USS ''LSM-135'' was a built for the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. Like many of her class, she was not named and is properly referred to by her hull designation. She was laid down on 13 March 1944, at the

Charleston Navy Yard Charleston Naval Shipyard (formerly known as the Charleston Navy Yard) was a U.S. Navy ship building and repair facility located along the west bank of the Cooper River (South Carolina), Cooper River, in North Charleston, South Carolina and p ...

, launched on 23 April 1944, and commissioned as USS ''LSM-135'' on 31 May 1944.

Service history

Philippines

''LSM-135'' was assigned to the Asiatic-Pacific Theater and participated in the

Leyte Leyte ( ) is an island in the Visayas group of islands in the Philippines. It is eighth-largest and sixth-most populous island in the Philippines, with a total population of 2,626,970 as of 2020 census. Since the accessibility of land has been ...

operation, which included Leyte landings, 20 October 1944, and

Ormoc Bay Ormoc Bay is a large bay in the island of Leyte (island), Leyte in the Philippines. The bay is an extension of the Camotes Sea. The city of Ormoc lies at the head of the bay and exports rice, copra and sugar. The Pacific War, World War II Batt ...

landings, 7 to 8 December 1944. She also participated in additional

Philippine The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

landings at

Luzon Luzon ( , ) is the largest and most populous List of islands in the Philippines, island in the Philippines. Located in the northern portion of the List of islands of the Philippines, Philippine archipelago, it is the economic and political ce ...

and at

Lingayen Gulf Lingayen Gulf is a large gulf on northwestern Luzon in the Philippines, stretching . It is framed by the provinces of Pangasinan and La Union and sits between the Zambales Mountains and the Cordillera Central (Luzon), Cordillera Central. The Agno ...

on 9 January 1945.

Okinawa, kamikaze strike

''LSM-135'' participated in the Assault and occupation of Okinawa Gunto in April and May 1945. While operating at Okinawa she was sunk by

kamikaze , officially , were a part of the Japanese Special Attack Units of military aviators who flew suicide attacks for the Empire of Japan against Allied naval vessels in the closing stages of the Pacific campaign of World War II, intending to d ...

attack off the

Ryukyu Islands The , also known as the or the , are a chain of Japanese islands that stretch southwest from Kyushu to Geography of Taiwan, Taiwan: the Ryukyu Islands are divided into the Satsunan Islands (Ōsumi Islands, Ōsumi, Tokara Islands, Tokara and A ...

, 25 May 1945 at approximately 0830 hours. ''LSM-135'' had only been in service 11 months and 25 days. At the time of her sinking ''LSM-135'' was picking up survivors from the

minesweeper A minesweeper is a small warship designed to remove or detonate naval mines. Using various mechanisms intended to counter the threat posed by naval mines, minesweepers keep waterways clear for safe shipping. History The earliest known usage of ...

when it also was hit by kamikaze attack and burst into flames. The

destroyer escort Destroyer escort (DE) was the United States Navy mid-20th-century classification for a warship designed with the endurance necessary to escort mid-ocean convoys of merchant marine ships. Development of the destroyer escort was promoted by th ...

rescued twenty survivors of the

high speed transport High-speed transports were converted destroyers and destroyer escorts used in US Navy amphibious operations in World War II and afterward. They received the US Hull classification symbol APD; "AP" for transport and "D" for destroyer. In 1969, t ...

, which was sinking from two kamikaze hits, and eleven survivors from ''LSM-135''. ''LSM-135'' was struck from the ''Naval Register'' (date unknown). Final Disposition, hulk donated, 10 July 1957, to the Government of the

, fate unknown. ''LSM-135'' earned three

battle stars A service star is a miniature bronze or silver five-pointed star in diameter that is authorized to be worn by members of the eight uniformed services of the United States on medals and ribbons to denote an additional award or service period. T ...

for

service

References

External links

Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships
*

{{DEFAULTSORT:LSM-135 Ships built in Charleston, South Carolina World War II amphibious warfare vessels of the United States Ships sunk by kamikaze attack World War II shipwrecks in the Philippine Sea 1944 ships LSM-1-class landing ships medium Maritime incidents in May 1945

Service history

Philippines

Okinawa, kamikaze strike

See also

References

External links