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NavSource Online: Amphibious Photo Archive

LSM(R) / LFR-401 Big Black River

Flag Hoist/International Radio Call Sign:
November - Tango - Tango - Golf

Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons

Precedence of awards is from top to bottom, left to right
Top Row - Combat Action Ribbon (retroactive, 13 to 17 September 1950)
Second Row - American Campaign Medal - World War II Victory Medal - National Defense Service Medal
Bottom Row - Korean Service Medal (7) - United Nations Service Medal - Republic of Korea War Service Medal (retroactive)

LSM(R)-401 Class Landing Ship Medium (Rocket):

Laid down, 2 January 1945, at US Naval Shipyard, Charleston, SC

Launched, 22 January 1945

Commissioned USS LSM(R)-401, 7 April 1945, LT. Robert Chitrin, USNR, in command

During the Korean War LSM(R)-401 assigned to LSMR Squadron Five and participated in the following campaigns:

**Korean War Campaigns**
Campaign and Dates	Campaign and Dates
North Korean Aggression 18 September to 21 October 1951	U.N. Summer-Fall Offensive, 16 to 24 November 1951
Communist China Aggression, 10 December 1950 to 14 January 1951	Second Korean Winter, 1 December 1951 to 3 April 1952
Inchon Landing, 13 to 17 September 1950	Korean Defense Summer-Fall, 5 to 16 May 1952, 26 June to 4 July 1952
First U.N. Counter Offensive, 29 January to 10 February 1951	.

Decommissioned, 15 February 1954

Laid up in the Pacific Reserve Fleet

Named USS Big Black River (LSM(R)-401), 1 October 1955

Redesignated Inshore Fire Support Ship, (LFR-401), 1 January 1969

Struck from the Naval Register, 1 May 1973

Final Disposition, sold by (DRMS) Defense Reutilization and Marketing Service for scrap, 1 August 1974

LSM(R)-401 earned seven battle stars for Korean War service

Specifications:
Displacement 758 t.(light), 993 t.(attack) 1,175 t. (fully loaded)
Length 203' 6" o.a.
Beam 34' 6"
Draft 7' forward, 9' aft
Speed 13 kts.
Complement 6 officers, 137 enlisted
Armament

one single 5"/38 dual purpose gun mount

two twin 40mm gun mounts

four twin 20mm gun mounts (after Korean War)

ten twin tube continuous loading 5" spin stabilizer rocket launchers (two removed after Korean War)

four 4".2 mortars (removed after Korean War)

two .50 cal machine guns on the forecastle

two .30 cal machine guns on the bridge wings.
Armor 10-lb. STS on conning station, pilot-house, radio room, radar plot, and rocket control, 10-lb. ASPP around 40 and 20mm gun mounts and directors
Propulsion two General Motors 16-287A (non-reversing with airflex clutch) diesels, direct drive with 1,440 BHP each @ 720rpm, twin screws, Endurance, 3,000 miles @ 13kts

Size	Image Description	Contributed By
74k	*LSM(R)-401* underway at Charleston, S.C. passing under the Cooper River Bridge during acceptance trials, 9 April 1945. Notice the US Army Hospital Ship USAHS Larkspur just visible beyond *LSM(R)-401* The *Larkspur* served as the US Navy's destroyer tender Bridgeport (AD-10) prior to World War II. US Navy Yard Charleston, S.C. photo.	USS LSM / LSMR Association
49k	*LSM(R)-401* underway at Charleston, S.C. during acceptance trials, 9 April 1945. Port broadside view. US Navy Yard Charleston, S.C. photo # 1155-45.	USS LSM / LSMR Association
49k	*LSM(R)-401* underway on the Cooper River at Charleston, S.C. during acceptance trials, 9 April 1945. Starboard broadside view. US Navy Yard Charleston, S.C. photo.	USS LSM / LSMR Association
92k	*LSM(R)-401* underway at Charleston, S.C. during acceptance trials, 9 April 1945. US Navy Yard Charleston, S.C. photo # 1162-45.	USS LSM / LSMR Association
84k	*LSM(R)-401* underway at Charleston, S.C. during acceptance trials, 9 April 1945, stern view. US Navy Yard Charleston, S.C. photo.	USS LSM / LSMR Association
114k	*LSM(R)-401* underway at Charleston, S.C. during acceptance trials, 9 April 1945, overhead view. US Navy Yard Charleston, S.C. photo.	USS LSM / LSMR Association
152k	*LSM(R)-401* moored second from the left in a nest of LSM(R)'s at San Diego, February 1946. US National Archives photo # 80-G-354586, a US Navy photo now in the collections of the US National Archives.	USS LSM / LSMR Association
79k	*LSM(R)-409, LSM(R)-412, LSM(R)-401, LSM(R)-403, LSM(R)-404* and *LSM(R)-419* moored at Yokosuka, Japan, 1 May 1951 US Navy photo.	Lewis Smith to the USS LSM / LSMR Association
38k	*LSM(R)-401* underway, date and place unknown.	.
22k	*LSM(R)-401* entering Cabildo (LSD-16)'s well deck, date and place unknown.	USS Cabildo Association Web Site
19k	*LSM(R)-401* underway, date and place unknown.	Hyperwar US Navy in World War II
92k	*LSM(R)-401* underway, off San Diego, CA. 5 April 1954. Photo by Oather Morper.	Bill Brinkley and the USS LSM-LSMR Association
123k	*LSM(R)-401* firing rockets, date and place unknown. US Navy photo from "All Hands" magazine, November 1951.	Joe Radigan MACM USN Ret.
143k	Big Black River LSM(R)-401 firing rockets, date and place unknown.	USS LSM / LSMR Association
111k	Big Black River LSM(R)-401 underway, date and place unknown.	USS LSM / LSMR Association
72k	Big Black River LSM(R)-401 moored to a buoy, date and place unknown. Photo from the collection of Samuel L. Morison.	USS LSM / LSMR Association