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NavSource Online: Amphibious Photo Archive

LSM-445
YV-1 Catapult

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 - National Defense Service Medal
LSM-1 Class Landing Ship Medium:
  • Laid down (date unknown) at Dravo Corporation, Wilmington, DE.
  • Launched, 24 April 1945
  • Commissioned USS LSM-445, 19 May 1945, LT. James R. DeVaughn, USNR, in command
  • During World War II LSM-445 was assigned to the Asiatic-Pacific Theater
  • LSM-445 was reconfigured to serve as a Radar Training Ship from March 1950 to March 1954, for the Third Naval District, at New York Navy Yard, Brooklyn, N.Y.
  • Converted in March 1954, to a Drone Aircraft Catapult Control Ship
  • Named and reclassified USS Catapult (YV-1), 1 June 1957
  • Decommissioned, 19 May 1960, at San Diego, CA.
  • Struck from the Naval Register (date unknown)
  • Final Disposition, sold, 15 December 1960, to David L. Updike, converted to a barge, fate unknown
    Specifications:
    Displacement 520 t.(light), 743 t.(landing) 1,095 t.(fully loaded)
    Length 203' 6"
    Beam 34' 6"
    Draft light, 3' 6" forward, 7' 8" aft, fully loaded, 6' 4" forward, 8' 3" aft
    Speed 13.2kts, (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 Accommodations 2 officers, 46 enlisted
    Armor 10-lb. STS splinter shield to gun mounts, pilot house and conning station
    Propulsion two General Motors (non-reversible with airflex 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
    USS LSM-445
    LSM-445 44k LSM-445 launch at Dravo Corporation, Wilmington, DE., 24 April 1945. USS LSM / LSMR Association
    LSM-445 86k LSM-445 as a Radar Training Ship, at anchor in the Hudson River, near New York City, date unknown.
    A Ted Stone photo.    		 USS LSM / LSMR Association
    LSM-445 122k LSM-445 as a Radar Training Ship, moored pierside, at the New York Naval Shipyard, Brooklyn, N.Y., date unknown.
    US Navy photo from "All Hands" magazine, January 1954    		 Joe Radigan MACM USN Ret.
    LSM-445 51k LSM-445 as a Radar Training Ship underway, off New York, date unknown. Bill Brinkley and the USS LSM-LSMR Association
    LSM-445 67k LSM-445 as a Drone Aircraft Catapult Control Ship, off San Diego, CA., 8 July 1954.
    Photo by Oather Morper.    		 Bill Brinkley and the USS LSM-LSMR Association
    LSM-445 58k LSM-445 as a Drone Aircraft Catapult Control Ship, underway, at San Diego in 1955.
    US Navy photo # NH 55065 from the collections of the US Naval Historical Center.    		 USS LSM / LSMR Association
    LSM-445 60k LSM-445 as a Drone Aircraft Catapult Control Ship, underway, date and place unknown. USS LSM / LSMR Association
    LSM-89 40k LSM-89 moored pierside with LSM-445 moored outboard on her starboard side. In this photo LSM-445 has been converted to a Drone Aircraft Catapult Control Ship, but her hull number had not been changed, dating this photo as circa 1954 to 1957, location most likely San Diego. David Agee
    USS Catapult (YV-1)
    LSM-445 93k Catapult (YV-1), underway, date and place unknown.
    US Navy photo # USN 1106419    		 USS LSM / LSMR Association
    The DANFS history extract for LSM-445 / YV-1 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
    Back to the Navsource Photo Archives Main Page Back To The Amphibious Ship Type Index Back To The Landing Ship Medium (LSM) 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 13 May 2005