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NavSource Online: Amphibious Photo Archive

USS LST-128


International Radio Call Sign:
November - Zulu - Oscar - Foxtrot
 NZOF
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 - Navy Occupation Service Medal (with Asia clasp)
LST-1 Class Tank Landing Ship:
  • Laid down, 20 June 1943, at Missouri Valley Bridge & Iron Co., Evansville, IN.
  • Launched, 3 September 1943
  • Commissioned, USS LST-128, 11 October 1943, LT. Howard T. Walden Jr., USNR, in command
  • During World War II USS LST-128 was assigned to the Asiatic-Pacific Theater:
    LST Flotilla Thirteen, CAPT. J.G. Sampson USN (22);
     LST Group Thirty-Seven, CDR. R.D. Higgins USNR;
     LST Division Seventy-Three and participated in the following campaigns;

    Asiatic-Pacific Campaigns
    Campaign and Dates Campaign and Dates
    Marshall Islands operation
    Occupation of Kwajalein and Majuro Atolls, 31 January to 8 February 1944     		Western Caroline Islands operation
    Capture and occupation of southern Palau Islands, 6 September to 14 October 1944
    Marianas operation
    Capture and occupation of Saipan, 15 June to 28 July 1944     		Tinian Capture and occupation, 24 to 28 July 1944

  • Following World War II USS LST-128 was assigned to Occupation service in the Far East from 20 September 1945 to 23 March 1946
  • Decommissioned, 23 March 1946
  • Struck from the Naval Register, 17 April 1946
  • USS LST-128 earned four battle stars for World War II service
  • 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 Source
    LST-128 75k USS LST-128 commissioning ceremony at Missouri Valley Bridge & Iron Co., Evansville, IN, 11 October 1943
    (This photograph may not be reproduced without permission of the Evansville Museum.)     		With permission, from the collection of the Evansville Museum
    LST-240
    1016024009    		 243k USS LST-128 and USS LST-240 moored at a ramp at Kwajalein, Marshall Islands in April 1944. These two LSTs lifted the 7th Bomber Command Headquarters personnel and equipment from Tarawa in the Gilbert Islands to Kwajalein in the Marshall Islands.
    US National Archives Identifier # 193836369 US Army Air Corps photo #63420A.C.    		 David Upton
    LST-128
    1016012803    		 303k "PFC Floyd Johnson, La Grange, MO., of the 376th Post Detail, relaxes on a pile of cargo nets while waiting for USS LST-128 to dock in the Marshall Islands. Before 6 May 1944. 7th Air Force.
    US National Archives Identifier # 193836525 US Army Air Corps photo #51106A.C.    		 David Upton
    LST-128 38k USS LST-128 beached at Okunoshima, Japan. 3 August 1946. Japanese laborers assembling vacuum transfer pipeline or sea-pipeline supported by primitive but effective scaffolding. This carries liquid gas from the beachhead reservoir via a 2 5/8 in. rubber hose and lead pipeline to vacuum receivers on the deck of the ship. Australian War Memorial photo # 131739. Australian War Memorial
    Commanding Officers
    01LT Walden Jr., Howard T., USNR11 October 1943 - April 1945
    02LTjg/LT Frost Jr., Howard M., USNRApril 1945 - November 1945
    03LTjg Epple, Robert W., USNRNovember 1945 - 23 March 1946
    Courtesy Wolfgang Hechler and Ron Reeves

    For more photos and information about USS LST-128 see;
  • Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships (DANFS)
  • Western Caroline Islands Attack Landing Order
  • Beach White Peleliu - CTF 32 Operation Plan A501-44 Appendix 4 to Annex "D"
  • The USS LST Ship Memorial
  • LST Homeport
  • State LST Chapters
  • United States LST Association
    • Crew Contact And Reunion Information
    U.S. Navy Memorial Foundation - Navy Log
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    This page is created and maintained by Gary P. Priolo
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    Last Updated 17 February 2023