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NavSource Online: Amphibious Photo Archive

USS LSM-458

Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons

Precedence of awards is from left to right
American Campaign Medal - Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal - World War II Victory Medal
LSM-1 Class Landing Ship Medium:
  • Laid down, 5 December 1944, at Western Pipe and Steel Co., San Pedro, CA.
  • Launched, 28 January 1945
  • Commissioned USS LSM-458, 22 March 1945, LTjg. C.F. Schneider USNR in command
  • During World War II USS LSM-458 was assigned to the Asiatic-Pacific Theater:
    LSM Flotilla Fourteen, LCDR. W. R. McCaleb;
     LSM Group Forty-Two;
     LSM Division Eighty-Four
  • Placed in reduced commission, 1 June 1945 for fitting of cycloidal propellers
  • Fully re-commissioned, USS LSM-458, 15 November 1945
  • Decommissioned, 24 December 1947, at Portsmouth, VA.
  • Struck from the Naval Register, date unknown
  • Donated in September 1948, to Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW), Belleville, N.J. hulk beached permanently at Belleville but never converted to a VFW post
  • Final Disposition, probably scrapped, date unknown
    Specifications:
    Displacement 520 t.(light), 743 t. (landing) 1,095 t.(fully loaded)
    Length 203' 6" (ovl)
    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 twin 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
    Fuel Capacity
    Diesel 1,225 Bbls
    Troop Accommodations
    2 officers
    46 enlisted
    Armor 10-lb. STS splinter shield to gun mounts, pilot house and conning station
    Endurance 4,900 miles @ 12kts.(928 tons displacement)
    Propulsion
    two General Motors (model GM 16-278A, reversible with hydraulic clutch) Diesel engines, direct drive with 1,440 BHP each @ 720rpm
    Ship's Service Generators
     two Diesel-drive 100Kw 450V A.C.
     one Diesel-drive 20Kw 120V D.C.
    twin propellers, 2,800shp
    Click On Image
    For Full Size Image    		 Size Image Description Contributed
    By
    LSM-458 57k USS LSM-458 drydocked on a car barge at Everett Pacific Shipbuilding, Everett, WA. LSM-458's conventional propellers were removed and replaced with experimental Kirsten cycloidal propellers which eliminate the need for a rudder, date unknown. USS LSM / LSMR Association
    LSM-458 84k View of USS LSM-458's stern showing propellers, rudders, skegs, and struts prior to changing the hull lines for cycloidal propulsion, date unknown. USS LSM / LSMR Association
    LSM-458 86k View of USS LSM-458's propeller units with blades removed, date unknown. USS LSM / LSMR Association
    LSM-458 67k View of USS LSM-458's stern part of hull completed on new lines for cycloidal propulsion, date unknown. USS LSM / LSMR Association
    LSM-458 97k View underneath LSM-458's bottom looking to starboard showing apertures for cycloidal propellers, date unknown. USS LSM / LSMR Association
    LSM-458 127k One of USS LSM-458's cycloidal propellers being hoisted aboard ship by a dockside crane at Everett Pacific Shipbuilding, Everett, WA., date unknown. USS LSM / LSMR Association
    LSM-458 111k View USS LSM-458 just before lowering one of the cycloidal propellers into position at Everett Pacific Shipbuilding, Everett, WA., date unknown. USS LSM / LSMR Association
    LSM-458 79k View USS LSM-458's newly installed port cycloidal propeller looking aft, date unknown. USS LSM / LSMR Association
    LSM-458 81k View USS LSM-458's bottom showing complete underwater installation of cycloidal propellers, looking forward, date unknown. USS LSM / LSMR Association
    LSM-458 515k USS LSM-458 demonstrates her Kirsten cycloidal propeller, turning within her own length (as indicated by her wake) in Puget Sound, 25 June 1946.
    US Navy photo text from "U.S. Amphibious Ships and Craft: An Illustrated Design History" by Norman Friedman.    		 Robert Hurst
    LSM-458 69k USS LSM-458 evaluating her newly installed Kirsten cycloidal propeller, in the Seattle area, circa 1952. USS LSM / LSMR Association
    LSM-458 72k
    LSM-458 95k
    LSM-458 81k
    LSM-458 124k USS LSM-458 evaluating her newly installed Kirsten cycloidal propeller.
    US Navy photo from "All Hands" magazine, July 1946.    		 Joe Radigan MACM USN Ret.
    LSM-458 251k Tug A. J. McAlister arriving from Navy Base Norfolk, VA. in New York Bay with ex-USS LSM-458 in tow. Ex-USS LSM-458 was a gift of the US Government to the Belleville N.J. Harry Carl Fredrick Post, of the Veterans of Foreign Wars. The plan was to haul her out of the water and place her on land to be converted as the Post Headquarters and Club House. In accordance with an act of Congress passed shortly after the Spanish-American War the Government offers one ship, after each war, to a veteran's association. Through the efforts of Congressman Fred A. Hartley Jr., of the 10th Congressional District of New Jersey the vessel was secured for the Belleville VFW post. Unfortunately, this plan never came to fruition and the ship was probably scrapped. David Wright
    The history extract for USS LSM-458 is from LSM-LSMR Amphibious Forces, Vol. II. Paducah, Kentucky: Turner Publishing Company, © 1997. (ISBN 1-56311-389-9).
    Commanding Officers
    01LTjg. Schneider, C. F., USNR22 March 1945
    Crew Contact And Reunion Information
    U.S. Navy Memorial Foundation - Navy Log
    USS LSM-LSMR Association
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    This page is created and maintained by Gary P. Priolo
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    Last Updated 29 September 2017