USS LST-357

USS LST-357 was an LST-1-class tank landing ship of the United States Navy active during the Second World War. Whilst never formally named, she was nicknamed Palermo Pete by her crew.

LST-357 loading vehicles before the Normandy invasion
History
United States
Name: USS LST-357
Builder: Charleston Navy Yard
Laid down: 24 October 1942
Launched: 16 November 1942
Commissioned: 8 February 1943
Decommissioned: 8 June 1946
Stricken: 31 July 1946
Honours and
awards:		 3 battle stars
Fate: Sold for scrap, 1 April 1948
General characteristics
Class and type: LST-1-class tank landing ship
Displacement: 4,080 long tons (4,145 t) full
Length: 328 ft (100 m)
Beam: 50 ft (15 m)
Draft:
  • Light :
  • 2 ft 4 in (0.71 m) forward
  • 7 ft 6 in (2.29 m) aft
  • Sea-going :
  • 8 ft 3 in (2.51 m) forward
  • 14 ft 1 in (4.29 m) aft
  • Landing :
  • 3 ft 11 in (1.19 m) forward
  • 9 ft 10 in (3.00 m) aft
Propulsion: 2 × General Motors 900 hp (671 kW) 12-567 diesel engines, 2 shafts, twin rudders
Speed: 12 knots (22 km/h; 14 mph)
Range: 24,000 nmi (44,000 km) at 9 kn (17 km/h; 10 mph) while displacing 3960 tons
Complement: 9 officers, 120 enlisted
Armament:
  • 2 × twin 40 mm gun mounts w/Mk.51 directors
  • 4 × single 40 mm gun mounts
  • 12 × single 20 mm gun mounts

Service history

She was laid down in October 1942 at the Charleston Navy Yard, and commissioned in February 1943.

LST-357 first saw service at the invasion of Sicily in July 1943. During the Salerno landings on September 9, a crew of just under 150 all ranks took some 90 casualties. One crew member, Warren C. Gill, was awarded the Navy Cross for his actions, making him one of just six Coast Guardsmen to be awarded the Navy Cross during World War II.[1]

In 1944 she moved to England to support the Normandy landings, landing on Omaha Beach on D-Day.

Following the end of the war, she served on occupation duties in the Far East, before being decommissioned in June 1946 and sold for scrapping in April 1948.

Notes
  1. "Warren Gill, Oregon's Forgotten Navy Cross Hero". The Maritime Executive.

References
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