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NavSource Online: Amphibious Photo Archive

USS LST-22



International Radio Call Sign:
November - Xray - Oscar - Delta
 NXOD
Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons


Precedence of awards is from top to bottom, left to right
Top Row - American Campaign Medal - Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal (6)
Bottom Row - World War II Victory Medal - Philippines Presidential Unit Citation - Philippine Liberation Medal (2)

USS LST-22 was manned by the US Coast Guard during World War II
LST-1 Class Tank Landing Ship
  • Laid down, 5 November 1942, at Dravo Corp, Neville Island, PA.
  • Launched, 29 March 1943
  • Commissioned USS LST-22, 29 May 1943, LT. Lawrence N. Ditlefsen, USCG, in command
  • During World War II USS LST-22 was assigned to the Asiatic-Pacific Theater:
    LST Flotilla Seven;
     LST Group Twenty-One;
     LST Division Forty-One and participated in the following campaigns:

    Asiatic-Pacific Campaigns
    Campaign and Dates Campaign and Dates
    Bismarck Archipelago operation
    Cape Gloucester; New Britain, 26 to 28 December 1943, 15 to 19 January 1944, 30 January to 2 February, 15 to 19 February and 21 to 23 February 1944
    Admiralty Islands landings, 29 February to 4 March, 7 to 11 March and 28 March to 10 April 1944     		Western New Guinea operations
    Toem-Wakde-Sarmi area operation. 18 to 20 May and 23 to 25 May 1944
    Biak Island operation. 27 to 30 May, 3 to 7 June and 16 to 16 June 1944
    Noemfoor Island operation, 10 to 15 July 1944
    Cape Sansapor operation. 30 July, 2. 6 to 12, 14 to 19 and 22 to 28 August 1944
    Morotai landings, 15 September 1944
    Eastern New Guinea operations
    Saidor occupation, 2 to 3, 6 to 9 and 20 to 22 January and 4 to 7 February 1944     		Luzon operation
    Lingayen Gulf landings, 4 to 15 January 1945
    Hollandia operation
    Aitape Humboldt Bay-Tanah Merah Bay, 21 to 25 April and 1 to 7 May 1944     		Leyte operation
    Leyte landings, 23 October 4 November 1944

  • Decommissioned, 1 April 1946
  • Struck from the Naval Register, 17 April 1946
  • USS LST-22 earned six battle stars for World War II service.
  • Sold to Ming Sung Industrial Co., Ltd., Shanghai, China, 3 February 1947 to be converted for merchant service
  • Named M/V Hwai Yuan, date unknown
  • Renamed M/V Wan Cheng, date unknown
  • Final Disposition, fate unknown
    Specifications:
    Displacement
    1,625 t.(lt)
    4,080 t.(fl) (sea-going draft w/1675 ton load)
    2,366 t. (beaching displacement)
    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)
    limiting 11' 2"
    maximum navigation 14' 1"
    Speed 11.6 kts. (trial)
    Endurance 24,000 miles @ 9kts. while displacing 3960 tons
    Complement
    13 officers
    104 enlisted
    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
    Fuel Capacity
    Diesel 4,300 Bbls
    Propulsion
    two General Motors 12-567A, 900hp Diesel engines
    single Falk Main Reduction Gears
    three Diesel-drive 100Kw 230V D.C. Ship's Service Generators
    two propellers, 1,700shp
    twin rudders
    Click On Image
    For Full Size Image    		 Size Image Description Contributed
    By
    LST-26/LST-22
    1016002205    		 300k U.S. Marines board USS LST-22, on Christmas Day 1943 for Cape Gloucester.
    US National Archives photo.    		 David Upton
    LST-262
    1016002601    		 358k USS LST-26, USS LST-22, and in the far distance USS LST-66 and USS LST-18 unloading on the beach at Tanah Merah Bay, Hollandia, Dutch East Indies, circa April-May 1944. Photo taken from USS Virgo (AKA-20)
    National Archives Identifier 205584998, Local Identifier 26-G-2301, US Coast Guard photo # 2301.    		 Keith D Lumsden and David Upton
    LST-22
    1016002201    		 438k USS LST-22 beached at Wakde Island off the north Dutch New Guinea coast. American forces were greeted by heavy machine gun fire and snipers' bullets from foxholes back from the beach. Here, some of the American dead are moved in litters to a LCM (Landing Craft Medium) for transfer to the mainland for burial. The LCM is in the extreme right foreground in front of the open bows of LST-22.
    National Archives Identifier 205586883, Local Identifier 26-G-2287, US Coast Guard photo # 2287.    		 David Upton
    LST-22/LST-206 288k USS LST-22 and USS LST-206 in the surf at Leyte, as soldiers strip down and build sandbag piers out to the ramps to speed up unloading operations. 1 October 1944.
    US Coast Guard photo now in the collection of the US National Archives.NARA FILE #: 026-G-3738 WAR & CONFLICT BOOK #: 1210    		 Joe Radigan MACM USN Ret
    LST-22 1292k Alligators leave USS LST-22 via her bow ramp during test unloading at Aitape, Dutch New Guinea, 26 December 1944.
    US Army Signal Corps. photo # SC 200397-S, from the collections of the US National Archives.    		 Dave Kerr
    LST-22 838k USS LST-22 unloading her cargo of Alligators and Buffalos, 9 January 1945, at Lingayen Gulf during the invasion of Luzon. Vehicles were under the command of LCOL. Lloyd Barron, CO (3RD BN, 43 INF DIV).
    US Army Signal Corps. photo # SC 200500, by PVT Robert Raines, from the collections of the US National Archives.    		 Dave Kerr
    LST-452
    1016045207    		 6809k USS LST-452, USS LST-454, USS LST-456 and USS LST-22 unload US Army troops on the Luzon beachhead on invasion day, 9 January 1945. A row of LSTs unload men and armaments to set up the advance upon Manila. At left, a Coast Guard beach party member directs landing traffic beside the striped signal flag. At right is a wrecked Japanese plane.
    US National Archives Identifier # 205585642, Local Identifier 26-G-3859, US Coast Guard photo # 26-G-3859    		 David Upton
    Merchant Service
    LST-26/LST-22 50k Ex-USS LST-22 in Chinese merchant service as M/V Wan Cheng, moored pierside, circa 1947, location unknown. Jean Lassaque
    USS LST-22
    Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships (DANFS)
    Commanding Officers
    01LT. Ditlefsen, Lawrence N., USCG29 May 1943 - ?
    02LT. Moore, Willie A.no dates
    03LT. Rogers, Howard N., USCGR? 19 October 1945
    04LT. Rogers, S. F.19 October 1945 - 5 March 1946
    05LT. Markle, F. G.5 March 1946 - 1 April 1946
    Additional Resources and Web Sites of Interest
    History of LST Flotilla Seven
    The USS LST Ship Memorial
    LST Homeport
    State LST Chapters
    United States LST Association
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    This page is created and maintained by Gary P. Priolo
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    Last Updated 27 August 2021