Allied Warships

HMS LST 238 (LST 238)

Tank landing ship of the LST (Mk 2) class

NavyThe Royal Navy
TypeTank landing ship
ClassLST (Mk 2) 
PennantLST 238 
Built byMissouri Valley Bridge and Iron Co. (Evansville, Indiana, U.S.A.) 
Ordered 
Laid down5 Mar 1943 
Launched13 Jun 1943 
Commissioned16 Jul 1943 
End service12 Feb 1946 
History

Decommissioned on 12 February 1946 and returned to the USN the next day.

 
Former nameUSS LST 238

Commands listed for HMS LST 238 (LST 238)

Please note that we're still working on this section
and that we only list Commanding Officers for the duration of the Second World War.

CommanderFromTo
1T/A/Lt.Cdr. John Malcolm Cunningham, RNRFeb 19448 Aug 1945
2T/A/Lt.Cdr. Stanley Rodger Pearson, RNVR8 Aug 194512 Feb 1946

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Notable events involving LST 238 include:


22 Dec 1943

Convoy CJ 9A.

This convoy departed Calcutta on 22 December 1943.

It was made up of the following LST's;
HMS LST 180 (?), HMS LST 215 (Cdr.(Retd.) G.H.F. Owles, RN), HMS LST 238 (?), USS LST 17 (Lt. H.B. Gallagher, USCGR), USS LST 21 (Cdr. T.W. Greene, USN), USS LST 25 (Lt. E.F. Macellus, USNR), USS LST 72 (Lt. J.A. Lombard, USNR), USS LST 73 (Lt. H.M. Crossan, USNR), USS LST 175 (Lt. E.J. Fitzgerald, USNR), USS LST 176 (Lt.(jg) J.A. Salt, USNR), USS LST 208 (Lt. A. Strickland, USNR) and USS LST 209 (Lt. F.T. Ratchford, USNR).

On departure from Calcutta the convoy was escorted by the minelayer HrMs Willem van der Zaan (Lt.Cdr. G.P. Küller, RNN) and the auxiliary patrol vessel HMIS Kalavati (T/Lt. S. Gill, RINR).

Around 0730FG/25, the convoy escort was reinforced when the destroyer HMAS Quiberon (Cdr. G.S. Stewart, RAN) joined.

The destroyer HMS Quality (Lt.Cdr. G.L. Farnfield, DSO, RN), which had been in company with HMAS Quiberon proceeded to Madras with HMS LST 180 and HMS LST 238 arriving there later on the 25th.

The convoy arrived at Colombo on 27 December 1943. (1)

23 Dec 1943
Around 1600FG/23, HMS Quality (Lt.Cdr. G.L. Farnfield, DSO, RN) departed Trincomalee for an A/S hunt off Madras as an enemy submarine had attacked convoy JC 30 and sunk a transport.

Around 1900FG/23, HMAS Quiberon (Cdr. G.S. Stewart, RAN) departed Trincomalee also for an A/S hunt off Madras.

The destroyers joined company around 1100FG/24. They abandoned the A/S hunt around 2300FG/24 to make rendezvous with and join the escort of convoy CJ 9A. HMAS Quiberon joined the convoy around 0730FG/25. HMS Quality arrived at Madras later the 25th escorting HMS LST 180 (?) and HMS LST 238 (?) which had been detached from the convoy.

[For more info on this convoy see the event 'Convoy CJ 9A ' for 22 December 1943.] (2)

Sources

  1. Report of proceedings of HMAS Quiberon for December 1943 + War diary of USS LST 21 for December 1943
  2. ADM 53/116830 + ADM 199/643 + Report of proceedings of HMAS Quiberon for December 1943

ADM numbers indicate documents at the British National Archives at Kew, London.


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