HMS LST-404
British Landing ship
HMS LST-404 after being torpedoed. Photo courtesy of Robert Hurst
| Name | HMS LST-404 | ||
| Type: | Landing ship | ||
| Tonnage | 1,625 tons | ||
| Completed | 1942 - Bethlehem-Fairfield Shipyards Inc, Baltimore MD | ||
| Owner | The Admiralty | ||
| Homeport | |||
| Date of attack | 15 Aug 1944 | Nationality:  British | |
| Fate | A total loss by U-741 (Gerhard Palmgren) | ||
| Position | 50° 02'N, 0° 38'W - Grid BF 35 | ||
| Complement | ? men (? dead and ? survivors). | ||
| Convoy | FTM-69 | ||
| Route | Seine Bay (15 Aug) - Southend | ||
| Cargo | |||
| History | Completed in December 1942 as USS LST-404 for the US Navy, but the same day transferred to the Royal Navy as HMS LST-404. | ||
| Notes on event | At 16.35 hours on 15 August 1944, U-741 attacked convoy FTM-69 about 35 miles southeast of St. Catherine’s Point and torpedoed HMS LST-404, but was sunk after the attack by an escort vessel. HMS LST-404 was returning from the Normandy beachhead with wounded personnel, casualties and prisoners of war. Eight crew members and several German prisoners were killed by the torpedo explosion. HMS LST-413 went alongside, took off the passengers and most of the crew and landed them at Portsmouth. The badly damaged landing ship was taken in tow by the American rescue tug USS ATR-4 to St. Helen’s Roads, Isle of Wight and then proceeded to Lee-on-Solent, arriving in the evening of 16 August. HMS LST-404 later broke in two and was declared a total loss. The wreck was broken up at Zeebrugge in June 1948. | ||
| On board | We have details of 12 people who were on board. | ||
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