Naval mine ship, HMHS "Britannic", which was the sister ship of the RMS "Titanic." During World War II, the U-boat fleet, which dominated much of the battle of the Atlantic, was small at the beginning of the war and much of the early action by German forces involved mining convoy routes and ports around Britain. German submarines also operated in the Mediterranean Sea, in the Caribbean Sea, and along the U.S. coast. Initially, contact mines (requiring a ship to physically strike a mine to detonate it) were employed, usually tethered at the end of a cable just below the surface of the
Landing Ship, Tank (Hospital) Landing Ship, Tank (Hospital) Landing Ship, Tank (Hospital) (LSTH) was a conversion of a LST designed to act as a hospital ship, but because they retained armament were not officially designated as such. The Tank Landing Ship (LST) was a vessel designed to beach itself and unload equipment, vehicles, tanks, and troops onto an enemy beach. The general idea of an LSTH would be to bring troops to shore, but the convenience of a ship beached ashore proved to be an inviting harbor for the sick and injured, who could simply walk aboard. On D-Day most of the troops were