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NavSource Online: Amphibious Photo Archive

LSM(R) / LFR-522 Red River

Flag Hoist/International Radio Call Sign:
November - Juliet - Uniform - Kilo

Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons

Precedence of awards is from left to right
American Campaign Medal - World War II Victory Medal - National Defense Service Medal

LSM(R)-501 Class Landing Ship Medium (Rocket):

Laid down, 5 May 1945, at Brown Ship Building Co, Houston, TX.

Launched, 9 June 1945

Commissioned, 6 August 1945 USS LSM(R)-522, LT. Robert W. Gutzwiller, USNR in command

Decommissioned, 19 April 1946, at Green Cove Springs, FL.

Laid up in the Atlantic Reserve Fleet, Florida Group, Green Cove Springs

Recommissioned, 2 April 1951

Decommissioned, 15 May 1955, at Orange, TX.

Laid up in the Atlantic Reserve Fleet, Texas Group, Orange

Named USS Red River LSM(R)-522, 1 October 1955

Reclassified Inshore Fire Support Ship (LFR-522), 1 January 1969

Struck from the Naval Register, 1 May 1973

Final Disposition, sold for scrapping by Defense Reutilization and Marketing Service (DRMS), 1 June 1974, to Inter Division Shipping Co. S.A., Panama, renamed Bilat, fate unknown

Specifications:
Displacement 758 t.(light), 993 t. (attack) 1,175 t. (fully loaded)
Length 206' 3" o.a.
Beam 34' 6"
Draft light, 5' 4" (mean), attack 6' 9" (mean), fully loaded 7' 9" (mean)
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

ten twin continuous loading 5" SS rocket launchers

four 4".2 mortars
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 (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
71k	*LSMR-522* underway off Brown Ship Building Co., Inc.'s, shipyard at Houston, TX., circa August 1945. Completion photograph, bow view, port side. US Navy photo, Supervisor of Shipbuilding, Houston, TX.	USS LSM / LSMR Association
67k	*LSMR-522* underway off Brown Ship Building Co., Inc.'s, shipyard at Houston, TX., circa August 1945. Completion photograph, broadside view, starboard side. US Navy photo, Supervisor of Shipbuilding, Houston, TX.	USS LSM / LSMR Association
71k	*LSMR-522* underway off Brown Ship Building Co., Inc.'s, shipyard at Houston, TX., circa August 1945. Completion photograph, stern view, port side. US Navy photo, Supervisor of Shipbuilding, Houston, TX.	USS LSM / LSMR Association
45k	*LSM(R)-522* and *LSM(R)-523* moored together, circa 1944-45, in the Chesapeake Bay. Photo by Nick Neiser USS LSMR-523	USS LSM / LSMR Association
35k	*LSM(R)-522* at anchor in the Chesapeake Bay with *LSM(R)-523, date unknown. Photo by John A McDonald USS LSMR-524*.	Mark McDonald for his father John A. McDonald S1/c USS LSM(R)-524
58k	Seventeen LSM(R)s at Green Cove Springs, FL. during Operation "Zipper", the process of decommissioning the fleet, commonly called "mothballing", March 1946. From front to back: *LSM(R)-519* *LSM(R)-526,* *LSM(R)-527,* *LSM(R)-525,* *LSM(R)-524,* (See Deck Log entry below) *LSM(R)-529,* *LSM(R)-521,* *LSM(R)-528,* *LSM(R)-522,* *LSM(R)-531,* *LSM(R)-536,* *LSM(R)-535,* *LSM(R)-534,* *LSM(R)-520,* *LSM(R)-533,* *LSM(R)-530,* *LSM(R)-523,* The *LSMR-524* Deck Log states during the month of March 1946 Moored in Birth Oak 31, St. Johns River Green Cove Springs. Fla. Anchorage in 14 feet of water, mud bottom with 65 fathoms of chain to bow anchor and 495 feet of cable to the stern anchor. Nested with LSM (R) type ships: 523, 530, 533, 520, 534, 535, 536, 531, 522, 528, 521, and 529, moored to our starboard numbering from inboard to outboard. LSM(R) type ships: 525, 527, 526, and 519, moored to our port numbering from inboard to outboard , on the following bearing: bridge opening 180 .5 (T), signal tower 235 (T), pt. of land 336 (T). The following machinery in operation: #1 generator, #1 evaporator, #2 fire & flushing pumps, #2 fresh water pumps, #2 refrigeration unit.	Robert Hanle to the USS LSM / LSMR Association Log Entry submitted by Mark McDonald for his father John A. McDonald S1/c USS LSM(R)-524
51k	*LSMR-522* underway, date and place unknown. Photo courtesy Samuel L. Morison collection.	USS LSM / LSMR Association
91k	*LSMR-522*, date and place unknown. US Navy photo.	Paul Stolarski to honor his late father EN3 Henry Stolarski, USS LSM(R)-522 Korean War.
71k	*LSMR-522* underway off Virginia Beach, VA. in the VACAPES operating area, date unknown. US Navy photo	USS LSM / LSMR Association
100k	*LSMR-522* entering port at Norfolk, VA. in 1954. US Navy photo # NH 85001 from the collections of the US Naval Historical Center, courtesy D.M. McPherson, 1976.	USS LSM / LSMR Association
84k	*LSMR-522* underway, date and location unknown. US Navy photo.	David Buell for his father CWO4 Benton E. Buell USN USS St. Francis River LSM(R)-525 1966-67.
100k	*LSMR-522* underway, date and location unknown. US Navy photo.	David Buell for his father CWO4 Benton E. Buell USN USS St. Francis River LSM(R)-525 1966-67.