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NavSource Online: Amphibious Photo Archive

LST-19 / LST(H)-19

USS LST-19 was manned by a Coast Guard crew during World War II

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 (4) - World War II Victory Medal - Japan Occupation Medal

LST-1 Class Tank Landing Ship:

Laid down, 22 October 1942, at Dravo Corp., Pittsburgh, PA.

Launched, 11 March 1943

Commissioned USS LST-19, 15 May 1943, LCDR Charles M. Blackford, III, USCGR in command

Succeeding Commanding Officers:

LT. Howard K. Heath, USCGR, August 1944 - 8 June 1945

LTjg. Oakley, Jr., USCGR, 8 June 1945 - 12 October 1945

LTjg. D. S. Williams, USCGR: 12 October 1945 - 20 March 1946

During World War II LST-19 was assigned to the Asiatic-Pacific Theater LST Flotilla 13, Group 37, Division 73 and participated in the following campaigns:

**Asiatic-Pacific Campaigns**
Campaign and Dates	Campaign and Dates
Aleutian Islands campaign Attu occupation, 11 May to 2 June 1943 Additionally landing Canadian troops at Kiska	Tinian capture and occupation, July 1944
Gilbert Islands operation Makin and Tarawa Island landings, November and December 1943	Western Caroline Islands operations Capture and occupation of southern Palau Islands, September 1944
Marianas operation Capture and occupation of Saipan, 15 June 1944	.

Redesignated Landing Ship Tank (Hospital) LST(H)-19, 15 September 1945

Following World War II LST(H)-19 performed occupation duty in the Far East in October and December 1945

Decommissioned, 20 March 1946

Struck from the Naval Register, 1 May 1946

Final Disposition, sold for scrapping, 5 December 1947, to Ships and Power Equipment Co., of Barber, N.J.

LST-19 earned four battle stars For World War Il service

Specifications: (as reported by Office of Naval Intelligence-1945)
Displacement 1,625 t.(lt), 4,080 t.(fl) (sea-going draft w/1675 ton load)
Length 328' o.a.
Beam 50'
Draft

(light) - 2' 4" fwd, 7' 6" aft

(sea-going) 8' 3" fwd, 14' 1" aft

(landing) 3' 11" fwd, 9' 10" aft (landing w/500 ton load)
Speed 12 kts. (maximum)
Endurance 24,000 miles @ 9kts. while displacing 3960 tons
Complement

7 officers, 122 enlisted (1944)
Troop Accommodations

16 officers, 147 enlisted
Boats 2 LCVP
Cargo Capacity (varied with mission - payloads between 1600 and 1900 tons)

Typical loads

One Landing Craft Tank (LCT), tanks, wheeled and tracked vehicles, artillery, construction equipment and military supplies. A ramp or elevator forward allowed vehicles access to tank deck from main deck

Additional capacity included sectional pontoons carried on each side of vessel amidships, to either build Rhino Barges or use as causeways. Married to the bow ramp, the causeways would enabled payloads to be delivered ashore from deeper water or where a beachhead would not allow the vessel to be grounded forward after ballasting
Armament (varied with availability when each vessel was outfitted. Retro-fitting was accomplished throughout WWII. The ultimate armament design for United States vessels was

2 - Twin 40MM gun mounts w/Mk. 51 directors

4 - Single 40MM gun mounts

12 single 20MM gun mounts

Size	Image Description	Contributed By
8k	*LST-19* after commissioning making her way down the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers to New Orleans and the open sea, circa May 1943	LST Home Port Web Site
258k	*LST-19* with *LCT-81* secured to her main deck. San Francisco Bay, 1943.	*Flotilla* The Newsletter of the LCT Flotillas of World War II, Volume 1, No.1, April 2000, page 8
83k	*LST-19* at anchor, date and place unknown	Don Leal USS LST 19
59k	*LST-19* during the invasion of the Marianas, prior to launching *LCT-357* at Saipan, 15 June 1944	Walter Nasmyth QM3/c USS LST-19.
45k	*LCT-357* being launched from *LST-19* during the invasion of Saipan, Marianas, 15 June 1944.	Walter Nasmyth QM3/C USS LST 19
97k	*LST-19* entering a Floating Drydock after "The Miracle Salvage Job" (See story below) at Kossel Roads, Babelthaup Island, Western Carolines Island Group, January 1945. Munsee (ATF-107) had to sever the line to *LST-19* due to Japanese submarine attack while attempting to drydock.	Walter Nasmyth QM3/C USS LST 19
57k	*LST-19* moored at a ramp, date and place unknown.	Don Leal USS LST 19 & USS LST 67, courtesy George Jackson MoMM1/c USCGR USS LST-19
98k	*LST-19* moored at a ramp, date and place unknown.	Don Leal USS LST 19 & USS LST 67, courtesy George Jackson MoMM1/c USCGR USS LST-19
96k	*LST-19* moored at a ramp, date and place unknown.	Don Leal USS LST 19 & USS LST 67, courtesy George Jackson MoMM1/c USCGR USS LST-19
120k	*LST-19* moored at a ramp, date and place unknown.	Don Leal USS LST 19 & USS LST 67, courtesy George Jackson MoMM1/c USCGR USS LST-19
84k	*LST-19* anchored in Long Beach Harbor, April 1945. "Home Alive in 45!" was the crews motto.	Walter Nasmyth QM3/C USS LST 19
17k	*LST-19* at anchor in San Diego Bay, July 1945.	Walter Nasmyth QM3/c USS LST-19
54k	*LST-19* at anchor in San Francisco Bay, circa 1945-46. US Navy photo # NH 82162 courtesy of Donald M. McPherson, 1975; Naval Historical Center.	Mike Green

View the LST-19
DANFS history entry located at the US Naval Historical Center web site

Read The Miracle Salvage Job
The story of how the LST-19 crew saved the ship after broaching at Peleliu.

Crew Contact And Reunion Information
U.S. Navy Memorial Foundation
Fleet Reserve Association

Additional Resources and Web Sites of Interest
LST Home Port
State LST Chapters
United States LST Association
U.S. Coast Guard Historian's Office - LST-19

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Last Updated 25 August 2006