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	USS LST-291 ran aground in 1954
History
United States
Name	LST-291
Builder	American Bridge Company, Ambridge
Laid down	25 September 1943
Launched	14 November 1943
Stricken	19 May 1954
Honours and; awards	1 battle star (World War II)
Fate	Sunk as target, July 1954
General characteristics
Class and type	LST-1-class tank landing ship
Displacement	1,780 long tons (1,809 t) light; 3,880 long tons (3,942 t) full;
Length	328 ft (100 m)
Beam	50 ft (15 m)
Draft	Unloaded:; Bow: 2 ft 4 in (0.71 m); Stern: 7 ft 6 in (2.29 m); Loaded :; Bow: 8 ft 2 in (2.49 m); Stern: 14 ft 1 in (4.29 m);
Propulsion	2 General Motors 12-567 diesel engines, two shafts, twin rudders
Speed	12 knots (22 km/h; 14 mph)
Boats & landing ; craft carried	Two to six LCVPs
Troops	approx. 140 officers and enlisted
Complement	8–10 officers, 100–115 enlisted
Armament	5 × 40 mm gun mounts; 6 × 20 mm gun mounts; 2 × .50 cal (12.7 mm) machine guns; 4 × .30 cal (7.62 mm) machine guns;

USS LST-291 was a LST-1-class tank landing ship built for the United States Navy during World War II by the American Bridge Company in Ambridge, Pennsylvania.

LST-291 was laid down on 25 September 1943 and launched 14 November 1943. During World War II, the LST-291 was assigned to the Europe-Africa-Middle East Theater, and participated in the Invasion of Normandy in June 1944.^[1]

In 1954, she ran aground on a coral reef off James Point, Eleuthera in the Bahamas. After 11 days of salvage operations which involved blasting a 1,000 foot channel through the reef, she was freed from the reef and towed back to the drydock at Jacksonville, Florida.^[2] The damage she sustained was too extensive, however, and LST-291 was decommissioned, struck from the Naval Register on 19 May 1954, and sunk as a target in July 1954.

LST-291 earned one battle star for World War II service.

References

^ "Tank Landing Ship LST-291". navsource.org. Retrieved 6 July 2010.
^ "ProjectEleuthera.org: LST 291 – June 1954 "All Hands"". projecteleuthera.org. Retrieved 6 July 2010.

This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be found here.
Photo gallery of USS LST-291 at NavSource Naval History