USS LST-312 Landing Ship Salerno, July 8, 1944 Hs-293 rocket propelled glidebomb
One of eleven LSTs damaged by enemy action during the Normandy Campaign
My uncle Pat (Patillo Ainsworth Finlayson) served in the Navy during WWII. I mentioned this in an earlier blog. Here is the USS LST-312 that was hit by a V2 gliderbomb while docked. Pat was off the ship when his LST was hit. I found this photo of the damage. Pat called me last Friday and we talked for about an hour. I told him about the photo and he said his quarters were beneath the deck, right where the bomb hit. A fellow officer which was his friend and bunk mate was on board when the V2 hit and died. Unlce Pat said it took them a month to get the ship back to the States for repairs. They were constantly working on the ships engines.
USS LST-312Laid down - September 7, 1942
Launched - December 30, 1942
Commissioned - USS LST 312 January 9, 1942
Lt. Charles L. Haslup, USNR, in command.
During World War II the USS LST-312 was assigned to the European Theater and participated in the following campaigns:
Sicilian occupation - July 1943
Salerno landings - September 1943
Invasion of Normandy (Gold Beach) June 1943
Awards, Citations and Campain Ribbons
American Campain Medal, Europe
Africa-Middle East Campain Medal (3)
World War II Victory Medal.
Decommisioned - July 12, 1946
Struck from the Naval Register - August 15, 1946
Final Disposition - Sold December 13, 1947 to James A. Hughes New York for scrapping.
More images of the USS LST-312 can can be found by clicking here.
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2 comments:
Hi,
Just to be clear, LST-312 was not hit by an Hs-293 glide bomb. It was hit by a V-1 (not V-2), an entirely different weapon. THe picture at the top of this page does not depict the weapon that hit LST-312.
MB
Thank you MB. I appreciate your correction and have deleted the original image of a V-2 from this post. Feel free to keep me in line in the future.
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