On the evening of March 31, 1945, hours before the invasion of Okinawa, Max Stripe, Billy Thornhill, and five other crewmen manned the forward twin 40 mm mount of LST 791. Riley was stationed up in the Conn, tracking enemy planes from bogey reports that came in over the radio. An increase in air attacks could be expected at sunset and dawn because-for a brief time-aircraft could see the ships clearly, but it was difficult for the ships to see the planes. Suddenly, a group of transports astern of the 791 came under attack-tracers could be seen across the expanse of water and air. The job of the LST crew was to deliver the troops, tanks, and supplies to hostile beaches and, if necessary, defend those assets with their lives. All were ordinary men; they knew they had a job to do, and they did it. Succeeding so that they could return home to their families was their goal. In Pacific LST 791, Stephen C. Stripe, author and son of LST crewman Max Stripe, brings us the incredible true story of the vital actions of LST 791 and her crew in the Pacific Theater of WWII. Our admiration and thanks belong to this hardworking, gallant breed, for their heroic courage and sacrifice brought us hope, victory, and ultimately peace.

Pacific LST 791

A Gallant Ship and Her Hardworking Coast Guard Crew at the Invasion of OkinawaBy Stephen C. Stripe

iUniverse, Inc.

Copyright © 2011 Stephen C. Stripe
All right reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-4620-3248-8

Contents

Preface.........................................................................viGlossary of Abbreviations for Coast Guard Ratings and Ranks.....................xiIntroduction....................................................................xiiiWhat Were these ships?..........................................................1Camp Bradford...................................................................3Commissioning...................................................................7technical Information...........................................................79111shakedown.......................................................................14Hawaii..........................................................................18War Zone........................................................................22Okinawa Invasion................................................................44Medal of Honor Winner onboard...................................................57ship operations at Okinawa and Kamikaze Attacks.................................61Beached within sight of Where Ernie Pyle Died...................................86LST 808.........................................................................90Final Phase of Okinawa Operations...............................................94Practicing for Invasion of Japan................................................99Occupation Duty.................................................................101Stateside.......................................................................106Appendix........................................................................112References......................................................................127

Chapter One

WHAT WERE THESE SHIPS?

The Landing ship tank (LST) epitomized the war in the Pacific. Many are familiar with the more famous Higgins boats—there were three types—the earliest were called LCP(L) or Landing Craft Personnel/Large. They were designed by Andrew Jackson Higgins and built in his New Orleans factory. Almost all types had bow ramps that could be lowered to facilitate disembarking troops and supplies onto the beaches. However, these small craft were not seagoing vessels and had to be transported to the target invasion points on larger ones, such as LSTS and other ships.

The LST had been born in the United Kingdom from lessons learned from previous amphibious operations, such as Gallipoli, turkey, during World War I. Winston S. Churchill gave directions for the design and production of such ships. Nevertheless, the details for the manufacture had to be worked out within the United states. The LST had been a successful design; the last Us Lst—decommissioned in October 2002—had been the USS Frederick (LST-1184). These ships were true amphibious transports; with a length of 328 feet and a 50-foot beam with their clamshell bow doors open and the ramp lowered, they could disgorge 500 tons of supplies, 20 Sherman tanks, or 200 troops directly onto hostile beaches from the cavernous tank deck at one time.

The LST needed only three feet of water under its bow to get close to shore. Like a submarine, it had a system of pumps and ballast tanks that enabled the ship to decrease its forward draft for such operations. Total capacity of the four ballast tanks was 398 tons. The forward tank had a capacity of 118 tons, with the port and starboard tanks having 40-ton capacities each and the stern tank 200 tons. When necessary, these tanks could also be loaded with fuel oil so the ship could perform like a tanker. An LST could then winch itself off the beach by using a stern anchor that had been let go several hundred yards off the beach before landing, a technique called kedging. If a dock existed, the ship could come up alongside and unload up to two thousand tons of cargo. In short, the LST became the workhorse of the Pacific war, carrying fuel, ammunition, troops, vehicles, tanks, and any other cargo that needed transport to combat.

The LST was one of the most versatile ships ever designed; beyond hauling cargo and troops, the LSTs could—and did—function as combat ships. Other variants of the basic design included hospital ships, torpedo boat tenders, battle damage repair ships, barracks ships, aircraft repair ships, landing craft repair ships, fighter direction tenders, and aircraft carriers for launching L-4 spotter planes. Armaments on a typical LST included 20 mm and 40 mm guns used for antiaircraft defense and beach assault. But they could also be armed with three-inch naval rifles and rockets. Optimum or maximum speed that an LST could attain was eleven knots, but its cruising speed was a paltry nine knots. Because of these slow speeds at which these ships sailed, they sometimes had the moniker Large Slow Targets attached to them. Many years later, Max recalled a destroyer passing them and its sailors yelling to them to quit dragging their anchor. An LST could be built at an expected cost of approximately $1.5 million. At peak production, one LST would be produced every 3.5 days. This ship truly made the United states Marine Corps amphibious.

CAMP BRADFORD

In the summer of 1944, Max, Bob, and other Coast Guardsmen and navy sailors trained for amphibious operations at Camp Bradford. During World War II, more than 160,000 Army and Marine troops trained for amphibious operations at the camp. Over 200,000 navy sailors and Coast Guardsmen received instruction in operating various amphibious vessels there. Men, tanks, and guns practiced loading and disembarking from LSTs, LSMs (Landing Ship Medium), LCVPs (Landing Craft Vehicle/ Personnel), and other types of landing craft on the beaches and rivers of the Chesapeake Bay. Thousands of men trained at the facility to man hundreds of LSTs. Since Camp Bradford did not have enough barracks to house all the men, some had to be billeted in tents. Veterans of Mediterranean seaborne combat assaults provided the training. A mock up made out of wood and concrete of the top deck and bridge of an LST built on dry land—the USS Neversail—was used in intense training. Most of the young trainees, still in or just out of their teens and fresh from boot camp, made up the majority. Others, like Max and Bob, transferred in from other duty assignments.

During training, many casualties inevitably occurred from drowning, falls, accidental gunshots, and other assorted mishaps. this was especially true of young men who had the attitude that nothing could happen to them coupled with an adventurous spirit. Lt. Duncan, the future skipper of the LST 791, said, "In time, one grew to accept casualties as an inevitable result of the extraordinary risks of the business, but when it was possible to reduce the risks, it was wasteful and shameful not to do so." (Adams, 2002)

Far more formidable than all the other risks was the omnipresent menace of the sea itself. It was most deceptively dangerous when it was quiet and peaceful, for then it might either lash out in an unheralded storm and so trap the unwary or simply draw down into its fatal embrace the weak swimmer, the stunned, the drunken, the sick, or the careless. A growing familiarity with the sea's vastness made some of the men contemptuous of the...