Landing Ship Medium were amphibious assault ship

Amphibious assault ship

An amphibious assault ship is a type of amphibious warfare ship employed to land and support ground forces on enemy territory by an amphibious assault...

s of the United States Navy

United States Navy

The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...

 in the World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

.

Of comparable size to Landing Ship, Tank and the Landing Craft, Infantry, there were 558 LSM (Landing Ship, Medium) made for the USN between 1944 and 1945. The majority of vessels built on this versatile frame were regular transports however there were several dozen that were converted during construction for specialized roles. Most vessels of this type were scrapped during the Cold War

Cold War

The Cold War was the continuing state from roughly 1946 to 1991 of political conflict, military tension, proxy wars, and economic competition between the Communist World—primarily the Soviet Union and its satellite states and allies—and the powers of the Western world, primarily the United States...

, but several were sold by the United States Department of Defense

United States Department of Defense

The United States Department of Defense is the U.S...

 to foreign nations or private shipping companies.

Only one LSM, USS LSM-45

USS LSM-45

USS LSM-45 is a medium landing ship built for the United States Navy during World War II. The ship also served as Ypoploiarkhos Grigoropoulos in the Hellenic Navy from 1958 to 1993. She is the last known surviving LSM in its original configuration...

 is known to still exist in its original configuration. It is in storage at Marine Station Camp Lejeune in Jacksonville, NC. It was slated to become the centerpiece of the Museum of the Marine, but due to changed plans, is now in danger of being scrapped

Ship breaking

Ship breaking or ship demolition is a type of ship disposal involving the breaking up of ships for scrap recycling. Most ships have a lifespan of a few decades before there is so much wear that refitting and repair becomes uneconomical. Ship breaking allows materials from the ship, especially...

 or sunk as an artificial reef

Artificial reef

An artificial reef is a human-made underwater structure, typically built to promote marine life in areas with a generally featureless bottom, control erosion, block ship passage, or improve surfing....

.

List of LSM-1 class ships

(LSM-275), later reclassified (ARC-1), later reclassified (MMC-6), later reclassified (MMC-7), later reclassified (T-AG-335)
, later reclassified (MMC-8), later reclassified (MMC-9), later reclassified (E-AG-398) (LSM-445), later reclassified (YV-1) (LSM-446), later reclassified (E-LSM-446) and again to (YV-2), later reclassified (MMC-10), later reclassified (MMC-11), later reclassified (MMC-12), later reclassified (MMC-13), later reclassified (MMC-14)

LSM(R)-401 Class Landing Ship Medium (Rocket)

(LSM(R)-401), later reclassified (LFR-401) (LSM(R)-402) (LSM(R)-403) (LSM(R)-404), later reclassified (LFR-404) (LSM(R)-405), later reclassified (LFR-405) (LSM(R)-406) (LSM(R)-407) (LSM(R)-408) (LSM(R)-409), later reclassified (LFR-409) (LSM(R)-410) (LSM(R)-411) (LSM(R)-412), later reclassified (LFR-412)

LSM(R)-501 Class Landing Ship Medium (Rocket)

(LSM(R)-501), later reclassified (IX-501) (LSM(R)-502) (LSM(R)-503) (LSM(R)-504) (LSM(R)-505) (LSM(R)-506) (LSM(R)-507), later reclassified and renamed (LSM(R)-509) (LSM(R)-510) (LSM(R)-511) (LSM(R)-512), later reclassified (LFR-512) (LSM(R)-513), later reclassified (LFR-513) (LSM(R)-514) (LSM(R)-515), later reclassified (LFR-515) (LSM(R)-516) (LSM(R)-517) (LSM(R)-518) (LSM(R)-519)

USS LSM(R)-519

USS LSM–519 was an , a type of amphibious assault ship in the United States Navy.She was originally projected as LSM-519 and was laid down on 28 April 1945 by the Brown Shipbuilding Co., Inc., in Houston, Texas. She was launched on 2 June 1945 and commissioned on 28 July, Lt. John W...

 (LSM(R)-520) (LSM(R)-521) (LSM(R)-522), later reclassified (LFR-522) (LSM(R)-523) (LSM(R)-524) (LSM(R)-525), later reclassified (LFR-525) (LSM(R)-526) (LSM(R)-527) (LSM(R)-528) (LSM(R)-529) (LSM(R)-530) (LSM(R)-531), later reclassified (LFR-531) (LSM(R)-532) (LSM(R)-533) (LSM(R)-534) (LSM(R)-535) (LSM(R)-536), later reclassified (LFR-536)

Gypsy Class Salvage Lifting Vessels

, authorized as LSM-549, authorized as LSM-550, authorized as LSM-551, later reclassified to , authorized as LSM-552, later reclassified to

External links

• USS LSM/LSMR Association
• NavSource Photo Archives
• Landing Ships ibiblio
  Ibiblio
  ibiblio is a "collection of collections," and hosts a diverse range of publicly available information and open source software, including software, music, literature, art, history, science, politics, and cultural studies. As an "Internet librarianship," ibiblio is a digital library and archive...
  
  .org
• My Life Aboard the LSM-319 by Eugene Carey
• The Navy's Smallest Aircraft Carrier, July 1958, Popular Mechanics small article on conversion of LSM-445 to a target drone launching vessel