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The LST supported
amphibious operations by carrying vehicles, cargo, and landing troops
directly onto an unimproved shore. To meet the conflicting requirements of
deep draft for ocean travel and shallow draft for beaching, the ship was
designed with a large ballast system that could be filled for ocean passage
and pumped out for beaching operations. Although crew members described them
as "Large Slow Targets", relatively few LSTs were sunk or damaged in
proportion to their numbers and widespread use. LST-808, crashed by a
suicide aircraft on May 18, 1945, with 11 crewmen killed and 11 wounded, was
the only LST to be lost during Operation Iceberg. However, four other LSTs
were damaged by aerial suicide attack: LST-884 on April 1,
with 24 crewmen killed and 21 wounded; LST-599 on April 3,
1945, with 21 crewmen wounded; LST-447 on April 6, with 5
crewmen killed and 17 wounded; and LST-534 on June 22, with 3
crewmen killed and 35 wounded.
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