Landing Ship, Tank (LST) 1942–2002 (New Vanguard, 115)

The Landing Ship, Tank was a war-winning weapon. Nazi Germany didn't have anything like it and had to seize a port or make do with a barge. Against light resistance, this worked. It wouldn't work against prepared defenses such as the German Atlantic Wall or the determined Imperial Japanese fortified islands from 1943 on.This Osprey New Vanguard book continues a tradition of excellence. The LST was a British invention, but American industry made it a practical reality. The LST was designed to land heavy equipment over the beach--especially the tank. Prior to the development of specialty landing boats, amphibious assault was conducted with ships' boats, a method that permitted only light weapons deployment. When outside the range of naval gunfire (more importantly, when outside the limited range of communications with the mother vessels) the amphibious soldier was little more than an irritation. Specialty landing craft, both boats and amphibious tractors, permitted landing infantry combat teams with heavy equipment en mass, as coherent units of battalion size or larger. By contrast, parachute infantry had little more than man-portable weaponry and no significant motorized transport (a few air-dropped motorcycles, perhaps), which forced the use of gliders. Even gliders had severe weight restrictions--light airborne "tanks" had virtually no combat utility. Airborne assaults were dependant upon linking up with more heavily-equipped ground troops. An exception was the near disaster of Crete by the German Luftwaffe. The Dieppe Raid proved the need for masses of heavy gear if an independant amphibious assault was to succeed. There was a problem with the little landing craft--they lacked seaworthyness and had to be launched near the objective and loaded up from the mother transport. What the LST accomplished was direct transfer from a friendly port thousands of miles from the objective to the hostile beachhead of the heaviest equipment. Without the LST or something like it, neither Normandy nor the Pacific Islands campaign would have been practical.The first part of this book covers the history and development quite well. The color plates provide a cross-sectional view as well as paintings of varients such as the mini "aircraft carrier." The latter was capable of launching and recovering modified Army liaison aircraft--in the pre-helicopter days, quite a feat! This was the first I've heard of the Brodie carriers.Operational history and varients during the 60-year service life of this class of vessels is detailed in the rest of this thin volume. I was surprised to find out that this class of ship is no longer part of the US Navy--I'll have to check because the mission, delivering large quantities of equipment over an unimproved beach, still exists. Today, the improved LSD, LPD, and LHA all feature an internal, floodable dock that can handle large hovercraft or the big LCM, load them safely under all sea conditions, and launch them--so perhaps the LST's day is over. I don't know, but I'm going to find out! The US Marines still can put more combat power ashore than the Army Airborne in the same time (the Airborne can get there quicker, but can't muster much staying power until reinforced by the inadequate air transport fleet), but Marine Corps doctrine has changed from the World War Two frontal assault on a fortified beach to a more subtle "hit them where they ain't" maneuver warfare doctrine proven in Grenada and in the phantom "amphibious assault" on Kuwait during the First Gulf War. Take a look at the complex amphibious operations during the Second Gulf War--too intricate to more than hint at in this format.The LST was never a perfect solution, merely a workable one. These sturdy work horses were converted to other tasks, and some soldier on in foreign navies. In September, 1979, I made an amphibious assault with Company F, 29th Marines (a reserve unit) from a Norwegian LST somehwere north of the Artic Circle. Now thanks to Osprey, I have pictures of this sea-going workhorse.

My dad served on 3 LSTs in the Pacific. Like many of that generation he never talked about his service. He wasn't in any combat situations. And I never asked.So this was important to me to find out about how the ships were built, what their layouts were like.This was very informative. Some interesting pictures of LSTs in action. So you get a pretty clear picture of how versatile they were. They were cone of the most versatile ships in the Navy. It's an easy read, and you can zoom the pictures for deeper study.This book may prove to be more valuable than I originally thought as there are links to LST veterans organizations, a USN site that has pictures of all the ships built. This book may help with any research you might take on

I like the photos and drawings and seeing the different types of landing craft. My father was on an LST in the Pacific during world war II and like most world war II veterans he never really said much about his experience. I never realized how dangerous it was to be a crewman aboard an LST.

There are only a few LST's still around from WW2: Muskegon, MI, is home to one. I have yet to travel to Muskegon to view the LST and the USS Silversides submarine. It should be worth seeing both ships. The book does not have enough about the design of the ships, but the photos do show the details of the LST delivering the men and materials ashore on hostile beaches. A good book for navy history buffs.

factual and not opinionated; good information and pictures

Keepsake! My brother served on 399 during ww2.

My uncle recently suffered a stroke and this book has been a godsend. He served on LST 782 at the Battles of Okinawa and Iwo Jima and his WWII adventures are some of his most cherished memories. I've been reading this book to him to help his memory "heal". It's well written, an easy read and packed full of great details and photographs. We both enjoy it thoroughly. If you are interested in these interesting and vital ships, you should read this book.

The book was great above how the LST came about, how they were made and the use. I did wish the book would have covered the modified use of the LST, such as the ARL variant. Would recommend this book to others.

Brief history of Landing Ship Tank and use in WW2, Salerno, Anzio, Normandy D-Day etc. Number of pictures.

Excellent résumé. Bon rapport Qualité/Prix