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SEAMAN FIRST
CLASS ALLEN HARRY VAN DEVENTER of 516 Lester
Terrace, Camden NJ was
killed in action on December 21, 1944. He had attended Camden High
School, and had worked at Philadelphia Navy Yard prior his entrance
into the Navy, on January 27, 1944. He joined the crew of LST-749 on
June 23, 1944 after having trained at the LST training facility at Cam
Bradford, Virginia. USS LST-749 was an LST-542-class tank landing ship in the United States Navy. Like many of her class, she was not named and is properly referred to by her hull designation.
She was laid down on April 10, 1944 at Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, by the Dravo
Corporation, Neville Island; launched on May 20, 1944; sponsored by Mrs. George W. Scott; and commissioned on
June 23, 1944, Lt. Ralph B. Flynn in command. During World War II, LST 749 was assigned to the Pacific theater and participated in the Leyte landings in October and November 1944. On the way to Mindoro, Philippines, in the Sulu Sea, she was struck by a Japanese kamikaze on
December 21, 1944. The plane crashed into the bridge of the LST, instantly killing many of the navy personnel on board. The LST floundered and a first attempt at rescue was abandoned for fear of an explosion. Eventually many of the survivors were rescued by the crew of the destroyer USS Converse (DD-509). The ship was struck from the Navy list on 19 January 1945.
LST-749 earned one battle star for World War II service.
Edward A. Ferguson was an engineer being transported by LST-749 to Mindoro. He was having lunch on the deck of LST-749 when the aerial attack began and his memoirs of this event and others have been donated to the Utah State University library.
Allen H. Van Deventer was survived by his parents, Mr. and Mrs. Allen
Edward Van Deventer of the Lester Terrace address. |
