Landing Ship Tank (LST)

An oceangoing amphibious ship designed to beach itself bow-first and discharge tanks and vehicles directly onto the shore through bow doors and a ramp, without a well deck or landing craft. The US hull symbol was LST. Developed in World War II (LST-1 class, 1942) for the Normandy, Pacific, and Mediterranean landings, the type used a shallow forward draft and ballast control to ground on the beach gradient. The US retired its last LST (Newport class) by the 1990s; the mission shifted to LCAC-carrying well-deck ships and roll-on/roll-off sealift.