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NavSource Online: Amphibious Photo Archive

USS LST-26


International Radio Call Sign:
November - DElta - Oscar - Whiskey
 NDOW
Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons



Precedence of awards is from top to bottom, left to right
Top Row - Combat Action Ribbon (retroactive, Zamboanga- Mindanao landings) - China Service Medal (extended)
Second Row - American Campaign Medal - Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal (5) - World War II Victory Medal
Third Row - Navy Occupation Service Medal (with Asia clasp) - Philippines Presidential Unit Citation - Philippines Liberation Medal (2)
Individual Awards

Purple Heart (WIAs, Zamboanga, Mindanao landings - F.E. Bateman and several others)

USS LST-26 was manned by the US Coast Guard crew during World War II
LST-1 Class Tank Landing Ship:
  • Laid down, 16 November 1942, at Dravo Corp., Neville Island, PA.
  • Launched, 31 March 1943
  • Commissioned USS LST-26, 7 June 1943, LT. Eugene Kiernan USCGR in command
  • During World War II USS LST-26 was assigned to the Asiatic-Pacific Theater:
    LST Flotilla Seven
     LST Group Twenty-One
     LST Division Forty-One and participated in the following operations:

    Asiatic-Pacific Campaigns
    Campaign and Dates Campaign and Dates
    Bismarck Archipelago operation
    Cape Gloucester, New Britain, 26 to 28 December 1943, 30 December 1943 to 3 January 1944, 5 to 9 and 11 to 14 January 1944     		Leyte operation
    Leyte landings, 13 to 27 October and 5 to 18 November 1944
    Hollandia operation
    Aitape Humboldt Bay-Tanah Merah Bay, 21 to 27 April 1944 and 1 to 7 May 1944     		Consolidation and capture of the southern Philippines
    Mindanao Island landings, Zamboanga, 10 to 11 March 1945
    Western New Guinea operations
    Toem-Wakde-Sarmi area operation, 17 to 21 and 23 to 25 May 1944
    Biak Island operation, 27 to 30 May, 3 to 7 and 9 to 11 June 1944
    Noemfoor Island operation, 6 to 10 July 1944
    Cape Sansapor operation, 30 July, 2 and 4 to 10 August 1944
    Morotai landings, 15 September 1944     		 

  • Following World War II USS LST-26 was assigned to Occupation and China service in the Far East for the following periods:

    Navy Occupation Service Medal
    China Service Medal (extended)
    11 October t o1 November 19453 to 10 October 1945

  • Decommissioned, 1 April 1946
  • Struck from the Naval Register, 8 May 1946
  • USS LST-26 earned five battle stars for World War II service
  • Final Disposition, sold to Arctic Circle Exploration, Seattle, WA., 17 June 1946 for conversion to commercial service, 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 Submitted
    By
    LST-26
    1016002609    		 340k USS LST-26 beached in the background as a Coast Guard anti-aircraft gun crew man their gun on the beach at Biak in the Schouten Islands, circa May-June 1944. The gun crew, from a Coast Guard maned transport in the harbor, shot down three zeros in one day while on the beach.
    US National Archives Identifier 205584181, Local ID 26-G-2487, US Coast Guard photo # 2487.    		 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-26 92k USS LST-26 beached while unloading fuel drums at Biak Island, circa May-June 1944.
    US Coast Guard photo from USCG Historian's Office.    		 Don Leal USS LST-19 and USS LST 67
    LST-26 1275k LSTs including USS LST-26 beached at Maffin Bay,Toem, Dutch New Guinea, 26 July 1944, loading equipment for the Cape Sansapor operation.
    US Army Signal Corps, photo # SC 194713, by PVT Ray Martin, now in the collections of the US National Archives.    		 Dave Kerr
    LST-26
    1016002610    		 354k USS LST-26 beached at Cape Gloucester, New Britain Island, Dutch New Guinea, while unloading troops, date unknown.
    US National Archives Identifier 205584328, Local ID 26-G-3406, US Coast Guard photo # 3406.    		 David Upton
    LST-26 68k USS LST-26 beached, date and location unknown. Sara Bateman for her father F.E. Bateman USS LST-26
    LST-26 131k USS LST-26 beached while off loading vehicles, date and location unknown. Sara Bateman for her father F.E. Bateman USS LST-26
    LST-26 77k USS LST-26 crew members, date and location unknown.
    F.E. Bateman is far right in bottom photo.    		 Sara Bateman for her father F.E. Bateman USS LST-26
    LST-26 64k
    LST-26 95k USS LST-26 officers, date and location unknown. Sara Bateman for her father F.E. Bateman USS LST-26
    USS LST-26
    Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships (DANFS)
    Commanding Officers
    01LT. Kiernan, Eugene, USCGR7 June 1943 - 1944
    02LT. Newell, Raymond B., USCG1944 - June 1945
    03LT. Ketcham, Frederick R., USCGRJune 1945 - 11 December 1945
    04ENS. Dahl, Ernest W., USCG11 December 1945 - 31 December 1945
    05LCDR. Howell, Leroy, USCG31 December 1945 - 1 April 1946
    Courtesy Wolfgang Hechler and Ron Reeves
    Additional Resources and Web Sites of Interest
    Additional Photos and Brief History of LST-26
    History of LST Flotilla Seven
    The USS LST Ship Memorial
    LST Home Port
    State LST Chapters
    United States LST Association
    Back To The Navsource Photo Archives Main Page Back To The Amphibious Ship Type Index Back To The Tank Landing Ship (LST) Photo Index
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    This page created and maintained by Gary P. Priolo
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    Last Updated 27 August 2021