Description Between 1942 and 1945, 1, 051 amphibious tank-landing ships were rapidly produced.
Gay, recounts the fascinating history of the 479\'s Seven Pacific campaigns; from the day-to-day life of the men aboard her, to their terrifying encounters in battle as they delivered "Unseen Body blows" to the enemy that helped win the war in the Pacific.....
This LST crew became the embodiment of the Navy\'s 2018 recruiting slogan: "Forged by the Sea." In gripping, meticulously researched, "you are there" fashion, author William A.
Displaying heroism and ingenuity, they rescued the crew of a crippled landing craft during an Alaskan storm, battled fires aboard a burning LST hit by kamikazes, and fought off air attacks on the way to Makin and Guam, at Saipan, in the Philippines and around Okinawa.
But over the next 1, 046 days, through collisions, accidental groundings, navigational errors, and lots of mechanical breakdowns, the 479 crew became sailors.
Typical of all early LSTs, its crew on commissioning day, April 19, 1943, consisted of raw amateurs.
At first, LSTs had a reputation of being expendable and of relatively low value, and so were bestowed another, less noble, nickname; "Large Slow Targets." Put into service to get troops and equipment ashore, the story of LST 479 is in some respects the story of all of these ships.
These were anonymous vessels, slow and unwieldy, and in the words of one crewmember, they looked like bathtubs.
Description Between 1942 and 1945, 1, 051 amphibious tank-landing ships were rapidly produced
