-333 | October 13, 1944 | Scuttled on September 17, 2006 | |
USS LSM-335 | — | — | Later USNS LSM-335 (T-AG-335) Assigned Ryukyuan shuttle. [4] |
USS LSM-338 | December 5, 1944 | Scrapped | |
USS LSM-355 | December 2, 1944 | Unknown | |
USS LSM-380 | January 13, 1945 | Waiting for preservation | |
USS LSM-397 | January 6, 1945 | Sold in November 1958 | |
USS Hunting (LSM-398) | January 6, 1945 | Scrapped after 1983 | Later reclassified (E-AG-398) |
USS LSM-462 | February 3, 1945 | Unknown | |
USS LSM-469 | February 17, 1945 | Scuttled on February 1, 2003 | |
USS LSM-471 | February 17, 1945 | Unknown | |
USS LSM-477 | — | Sank in 1971 | |
USS LSM-478 | March 3, 1945 | Unknown | |
USS Raritan (LSM-540) | August 1, 1945 | Unknown | |
USS LSM-547 | — | Abandoned by 1972 |
USS LSM(R)-194 passing under the Cooper River Bridge, Charleston, SC, 2 December 1944 | |
General characteristics | |
---|---|
Class and type | LSM(R)-188-class Landing Ship Medium (Rocket) |
Displacement |
|
Length | 203 ft 6 in (62.03 m) |
Beam | 34 ft (10 m) |
Draft |
|
Propulsion | GM Cleveland diesel engines, 2,800 shp (2,088 kW), direct drive, two screws |
Speed | 13.2 knots (24.4 km/h; 15.2 mph) |
Range | 5,000 nmi (9,300 km) at 7 kn (13 km/h; 8.1 mph) |
Complement | 5 officers, 76 enlisted |
Armament |
|
General characteristics | |
---|---|
Class and type | LSM-401(R)-class Landing Ship Medium (Rocket) |
Displacement | 1,175 long tons (1,194 t) loaded |
Length | 203 ft 6 in (62.03 m) |
Beam | 34 ft (10 m) |
Draft | 7 ft 9 in (2.36 m) |
Propulsion | GM Cleveland diesel engines, 2,800 shp (2,088 kW), direct drive, two screws |
Speed | 13 knots (24 km/h; 15 mph) |
Range | 5,000 nmi (9,300 km) at 7 kn (13 km/h; 8.1 mph) |
Complement | 6 officers, 137 enlisted |
Armament |
|
USS Pee Dee River (LSM(R)-517) underway in 1954 | |
General characteristics | |
---|---|
Class and type | LSM-501(R)-class Landing Ship Medium (Rocket) |
Displacement | 1,175 long tons (1,194 t) loaded |
Length | 203 ft 6 in (62.03 m) |
Beam | 34 ft 6 in (10.52 m) |
Draft | 7 ft 9 in (2.36 m) |
Propulsion | GM Cleveland diesel engines, 2,800 shp (2,088 kW), direct drive, two screws |
Speed | 13 knots (24 km/h; 15 mph) |
Range | 5,000 nmi (9,300 km) at 7 kn (13 km/h; 8.1 mph) |
Complement | 6 officers, 137 enlisted |
Armament |
|
USS Gypsy (ARS(D)-1) underway at Houston, Texas, in 1946 | |
General characteristics | |
---|---|
Class and type | Gypsy-class salvage lifting vessels |
Displacement | 816 long tons (829 t) |
Length | 224 ft 9 in (68.50 m) |
Beam | 34 ft 10 in (10.62 m) |
Draft | 8 ft 4 in (2.54 m) |
Propulsion | Fairbanks-Morse diesel engines, 1,440 shp (1,074 kW), direct drive, two screws |
Speed | 13 knots (24 km/h; 15 mph) |
Range | 4,900 nmi (9,100 km) at 12 kn (22 km/h; 14 mph) |
Complement | 65 officers and enlisted |
Armament | 2 × 20 mm AA guns |
Dates are launch dates. [5]
Delivery: [5]
One LSM, USS LSM-45, survived in its original configuration until around 2010. It was in storage at Marine Station Camp Lejeune in Jacksonville, North Carolina. It was slated to become the centerpiece of the Museum of the Marine, but due to changed plans, was scrapped between 2010 and 2014.[ citation needed ]
As of February 2023 the US Marine Corps has proposed the purchase of 18 to 35 modern LSMs; this LSM concept was previously known as the Light Amphibious Warship (LAW). [6] [7]
USS LSM(R)-189 was a LSM(R)-188 class Landing Ship Medium (rocket) of the United States Navy during World War II. She was commanded by Lieutenant James Malcolm Stewart, USNR during the Battle of Okinawa.
USS St. Mary's River was originally authorized as LSM-528. Reclassified LSM(R)-528 on 21 April 1945, she was laid down on 19 May 1945 at the Brown Shipbuilding Co., Inc., Houston, Texas, launched on 16 June 1945, and commissioned on 2 September 1945.
USS St. Joseph's River was laid down on 19 May 1945 by the Brown Shipbuilding Co., Inc., in Houston, Texas; she was launched on 16 June 1945 and commissioned on 24 August 1945.
USS Pee Dee River, an LSM(R)-501-class landing ship medium (rocket) of the United States Navy, was originally designed as an LSM, but redesignated on 9 February 1945 as LSM(R)–517. She was laid down by Brown Shipbuilding Corporation, in Houston, Texas, on 28 April 1945 and launched 2 June 1945. She was accepted and commissioned on 21 July 1945.
USS Clarion River was an LSM(R)-401-class medium-type landing ship (LSM) built for the United States Navy during World War II. Named for the Clarion River in west central Pennsylvania, she was the only US Naval vessel to bear the name.
USS Saint Croix River was a rocket-equipped Landing Ship of the United States Navy during World War II.
USS LSM(R)-190 was a United States Navy LSM(R)-188-class Landing Ship Medium (Rocket). She was built at Charleston Navy Yard, Charleston, South Carolina and was commissioned on 21 November 1944. LSM(R)-190 took part in the Battle of Okinawa from 7 April–4 May 1945. She was hit and sunk by a Japanese suicide plane on 4 May 1945 while on the radar picket line. She later received a Navy Unit Commendation for her service off Okinawa.
LSM(R)-191 was a World War II LSM(R)-188-class Landing Ship Medium (Rocket) fitted for firing a rocket barrage.
LSM(R)-193 was an American Landing Ship Medium (Rocket) built in 1944, which provided naval gunfire and rocket support for US and Allied amphibious landings in World War II. It was laid down at Charleston Navy Yard and commissioned on 21 November 1944. It participated in the Battle of Okinawa as well as the run-up to the battle
LSM(R)-192 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 21 November 1944.
USS LSM-45 was a LSM-1-class medium landing ship built for the United States Navy during World War II. The ship also served as Ypoploiarchos Grigoropoulos (L161) in the Hellenic Navy from 1958 to 1993. She was the last known surviving LSM in its original configuration. Her last location before scrapping was Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune in North Carolina. LSM-45 was donated to the Museum of the Marine by the now defunct Amphibious Ship Museum under the understanding that it would be put on display at the museum, and was towed to North Carolina in 2004 from Omaha, Nebraska. The museum decided in 2007 that the ship would not be a part of the museum and tried looking for another home for the ship. In 2009, there were reports that the Museum was considering scrapping or sinking the ship as an artificial reef, and she was scrapped sometime between 2010 and 2014.
LSM(R)-196 was a US amphibious assault ship, laid down at Charleston Navy Yard. It was commissioned on 12 December 1944.
LSM(R)-197 was a United States Navy vessel laid down at Charleston Navy Yard, Charleston, South Carolina. The ship was commissioned on 8 December 1944.
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.
USS Chariton River was an LSM(R)-401-class medium-type landing ship (LSM) built for the United States Navy during World War II. Named for the Chariton River in northern Missouri and southern Iowa, she was the only US Naval vessel to bear the name.
USS White River (LSMR-536) was a Landing Ship Medium (Rocket) (LSMR) in service with the US Navy between 1945 and 1946, 1950 and 1956, and 1965 and 1970. As a member of the LSM(R)-501-class Landing Ship Medium (Rocket), White River was designed to provide rocket fire support to US and allied amphibious operations, although in South Vietnam she was generally used to bombard enemy formations and installations. She saw combat in the Korean and Vietnam Wars, making a large contribution to the latter, in which she fired tens to hundreds of thousands of rockets in support of American, South Vietnamese, and South Korean operations against the Viet Cong during ten tours of duty in Vietnam, 1966 through 1969. In Navy publications such as All Hands and the Navy Times, as well as in the recollections of crew, forward observers and spotters, and ground forces receiving her support, White River was reported to have the firepower of six destroyers or a cruiser. She could fire 250 65-pound (29 kg) rockets in a minute, plus 5-inch shells and autocannon fire, and carry a magazine of 1,500-2,000 rockets.
USS LSM-46 was a LSM-1-class landing ship medium in the United States Navy during World War II.
USS LSM(R)-501 was the lead ship of the LSM(R)-501-class landing ship medium built in 1945 for service in World War II. She was later converted into a test range support ship and renamed USS Elk River (IX-501). Her namesake was a Minnesota town named Elk River.