Landing Ship Tank

Camayan Divers
Landing Ship Tank

Landing Ship Tank Dive Specs

Depth: 30-36m
Classification: Advanced Open Water, Deep, Wreck, Technical Wreck Divers

After World War II, Subic Bay became a US Navy base and training area. US Marines conducted regular amphibious assault training here and, occasionally, the landing craft used became accidental casualties. The largest of these sunken assault craft is the Landing Ship Tank.

The Landing Ship Tank (LST) was created during World War II for the purpose of supporting amphibious operations, by carrying large amounts of vehicles, cargo and personnel directly onto the shore. More than a thousand vessels of this type were commissioned by the US Navy. The basic design for the LST required a vessel capable of ocean travel, yet with a shallow draft for beaching operations. The ultimate design incorporated a variable ballast system, a length of 100m (328ft), a 15m (50ft) beam and minimum draft of 1.2m (3.8ft).

With an unloaded weight of just 1780 tones, this scheme served to distribute the ship’s weight over a large area, allowing it to float higher in the water for landing. They could accommodate all types of Allied military vehicles and later production designs could also house and deploy a landing craft utility (LCU) or landing craft tank (LCT) from its main hold. She could transport over 2200 tones of cargo, men or machines. Her crew compliment was 8-110 officers and 100-115 sailors.