Figure 1: USS LST-767 beached with a bulldozer preparing a causeway from her bow ramp to the shore, circa 1945. Courtesy of Barry Reynolds, 1990, from the collection of Jean Stewart Reynolds. U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph. Click on photograph for larger image.
Figure 2: LST-767’s commissioning crew, photographed circa September-October 1944. She had a U.S. Coast Guard crew. Her Commanding Officer, Litutenant R.B. Seidman, USCGR, is seated in the front row, center. Arrows point to Ed Huttenhoff (near the back, just to right of center) and Jean Stewart Reynolds (center row, near the right). Courtesy of Barry Reynolds, 1990, from the collection of Jean Stewart Reynolds. U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph. Click on photograph for larger image.
Figure 3: USS LCT-749 on board LST-767. LSTs often carried smaller landing craft on their decks and then launched them next to an enemy-held beach. The LCT-749 was loaded on the LST at Pearl Harbor on 10 December 1944 and launched off Okinawa on 3 April 1945. The pontoon causeway sections visible on LST-767's sides were loaded on 14 December 1944 and launched during the night of 2-3 April 1945. Courtesy of Barry Reynolds, 1990, from the collection of Jean Stewart Reynolds. U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph. Click on photograph for larger image.
Figure 4: LCT-749 is launched from the side of LST-767 off Okinawa on 3 April 1945. Courtesy of Barry Reynolds, 1990, from the collection of Jean Stewart Reynolds. U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph. Click on photograph for larger image.
Figure 5: LST-767 landing personnel via breeches buoy, after she had been driven ashore on Okinawa by a storm on 1 December 1945. Courtesy of Barry Reynolds, 1990, from the collection of Jean Stewart Reynolds. U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph. Click on photograph for larger image.
Figure 6: LST-767 beached on Okinawa, after being wrecked by a hurricane on 1 December 1945. Courtesy of Dr. Herbert F. Gabriel, DDS, 1987. U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph. Click on photograph for larger image.
Figure 7: LST-767 wrecked on a rocky Okinawa beach, after being driven ashore by a storm on 1 December 1945. Courtesy of Barry Reynolds, 1990, from the collection of Jean Stewart Reynolds. U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph. Click on photograph for larger image.
Figure 8: LST-767 wrecked on a rocky Okinawa beach, after she had been driven ashore by a typhoon on 1 December 1945. Courtesy of Barry Reynolds, 1990, from the collection of Jean Stewart Reynolds. U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph. Click on photograph for larger image.
The USS LST-767 was a 2,366-ton LST-511 class tank landing ship and was built at Ambridge, Pennsylvania. The LST-767 was approximately 328 feet long and 50 feet wide, and had a flat-bottomed, sloping keel that had a maximum draft of about 8 feet forward and 14 feet aft. Her full-load displacement was approximately 4,080 tons and she usually had a crew of 104 officers and men. Armament on LSTs varied widely during the war, with all of the ships trying to get as many defensive guns on them as possible. Because the LST-767 was built towards the end of the war, she probably carried one 3-inch gun on her stern, approximately seven 40-mm guns and twelve 20-mm guns. Additional .50 and .30 caliber machine guns also were located throughout the ship.
The LST-767 was commissioned in September 1944. After steaming down the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers to New Orleans, Louisiana, she traveled south and reached the Panama Canal. The LST-767 transited the canal and arrived at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, in mid-December 1944, where she picked up a cargo of men, equipment and vehicles. Also loaded on board the ship were pontoon causeway sections and LCT-749, a smaller amphibious assault ship that was to be launched off the side of the LST-767 after it arrived at its final destination. Towards the end of December, the fully loaded LST-767 left Hawaii and headed for Leyte in the Philippine Islands. She arrived there in February 1945 and, during the next two months, traveled south to New Guinea and the Solomon Islands. The ship then turned north and stopped at Ulithi in the Caroline Islands before reaching Okinawa in early April. She arrived there shortly after the American assault began on the island.
LST-767 launched LCT-749 off Okinawa on 3 April 1945 and then unloaded the rest of her cargo of men and vehicles. She left Okinawa and transported additional cargo to destinations in the central, south and western Pacific. The LST-767 was in the Solomon Islands when Japan surrendered in August 1945. She was ordered to return to Okinawa and arrived there in September. LST-767 remained at Okinawa until 1 December 1945, when a major typhoon struck the island. While beached at Kana Wan, Okinawa, the LST-767 was tossed onto the rocks during the storm and was severely damaged. After determining that the ship could not be salvaged, the Navy declared her a total loss and ordered it to be stripped and disposed of. The LST-767 was decommissioned in early March 1945 and was stricken from the Navy list that same month. What was left of the ship after it was stripped was sold for scrap and the hulk was finally removed and disposed of in May 1947.
Amphibious assault ships, especially the LSTs, played an enormous role during World War II. None of the many amphibious assaults that were made during the war (both in Europe and in the Pacific) could have been accomplished without these ships. They transported vast amounts of men, equipment and vehicles all over the world and took part in some of the most dangerous beach landings in history. They were vulnerable to air attacks (which explains all of the anti-aircraft guns placed on board these ships) and they didn’t handle very well in rough seas due to their flat bottoms. A large number of the crews that manned LSTs were from the US Coast Guard and not from the regular Navy, since many Coast Guardsmen had experience in handling ships in shallow coastal waters. Coast Guard personnel also were assigned to most of the cargo ships during the war, thereby freeing up Navy personnel for warships. But it certainly was a challenge sailing on an LST since they were basically large, slow targets that didn’t do very well in rough weather. Fortunately, there were brave men out there who accepted that challenge.
