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NavSource Online: Amphibious Photo Archive

USS LSM-68


International Radio Call Sign:
November - Victor - Foxtrot - Foxtrot
 NVFF
Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons


Precedence of awards is from top to bottom, left to right
Top Row - Combat Action Ribbon (retroactive) - American Campaign Medal
Bottom Row - Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal (4) - World War II Victory Medal - Philippines Liberation Medal (3)
LSM-1 Class Landing Ship Medium:
  • Laid down, date unknown, at Brown Ship Building Co., Houston, TX.
  • Launched, date unknown
  • Commissioned USS LSM-68, 10 September 1944, LT. William R. Walker, USNR in command
  • During World War II USS LSM-68 was assigned to the Asiatic-Pacific theater and participated in the following campaigns:
    Asiatic-Pacific Campaigns
    Campaign and Dates Campaign and Dates
    Luzon operation
    Lingayen Gulf landing, 9 January 1945     		Borneo operation
    Brunei Bay operation, 10 to 14 June 1945
    Manila Bay-Bicol operation
    Zambales-Subic Bay operation, 29 to 31 January 1945     		Consolidation and capture of the southern Philippines
    Mindanao Island landings, 12 July 1945

  • Decommissioned, 10 May 1946, at Mare Island Navy Yard, Vallejo, CA.
  • Struck from the Naval Register (date unknown)
  • Final Disposition, sold 13 January 1948, to Fairbanks Morse & Co., Chicago, IL., fate unknown.
  • USS LSM-68 earned four battle stars for World War II service
    Specifications:
    Displacement 520 t.(light), 743 t. (landing) 1,095 t.(fully loaded)
    Length 203' 6" oa
    Beam 34' 6"
    Draft light, 3' 6" forward, 7' 8" aft, fully loaded, 6' 4" forward, 8' 3" aft
    Speed 13.2 kts. (max.), (928 tons displacement)
    Complement 5 officers, 54 enlisted
    Armament one single bow mounted 40mm gun, four single 20mm gun mounts
    Vehicle/Boat Capacity 5 medium or 3 heavy tanks, or 6 LVT's, or 9 DUKW's
    Troop Capacity 2 officers, 46 enlisted
    Armor 10-lb. STS splinter shield to gun mounts, pilot house and conning station
    Propulsion two Fairbanks Morse (model 38D81/8X10, reversible with hydraulic clutch) diesels. Direct drive with 1,440 BHP each @ 720rpm, twin screws
    Endurance 4,900 miles @ 12kts.(928 tons displacement)
    Click On Image
    For Full Size Image    		 Size Image Description Contributed
    By
    LSM-68 36k USS LSM-68 beached, date and location unknown. Tim Perrine
    LSM-68 270k USS LSM-68 beached while disembarking troops on an invasion beach, date and location unknown. Roy Fessenden in memory of my Father, E.J. "Buck" Fessenden, MoMM1/c, USS LSM-68
    LSM-68 249k USS LSM-68 beached with her well deck full of artillery ammunition, date and location unknown. Roy Fessenden in memory of my Father, E.J. "Buck" Fessenden, MoMM1/c, USS LSM-68
    LSM-68 268k USS LSM-68 well deck with either Japanese prisoners of possibly Filipino troops squatting down, date and location unknown. Roy Fessenden in memory of my Father, E.J. "Buck" Fessenden, MoMM1/c, USS LSM-68
    LSM-68 187k USS LSM-68 just off an invasion beach with bow doors open. Note the flotsam and Jetsam in the surf. There may well be human bodies washing around the this mess, date and location unknown. Roy Fessenden in memory of my Father, E.J. "Buck" Fessenden, MoMM1/c, USS LSM-68
    LSM-68 351k USS LSM-68 beached, date and location unknown. Roy Fessenden in memory of my Father, E.J. "Buck" Fessenden, MoMM1/c, USS LSM-68
    LSM-68 400k USS LSM-68 beached alongside an unidentified LCI, date and location unknown. Roy Fessenden in memory of my Father, E.J. "Buck" Fessenden, MoMM1/c, USS LSM-68
    LSM-68 222k USS LSM-68 beached with an unidentified LSM while crew members, move materials off-loaded from the ship on to the beach, date and location unknown. Roy Fessenden in memory of my Father, E.J. "Buck" Fessenden, MoMM1/c, USS LSM-68
    LSM-68 476k USS LSM-68 beached with an unidentified LSM while crew members, move materials off-loaded from the ship on to the beach, date and location unknown. Roy Fessenden in memory of my Father, E.J. "Buck" Fessenden, MoMM1/c, USS LSM-68
    LSM-68 366k USS LSM-68 unknown naval officer. Roy Fessenden in memory of my Father, E.J. "Buck" Fessenden, MoMM1/c, USS LSM-68
    LSM-68 249k USS LSM-68 in a harbor, date and location unknown.. Roy Fessenden in memory of my Father, E.J. "Buck" Fessenden, MoMM1/c, USS LSM-68
    LSM-68 763k USS LSM-68, Japanese soldier operating a motor boat, date and location unknown. Roy Fessenden in memory of my Father, E.J. "Buck" Fessenden, MoMM1/c, USS LSM-68
    LSM-497 50k USS LSM-68 and sixteen additional LSMs moored at Apra Guam, waiting for orders to return to the United State, January 1946. Other LSMs that can be identified are USS LSM-286, USS LSM-64, USS LSM-203, USS LSM-219, USS LSM-497. USS LSM / LSMR Association
    The DANFS history extract for USS LSM-68 is from LSM-LSMR Amphibious Forces, Vol. II. Paducah, Kentucky: Turner Publishing Company, © 1997. (ISBN 1-56311-389-9).
    Crew Contact And Reunion Information
    U.S.Navy Memorial Foundation
    Fleet Reserve Association
    Additional Resources and Web Sites of Interest
    USS LSM / LSMR Association
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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 16 May 2008