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NavSource Online: Amphibious Photo Archive

USS LST-171

International Radio Call Sign:
November - Papa - November - Quebec
NPNQ

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 (7) - World War II Victory Medal
Bottom Row - Navy Occupation Service Medal (with Asia clasp) - Philippines Presidential Unit Citation - Philippine Liberation Medal (2)

LST-1 Class Tank Landing Ship:

Laid down, 20 October 1942, at the Missouri Valley Bridge & Iron Co., Evansville, IN

Launched, 28 February 1943

Commissioned USS LST 171, 4 June 1943, LCDR. Harvey A. West, USNR, in command

During World War II, USS LST-171 was assigned to the Asiatic-Pacific Theater:
LST Flotilla Seven, CAPT. R. M. Scruggs, USN;
LST Group Nineteen, CDR. James E. Van Zandt, USNR and participated in the following campaigns:

Campaign and Dates	Campaign and Dates
Asiatic-Pacific Campaigns
Eastern New Guinea operation Saidor occupation, 2 to 11 January and 4 to 7 February 1944	Leyte operation Leyte landings, 13 to 28 October and 12 to 29 November 1944
Bismarck Archipelago operation Cape Gloucester, New Britain, 26 to 28 December 1943, 22 to 25 January and 30 January to 2 February 1944 Admiralty Island landings, 29 February to 4 March and 7 to 11 March 1944	Consolidation and capture of Southern Philippines; Visayan Island landings, 26 March and 4 April 1945
Hollandia operation, 21 to 26 April and 1 to 7 May 1944	Borneo operation; Tarakan Island operation, 27 April to 5 May 1945 Balikpapan operation, 27 April to 5 May and 28 June to 7 July 1945
Western New Guinea operation Biak Island operation, 28 May to 9 June 1944 Cape Sansapor operation, 30 July, 4 August, 6 to 12 and 14 to 19 August 1944 Morotai landings, 15 September 1944

Following World War II USS LST-171 was assigned to Occupation service in the Far East for the following periods:

Navy Occupation Service Medal
7 to 13 September 1945
20 September to 22 October 1945

Decommissioned, 21 May 1946

Struck from the Naval Register, 3 July 1946

USS LST-171 earned seven battle stars for World War II service

Final Disposition, sold, 26 September 1947 to the Boston Metals Co., Baltimore, MD for scrapping

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

Size	Image Description	Contributed By
369k	USS LST-171, USS LST-584 loading at Morotai in April, 1945. LIFE Magazine Archives, Carl Mydans Photographer, shared by Peter DeForest.	Mike Green
314k	USS LST-171, USS LST-584, USS LST-697 and USS LST-585 loading at Morotai in April, 1945. LIFE Magazine Archives, Carl Mydans Photographer, shared by Peter DeForest.	Mike Green
389k		Mike Green
92k	USS LST-171 beached, date and location unknown.	Scott Molski
92k	US Army tanks deploy across an invasion beach as USS LST-171 and USS LST-452 unload their cargos, date and location unknown. World War II press photo.	Tommy Trampp
371k	USS LST-171 and USS LST-993 beached on Red Beach, Tarakan Island, 1 May 1945.	Carl Kracht for his father PHom1/c Ken Kracht
887k	Christmas 1945 and New Years 1946 greetings from Commander LST Group Nineteen, CDR James E. Van Zandt USNR to the ships of the Group: USS LST-466 USS LST-245 USS LST-467 USS LST-171 USS LST-181 USS LST-469 USS LST-470 USS LST-471 USS LST-468 USS LST-473 USS LST-475 and USS LST-474	Bill James for his father William James USS LST-471

USS LST-171
Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships (DANFS)

Commanding Officers
01	LCDR. West, Harvey A., USNR	4 June 1943 - May 1944
02	LT. Smiley, Lester H., USNR	May 1944 - 23 August 1944
03	LT. McGirl, Raymond L., USNR	23 August 1944 - November1945
04	LTjg. DuPont, Paul E., USNR	November 1945 - 21 May 1946


Courtesy Wolfgang Hechler and Ron Reeves

Crew Contact And Reunion Information
U.S. Navy Memorial Foundation - Navy Log

Additional Resources and Web Sites of Interest
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

Last Updated 11 January 2019