USS APL 59 (ex LST) Class

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USS LST 53 at Kerama Retto in May-June 1945 with USS LSM 83, Lipan (ATF 85), and the hulk of Barry (APD 29).
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Class: APL 59 (APL 59, ex LST)
Design: Navy LST
Displacement (tons): 1,780 light, 3,640 full
Dimensions (feet): 328' oa, 316' wl x 50' e/wl x 14' max nav
Armament: none
Accommodations: unk.
Speed (kts.): n/a
Propulsion (HP): n/a
Machinery: none

Construction:

APL	Name	Reclas	Builder	Keel	Launch	Svc
59	APL 59	15 Sep 1954	Dravo, Pittsburgh	24 Sep 1943	6 Nov 1943	(ca 1950)

Disposition:

APL	Name	T	Decomm	Strike	Disposal	Fate	MA Sale
59	APL 59		22 Jan 1946	11 May 1955	11 May 1955	Trf	--

Class Notes:
USS LST 53 was placed in full commission on 21 December 1943. After serving in the European theater she arrived in the Pacific in time for the Okinawa operation in June 1945. She was decommissioned on 22 January 1946 and transferred to the Commander Naval Forces Far East (COMNAVFE) Shipping Control Authority for Japan (SCAJAP) as an operational American-owned cargo ship with a Japanese crew and the designation Q021. By early 1951 she had became a port facilities management vessel (billeting, mess, and communications) at Pusan (Busan), South Korea. No longer self propelled, she was reclassified APL 59 on 15 Sep 1954. She was stricken and transferred to South Korea on 11 May 1955.

Ship Notes:

APL	Name	MA	Notes
59	APL 59		(Ex-LST 53, completed 5 Dec 1943.) To South Korea 11 May 1955, renamed CHANG SU or JANGSU (LST 811) as a barracks ship. BU 1959. The USN strike date of 11 May 1955 was not fully promulgated until 20 Jul 1960.