USS LST-291 was a built for 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...

 during World War II by the American Bridge Company

American Bridge Company

The American Bridge Company is a privately held civil engineering firm specializing in the construction and renovation of bridges and other large civil engineering projects, founded in 1900, and headquartered in Coraopolis, Pennsylvania, a suburb of Pittsburgh.-Products and industry positioning:The...

 in Ambridge, Pennsylvania.

LST-291 was laid down on September 25, 1943 and launched November 14, 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.

In 1954, she ran aground on a coral reef off of James Point, Eleuthera

Eleuthera

Eleuthera is an island in The Bahamas, lying 50 miles east of Nassau. It is very long and thin—110 miles long and in places little more than a mile wide. According to the 2000 Census, the population of Eleuthera is approximately 8,000...

 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. The damage she sustained was too extensive, however, and LST-291 was decommissioned, struck from the Naval Register on May 19, 1954, and sunk as a target in July 1954.

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