Editing Roll-on/roll-off (section)

===The landing ship, tank===
[[File:LST Sicily.jpg|thumb|A [[Canada|Canadian]] LST off-loads an [[M4 Sherman]] during the [[Allied invasion of Sicily]] in 1943.]]

During [[World War II]], [[Landing Ship, Tank|landing ships]] (LST, ''"Landing Ship, Tank"'') were the first purpose-built seagoing ships enabling road vehicles to roll directly on and off. The British [[Operation Dynamo|evacuation from Dunkirk]] in 1940 demonstrated to the [[British Admiralty|Admiralty]] that the Allies needed relatively large, seagoing ships capable of shore-to-shore delivery of [[tank]]s and other vehicles in [[amphibious assault]]s upon the continent of Europe. As an interim measure, three 4000 to 4800 GRT tankers, built to pass over the restrictive bars of [[Lake Maracaibo]], [[Venezuela]], were selected for conversion because of their shallow draft. Bow doors and ramps were added to these ships, which became the first tank landing ships.<ref>{{Cite book| title=British and Dominion Warships of World War II |author1=Lenton, H.T.  |author2=Colledge, J.J.  |name-list-style=amp |publisher=Doubleday and Company |year=1968|page=577}}</ref>

The first purpose-built LST design was {{HMS|Boxer|F121|6}}. It was a scaled down design from ideas penned by Churchill. To carry 13 [[Churchill tank|Churchill]] [[infantry tank]]s, 27 vehicles and nearly 200 men (in addition to the crew) at a speed of 18 knots, it could not have the shallow draught that would have made for easy unloading. As a result, each of the three (''Boxer'', ''Bruiser'', and ''Thruster'') ordered in March 1941 had a very long ramp stowed behind the bow doors.<ref name="Brown">{{cite book|author=Brown, D.K.|title=The Design and Construction of British Warships 1939–1945|volume= 3 Amphibious Warfare Vessels and Auxiliaries|year=1996|isbn=0-85177-675-2|pages=142–143|publisher=Conway Maritime Press }}</ref>

In November 1941, a small delegation from the British Admiralty arrived in the United States to pool ideas with the [[United States Navy]]'s [[Bureau of Ships]] with regard to development of ships and also including the possibility of building further ''Boxer''s in the US.<ref name="Brown" /> During this meeting, it was decided that the Bureau of Ships would design these vessels. As with the standing agreement these would be built by the US so British shipyards could concentrate on building vessels for the [[Royal Navy]]. The specification called for vessels capable of crossing the Atlantic and the original title given to them was "Atlantic Tank Landing Craft" (Atlantic (T.L.C.)). Calling a vessel {{convert|300|ft|m|abbr=on}} long a "craft" was considered a misnomer and the type was re-christened "Landing Ship, Tank (2)", or "LST (2)".

The LST(2) design incorporated elements of the first British LCTs from their designer, Sir Rowland Baker, who was part of the British delegation. This included sufficient buoyancy in the ships' sidewalls that they would float even with the tank deck flooded.<ref name="Brown" /> The LST(2) gave up the speed of HMS ''Boxer'' at only {{convert|10|kn}} but had a similar load while drawing only {{convert|3|ft|m|abbr=on}} forward when beaching. In three separate acts dated 6 February 1942, 26 May 1943, and 17 December 1943, Congress provided the authority for the construction of LSTs along with a host of other auxiliaries, [[destroyer escort]]s, and assorted [[landing craft]]. The enormous building program quickly gathered momentum. Such a high priority was assigned to the construction of LSTs that the previously laid keel of an [[aircraft carrier]] was hastily removed to make room for several LSTs to be built in her place. The keel of the first LST was laid down on 10 June 1942 at [[Newport News, Virginia]], and the first standardized LSTs were floated out of their building dock in October. Twenty-three were in commission by the end of 1942.