Please report any broken links or trouble you might come across to the Webmaster. Please take a moment to let us know so that we can correct any problems and make your visit as enjoyable and as informative as possible.


NavSource Online: Amphibious Photo Archive

USS LCI(M)-809
ex
USS LCI(G)-809 (1944 - 1945)
USS LCI(L)-809 (1944)


International Radio Call Sign:
November - Whiskey - Quebec - Hotel
NWQH
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 (1) - World War II Victory Medal - Navy Occupation Medal (with Asia clasp)


LCI-351 Class Landing Craft Infantry (Large):
  • Laid down, 7 August 1944, at New Jersey Shipbuilding, Barber, N.J.
  • Launched, 6 Septembe3r 1944
  • Commissioned USS LCI(L)-809, 12 September 1944
  • USS LCI(L)-809 underwent amphibious training and shakedown in the Chesapeake Bay area during September and October 1944
  • USS LCI(L)-809 underwent further training in November and December 1944 at San Diego, CA. before joining the war in the Pacific against Japan
  • While at San Diego, USS LCI(L)-809 was converted to a fire support vessel, receiving the new designation Landing Craft Infantry (Gunboat) LCI(G)-809, 31 December 1944
  • During the first several weeks of 1945 USS LCI(G)-809 transited the Pacific Ocean, by way of Pearl Harbor, arriving at Purvis Bay, Solomon Islands, in mid-February. There she began preparations for the Okinawa Invasion.
  • USS LCI(G)-809 was assigned to:
    LCI Flotilla Five, CAPT. T. W. Rimer USNR;
    LCI Group Forty-One, LCDR. R. F. Hunnicutt USNR;
    LCI Division Eighty-Two and participated in the following campaign:

    Asiatic-Pacific Campaign
    Campaign and Dates
    Okinawa Gunto operation
    Assault and occupation of Okinawa Gunto, 26 March to 30 June 1945
    Providing bombardment support and patrol and escort services, from April June 1945

  • Redesignated USS LCI(M)-809, 30 April 1945
  • Following World War II USS LCI(M)-809 was assigned to Occupation service in the Far East from 2 September to 15 November 1945
  • Decommissioned, date unknown
  • Struck from the Naval Register, date unknown
  • Transferred to the Maritime Commission, 19 March 1947
  • Final Disposition, sold in 1947, fate unknown
  • USS LCI(G)-809 / LCI(M)-809 earned one battle star for World War II service
    Specifications:
    Displacement 246 t.(light), 264 t. (landing), 419 t.(loaded)
    Length 158' 5½"
    Beam 23' 3"
    Draft
    Light, 3'1½" mean
    Landing, 2' 8" forward, 4' 10" aft
    Loaded, 5' 4" forward, 5' 11" aft
    Speed
    16 kts (max.)
    14 kts maximum continuous
    LCI(L) Complement 4 Officers, 24 Enlisted
    LCI(G) Complement 5 Officers, 65 Enlisted
    LCI(M) Complement 4 Officers, 49 Enlisted
    LCI(L) Troop Capacity 6 Officers, 182 Enlisted
    LCI(L) Cargo Capacity 75 tons
    Armor 2" plastic splinter protection on gun turrets, conning tower and pilot house
    Endurance 4,000 miles at 12 kts, loaded, 500 miles at 15 kts; and 110 tons of fuel
    LCI(L) Armament five single 20mm guns, one bow mounted, one each port and starboard forward of wheelhouse, one each port and starboard aft of wheelhouse, on some LCIs two .50 cal machine guns were added
    LCI(G) Armament two 40mm guns, four 20mm guns, six .50cal machine guns, 10 MK7 rocket launchers
    LCI(M) Armament one single 40mm gun, forward, four 20mm guns, three 4.2" chemical mortars mounted in three 4ft x 4ft wooden walled 2" x 6" high sand boxes on the well deck with the three tripod mortar tubes in position to fire forward over the bow, No. 2 Troop Compartment (under well deck) converted to a magazine
    Fuel Capacity
    Diesel 860 Bbls
    lube oil 200 gal
    Propulsion
    two sets of 4 General Motors 6051 series 71 Diesel engines, 4 per shaft
    single General Motors Main reduction gears
    two Diesel-drive 30Kw 120V D.C. Ship's Service Generators
    twin variable pitch propellers, 2,320shp

    Click On Image
    For Full Size Image
    Size Image Description Source
    LCI(L)-809 94k LVT amphibious tractors move past USS LCI(G)-809 (center), bound for the Okinawa landing beaches, 1 April 1945. Photographed from USS West Virginia (BB-48).
    US National Archives photo # 80-G-K-3850 a US Navy photo now in the collections of the US National Archives.
    US Naval Historical Center
    LCI(L)-809 83k LVT amphibious tractors head for the Okinawa landing beaches on 1 April 1945. USS LCI(G)-809 is partially visible at left, helping to cover the assault. Photographed from USS West Virginia (BB-48).
    US National Archives photo # 80-G-K-3853 a US Navy photo now in the collections of the US National Archives.
    US Naval Historical Center
    LCI(L)-809 59k LVT amphibious tractors head for the Okinawa landing beaches on 1 April 1945. USS LCI(G)-809 is partially visible at left, helping to cover the assault. Photographed from West Virginia (BB-48).
    US National Archives photo # 80-G-K-3848 a US Navy photo now in the collections of the US National Archives.
    US Naval Historical Center
    LCI(L)-809 177k USS LCI(M)-809 with two of her sister ships bombarding the cave area on the southern coast of Okinawa where Japanese General Ushijima was holed up, mid-June 1945. Ardie Hunt, photo courtesy Henry H. Baxter, Deck and Engineering Officer, USS LCI(M)-809
    LCI(L)-809 59k USS LCI(M)-809 crew photo taken at Panama, circa 1946. Photo is from the USS LCI National Association's newsletter "The Elsie Item", December 2005 issue, courtesy of Leonard Young, USS LCI(M)-809. Ardie Hunt

    The history for LCI(L)-809 / LCI(G)-809 / LCI(M)-809 is from USS LCI "Landing Craft Infantry", Vol. II. Paducah, Kentucky: Turner Publishing Company, © 1995. (ISBN 1-56311-262-0)
    Crew Contact And Reunion Information
    U.S. Navy Memorial Foundation - Navy Log

    Additional Resources and Web Sites of Interest
    Action Report, 14 May to 1 June 1945, at Okinawa
    USS Landing Craft Infantry National Association
    Back To The Navsource Photo Archives Main Page Back To The Amphibious Ship Type Index Back To The Landing Craft Infantry (LCI) Photo Index
    Comments, Suggestions, E-mail Webmaster.
    This page is created by David W. Almond and maintained by Gary P. Priolo
    All pages copyright NavSource Naval History
    Last Updated 11 August 2017