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U.S. National Archives #19-N-78643
The United States discovered midway through the war that landing craft were prone to tremendous wear and tear and that it was uneconomical in shipping to take them back to a rear base for repair. As a result, a number of LSDs were converted to repair ships for landing craft, as their internal dock was ideal for this purpose. The other naval powers had no equivalent.
Turner also ordered experiments with LSTs converted to "landing craft tenders." Two LSTs were converted at forward bases in time for the Iwo Jima campaign.
Each had living quarters for 340 sailors and cargo space for
provisions, and gave hard-pressed crews of landing craft a place to
rest when they were left at an invasion beach when their transports retired for the night. Though judged a success, landing craft tenders never became an official vessel type in the U.S. Navy.
References
Morison (1959)
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