Built as a Tank Landing Ship (LST) under yard no 926 by Bethlehem Steel Co., Fairfield Yard, Baltimore, MD for the U.S.A. Maritime Commission.
01 September 1942 launched as the USS LST-406.
Displacement 1,625 ton light, 4,080 ton full load, dim. 99.97 x 15.24 x 4.28m (maximum draught)
Powered by two General Motors 12-567A diesel engines, 900hp. Twin shafts, speed 11.6 kts. (trial)
Endurance 24,000 miles @ 9kts. while displacing 3960 tons
Fitted with two rudders.
Carried 2 LCVP
Cargo Capacity (varied with mission - payloads between 1600 and 1900 tons)
Typical loads
One Landing Craft Tank (LCT), tanks, wheeled and tracked vehicles, artillery, construction equipment and military supplies. A ramp or elevator forward allowed vehicles access to tank deck from main deck
Additional capacity included sectional pontoons carried on each side of vessel amidships, to either build Rhino Barges or use as causeways. Married to the bow ramp, the causeways would enabled payloads to be delivered ashore from deeper water or where a beachhead would not allow the vessel to be grounded forward after ballasting.
Armament - UK Lend Lease built vessels were to be outfitted with armament after convoying across Atlantic and included
One - 12 Pounder anti-aircraft multi-barrel mount
Six - 20MM single gun mounts
Four - Fast Aerial Mine (FAM) mounts
Crew 13 officers and 104 men, Troop capacity 16 officers and 147 men.
26 December 1942 commissioned as the HMS LST-406.
HMS LST-406 sailed for Europe in convoy SC125. LST-406 left Halifax, Nova Scotia, along with sister ships LST-336 and LST-319, in convoy SC 125 for Liverpool, 31 March 1943, arriving 14 April 1943 in Liverpool.
She participated in the Sicily, Salerno, Anzio and Normandy operations.
For the Normandy landings she loaded at Felixstown. Left Harwich and Thames River in Follow-up-Convoy L1, arrived Eastern Task Force area 6th.
Underwent a refit from August till December 1944 on the Clyde where after she believed sailed to Colombo.
13 April 1946 paid off in Subic Bay, Philippines, and returned to US Navy custody.
https://www.navsource.org/archives/10/16/160406.htm Ships Without Names by Brian MacDermott. The D-Day Ships by John de S.Winser.
HMS LST-406 was a United States Navy LST-1-class tank landing ship that was transferred to the Royal Navy during World War II. As with many of her class, the ship was never named. Instead, she was referred to by her hull designation.
Construction
LST-406 was laid down on 1 September 1942, under Maritime Commission (MARCOM) contract, MC hull 926, by the Bethlehem-Fairfield Shipyard, Baltimore, Maryland; launched 28 October 1942; then transferred to the United Kingdom and commissioned on 26 December 1942.
Service history
LST-406 left Halifax, Nova Scotia, along with sister ships LST-336 and LST-319, in convoy SC 125 for Liverpool, 31 March 1943, arriving 14 April 1944.
LST-406 saw no active service in the United States Navy. The tank landing ship was decommissioned and returned to United States Navy custody on 11 April 1946. She was struck from the Navy list on 10 June 1947. On 5 December 1947, LST-406 was sold to Bosey, Philippines, for scrapping. However, as late as 1978, she was reported to be in commercial service as CHUNG 116, flagged for the People's Republic of China
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HM_LST-406
Falkland Islands 2019 £1.26 sg>, scott?