The wreck of LST 228

LST-228 was a 2366-ton LST-1 class tank landing ship. It was built at Seneca, Illinois by the Chicago Bridge & Iron Co. She was laid down on 20 May 1943, launched on 25 September, delivered in mid-October and placed in reduced commission for passage down the Mississippi, then fully commissioned after arriving at New Orleans, Louisiana, on 25 October.

Several days later the tank landing craft LCT(6)-582 was loaded on her deck for transportation to the European war zone. Her cargo also included trucks, caterpiller tractors and mobile machine shops intended for the construction of Lagens Field. It arrived on 17 January 1944 at Angra, the capital city of the Azores.

On the evening of the 19 January LST 228 broke her anchor chain during a severe storm and was driven hard onto a rock ledge some 100 yards from shore. The battering from yet another storm two days later caused a fire to break out in the engine room and spread through much of the ship before being extinguished by waves crashing over the side. Only a small part of the cargo was salvageable.

Both LST 228 and LCT(6)-582 were deemed beyond salvage and pronounced a total loss on 21 January 1944. LST-228 was struck from the Navy list on 12 February 1944

LST 228 on the roacks and aflame

The fire is extinguised but her LCT deck cargo has come adrift as waves break over the side of the ship.
photos courtesy U.S. Navy Historical Center