LST-779

(Neptun 1389a)

Notes: Representing second major class of Landing Ship Tank. Some 1152 LST were ordered, 982 completed during WW2. Originally designated ATL until late 1942. Many were built at inland yards on the Illinois, Missouri, and Ohio rivers, and then sailed down the Mississippi. Thirty-nine were converted for the evacuation of casualties as LST(H) in 1945. Eighty-three others were converted to or completed as repair ships, MTB tenders, and service craft. Some 75 were delivered to Royal Navy.
Service: LST-779 was at Iwo Jima, beaching 23 Feb 1945. An eight-foot battle ensign borrowed from the ship by an enterprising Marine was carried up Mt. Suribachi and used in the second flag-raising. Captured on film by AP photographer Joe Rosenthal, this was arguably the most famous photograph of the Pacific War.