USS LST-903

Career
Laid down:	15 October 1944
Launched:	23 December 1944
Commissioned:	20 January 1945
Decommissioned:	10 September 1946
Fate:	Sunk as a target
Struck:	1 November 1958
General characteristics
Displacement:	1,625 tons (light), 3,640 tons (full)
Length:	328 ft 0 in
Beam:	50 ft 0 in
Draft:	Bow 2'-4", stern 7'-6" (unloaded) bow 8'-2", stern 14'-1" (unloaded)
Propulsion:	Two General Motors 12-567 diesel engines, two shafts, twin rudders
Speed:	12 knots
Depth:	8' fwd; 14'-4" aft (full load)
Complement:	8-10 officers, 89-100 enlisted men
Troop capacity:	Approximately 130 officers and enlisted men
Boats:	Two LCVPs
Armament:	Eight 40mm guns, twelve 20mm guns

The USS Lyman County (LST-903) was one of 50 LST-491-class tank landing ships (LSTs) built for the United States Navy during World War II. Named after Lyman County, South Dakota, she was the only U.S. Naval vessel to bear the name.

Originally laid down as LST-903 by the Dravo Corporation of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on 15 October 1944; launched 23 December 1944; sponsored by Mrs. E. W. Wilson; and commissioned at New Orleans, Louisiana 20 January 1945 with Lieutenant John B. Darrow in command. After shakedown out of St. Andrews Bay, Florida LST-903 departed New Orleans 21 February for the Pacific. Steaming via the Panama Canal and San Diego, she reached Pearl Harbor 27 March. During the next 7 weeks she participated in intensive amphibious training in Hawaiian waters; and, after embarking Army troops and loading LVTs, she sailed in convoy for the Marianas 20 May. LST-903 steamed via Eniwetok, arrived Saipan 10 June, and on 11 July departed on a supply run to Okinawa and Guam. At the conclusion of hostilities she was operating out of Saipan; thence from 23 to 29 August she steamed to Leyte Gulf for supply runs among the Philippine Islands. Between 20 September and 4 November she made two runs carrying occupation troops from Manila Bay, Luzon to Yokohama, Japan. Departing Japan 11 November, she sailed via the Marianas and Pearl Harbor and reached San Diego 31 December.

LST-903 operated along the west coast during the next 5 months before reaching Puget Sound 1 June 1946 for deactivation. She decommissioned at Vancouver, Washington 10 September and entered the Pacific Reserve Fleet. Named USS Lyman County (LST-903) 1 July 1955, she was designated a target ship 20 October 1958. Her name was struck from the Naval Vessel Register 1 November. On 28 March 1959 she was torpedoed by the USS Menhaden (SS-377) off the coast of Baja, California and sank in 720 fathoms of water.

 This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships.

• "Lyman County". Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. Retrieved August 10. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
• "LST-903 Lyman County". Amphibious Photo Archive. Retrieved August 10. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)

• List of United States Navy LSTs