HM LST-13

HM LST-13
LFD 13 ex LST 13 Greenock 1944.jpeg HM FDT-13, ex-LST-13, 23 March 1944, Greenock, Scotland.
Career (United States)
Name:	LST-13
Builder:	Dravo Corporation, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Laid down:	1 September 1942
Launched:	5 January 1943
Sponsored by:	Mrs. Jean A. Brackmann
Status:	Transferred to the Royal Navy, 3 April 1943
Career (United Kingdom)
Name:	LST-13 (1943–1944) FDT-13 (1944–1946)
Acquired:	3 April 1943
Commissioned:	3 April 1943
Out of service:	27 February 1946
Reclassified:	Fighter Direction Tender, January 1944
Status:	Returned to US Naval custody, 27 February 1946
Career (United States)
Acquired:	27 February 1946
Struck:	5 June 1946
Fate:	Sold for scrapping, 11 October 1947
General characteristics
Type:	LST-1-class tank landing ship
Displacement:	1,625 long tons (1,651 t) (light) 4,080 long tons (4,145 t) (full (seagoing draft with 1,675 short tons (1,520 t) load) 2,366 long tons (2,404 t) (beaching)
Length:	328 ft (100 m) oa
Beam:	50 ft (15 m)
Draft:	Unloaded: 2 ft 4 in (0.71 m) forward; 7 ft 6 in (2.29 m) aft Full load: 8 ft 2 in (2.49 m) forward; 14 ft 1 in (4.29 m) aft Landing with 500 short tons (450 t) load: 3 ft 11 in (1.19 m) forward; 9 ft 10 in (3.00 m) aft
Installed power:	2 × 900 hp (670 kW) Electro-Motive Diesel 12-567A diesel engines 1,700 shp (1,300 kW)
Propulsion:	1 × Falk main reduction gears 2 × Propellers
Speed:	12 kn (22 km/h; 14 mph)
Range:	24,000 nmi (44,000 km; 28,000 mi) at 9 kn (17 km/h; 10 mph) while displacing 3,960 long tons (4,024 t)
Boats & landing craft carried:	2 x LCVPs
Capacity:	1,600–1,900 st (22,000–27,000 lb; 10,000–12,000 kg) cargo depending on mission
Troops:	16 officers, 147 enlisted men
Complement:	13 officers, 104 enlisted men
Armament:	Varied, ultimate armament 2 × twin 40 mm (1.57 in) Bofors guns 4 × single 40mm Bofors guns 12 × 20 mm (0.79 in) Oerlikon cannons

Service record
Operations:	Normandy landings (6–13 June 1944)

HM LST-13 was an LST-1-class tank landing ship of the United States Navy built during World War II. She was transferred to the Royal Navy in April 1943, before being commissioned into the USN. Like many of her class, she was not named and is properly referred to by her hull designation.

Construction

LST-13 was laid down on 1 September 1942, at Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania by the Dravo Corporation; launched on 5 January 1943; sponsored by Mrs. Jean A. Brackmann; transferred to the Royal Navy on 3 April 1943, and commissioned the same day.

Service history

LST-13 left Galveston, Texas, on 10 April 1943, with Convoy HK 168, en route to Key West, Florida, arriving 14 April 1943.

LST-13 left from Halifax, Nova Scotia, for the Liverpool on 18 May 1943, with convoy SC 131, carrying general cargo, however, due to defects she had to return to Halifax. She then sailed with convoy SC 132 on 26 May 1943, arriving in Liverpool 11 June 1943.

LST-13 was sent to the Clyde area where she remained until November 1943. She then sailed for Southampton but returned to Clydebank 31 December 1943. She was sent to the John Brown Shipbuilding & Engineering Shipyards to be converted into a Fighter Direction Tender, being redesignated FDT-13 in January 1944.

FDT-13 participated in the Invasion of Normandy from 6–13 June 1944. She provided aircraft control for both US and British fighters defending the main shipping route from the United Kingdom to the invasion beaches in France.

Final disposition

FDT-13 was returned to the US Navy on 27 February 1946, at Norfolk, Virginia, and struck from the Naval Register on 5 June 1946. FDT-13 was sold on 11 October 1947, to Luria Brothers, Inc., Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Bibliography

• "HM LST-13". Navsource.org. 11 August 2017. http://www.navsource.org/archives/10/16/160013.htm. Retrieved 12 August 2017. 
• "LST-13". Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. Navy Department, Naval History & Heritage Command. https://www.history.navy.mil/research/histories/ship-histories/danfs/l/lst-13.html. Retrieved 14 August 2016.  This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
• "Convoy HK.170". Arnold Hague Convoy Database. http://www.convoyweb.org.uk/hk/index.html?hk.php?convoy=170!~hkmain. Retrieved 18 August 2016. 
• "Convoy SC.131". Arnold Hague Convoy Database. http://www.convoyweb.org.uk/sc/index.html?sc.php?convoy=131!~scmain. Retrieved 18 August 2016. 
• "Convoy SC.132". Arnold Hague Convoy Database. http://www.convoyweb.org.uk/sc/index.html?sc.php?convoy=132!~scmain. Retrieved 18 August 2016. 

External links

• Photo gallery of USS LST-13 at NavSource Naval History