Pinetree Line Miscellaneous

Operation Bluenose

LST-503

LST-503

Displacement 1,780 t.(lt), 3,640 t.(fl);
Length 328';
Beam 50';
Draft unloaded, bow 2' 4" stern 7' 6", loaded bow 8' 2" stern 14' 1";
Speed 12k.;
Complement 8-10 Officers, 100-115 Enlisted;
Troop Capacity, approx. 140 officers and enlisted;
Boats, 2-6 LCVP;
Armament; one single 3"/50 gun mount, five 40mm gun mounts, six 20mm gun mounts, two .50-cal machine guns, four .30-cal machine guns;
Propulsion, two General Motors 12-567 diesel engines, two shafts, twin rudders.

LST-491 Class Tank Landing Ship: Laid down, 29 July 1943, at Missouri Valley Bridge and Iron Co., Evansville, IN.; Launched, 8 October 1943; Commissioned USS LST-503, 8 December 1943. During World War II, LST-503 was assigned to the European Theater and participated in the Invasion of Normandy, 6 to 25 June 1944.

Decommissioned, 11 June 1946; Laid up in the Atlantic Reserve Fleet, Green Cove Springs, FL.; Recommissioned October 1950, homeported at NAB Little Creek, VA.; Assigned to Operation "Blue Bird" (Greenland) August 1951 Decommissioned, and transferred to the Chinese Nationalist Navy, 4 April 1955, renamed Chung Kuang (LST-216); Struck from the Naval Register, 25 April 1960; Final Disposition, (fate unknown). LST-503 earned one battle star for World War II service.