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NavSource Online: Service Ship Photo Archive

LST-1099 / ARST-2 Okala

Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons


Precedence of awards is from top to bottom, left to right
Top Row - American Campaign Medal
Bottom Row - Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal - World War II Victory Medal - Navy Occupation Service Medal (with Asia clasp)
Laysan Island Class Salvage Craft Tender
  • Laid down as LST-1099 at Jeffersonville Bridge and Machine Co., Jeffersonville, IN.
  • Redesignated Salvage Craft Tender ARST-2, 8 December 1944
  • Named Okala, 23 December 1944
  • Launched, 8 February 1945
  • Placed in reduced commission in mid June 1945, for transit down the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers to Algiers, LA.
  • Fully commissioned, USS Okala (ARST-2), 28 June 1945 at Algiers, LA., LT. Louis Silver in command
  • Decommissioned, 5 August 1946, at Seattle, WA.
  • Struck from the Naval Register, 15 October 1946
  • Transferred to the Maritime Commission for disposal
  • Final Disposition, sold by the Maritime Commission to Columbia River Packing Association, fate unknown
    Specifications:
    Displacement 4,100 t.
    Length 328'
    Beam 50'
    Draft 11' 2"
    Speed 11.6 kts.
    Complement 289
    Armament
    two twin 40mm AA gun mounts
    twelve single 20mm AA gun mounts
    Boats four LCVPs
    Propulsion two General Motors 12-567 diesel engines, two shafts, twin rudders
    Click On Image
    For Full Size Image    		 Size Image Description Source
    Okala 41k Okala (ARST-2) near Memphis, TN, 26 June 1945, during her delivery voyage down the Mississippi River system. Note that her mast has been folded down to clear bridges during this river trip. The ship is painted in what appears to be Measure 31 camouflage scheme.
    US Navy photo # NH 76090, courtesy of CAPT. C.W. Stoll, via Charles H. Bogart, 1972.    		 US Naval Historical Center
    Okala 53k Okala (ARST-2) underway, circa mid-1945.
    US Navy photo # NH 84686, courtesy of Donald M. McPherson, 1972.    		 US Naval Historical Center
    View the Okala (ARST-2)
    DANFS history entry located at the US Naval Historical Center web site
    Crew Contact And Reunion Information
    U.S.Navy Memorial Foundation
    Fleet Reserve Association
    Additional Resources and Web Sites of Interest
    No Information Available
    Back to the Navsource Photo Archives Main Page Back To the Service Ship Photo Index Back To the Amphibious Ship Photo Index Back To the Landing Ship Tank (LST) Photo Index Back To The Salvage Craft Tender (ARST) Photo Index
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    This page is created and maintained by Gary P. Priolo
    © 2005 Gary P. Priolo © 1996 - 2008 NavSource Naval History. All Rights Reserved.
    Last Updated 15 December 2006