Acronym for Landing Ship Tank

   Naval ship specially designed to transport and deploy troops, vehicles, and supplies onto foreign shores for the conduct of offensive military operations.

   LST's were designed during World War II, Korean War, and the Vietnam War, to disembark military forces and transport logistical cargos, without the use of dock facilities or the various cranes and lifts necessary to unload merchant ships.

   They gave the Allies the ability to conduct amphibious invasions and supply runs at any location on a foreign shore that had a gradually sloped beach.