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NavSource Online: Amphibious Photo Archive

HM LST-337
ex
USS LST-337 (1942 - 1944)

USS LST-337 International Radio Call Sign:
November - Juliet - November - Victor
NJNV

Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons

Precedence of awards is from left to right
American Campaign Medal - Europe-Africa-Middle East Campaign Medal (3) - World War II Victory Medal
Personal Awards

Purple Heart (Navy 1-WIA, Army 1-WIA, 9 September 1943, Brig. Gen. Thomas E.Lewis, 5th Army Artillery and S1/c R. L. Brooks)

USS LST-337 turned over to the United Kingdom in December 1944

LST-1 Class Tank Landing Ship:

Laid down, 17 July 1942, at the Norfolk Navy Yard, Portsmouth, VA.

Launched, 8 November 1942

Commissioned USS LST-337, 16 December 1942, LT. L. Brower, USN, in command

During World War II USS LST-337 was assigned to the Europe-Africa-Middle East Theater and participated in the following campaigns:

Campaigns and Dates	Campaigns and Dates
Europe-Africa-Middle East Campaigns
Sicilian occupation, 9 to 15 July 1943	Invasion of Normandy, 6 to 25 June 1944
Salerno landings, 9 to 21 September 1943

Temporary flight deck to accommodate four L-4 Grasshopper (piper J-3 Cub) U.S. Army observation aircraft was added while the ship was at Bizerte, Tunisia prior to the Salerno Landings

Decommissioned and transferred to the United Kingdom, 2 December 1944

USS LST-337 earned three battle stars for World War II service

Royal Navy History
Commissioned into the Royal Navy as HM LST-337, 2 December 1944, at Rosneath, Scotland
HM LST-337 was assigned to the Pacific Theater and participated in the Invasion of Malaya.
Paid off and returned to US Navy custody at Subic Bay, Philippines, 16 March 1946

Struck from the Naval Register, 17 April 1946

Final Disposition, sold to Bosey, Philippines, 5 December 1947, 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
USS LST-337
	39k	*LST-337* and *LST-338* soon after launch, 8 November 1942, at Norfolk Navy Yard, Portsmouth VA. US Navy photo	Hyperwar US Navy in WWII
	118k	USS LST-337 and USS LST-338 beached at Amphibious Training Base Camp Bradford, VA., circa 1943. US Navy photo postcard	Tommy Trampp
1016033709	98k	USS LST-337 off the Salerno beachhead, 9 September 1943. Note the temporary flight deck and Army L-4 Grasshopper observation planes on deck. US National Archives photo # III-SC 181077, Box 181, a US Army Signal Corps. photo now in the collections of the US National Archives. LST-338 War Diary, LST-337 War Diary, COM 8th Fleet [Reports of Action by COMTASKFOR 81 on the landing at Salerno, Italy] serial 00264. National Archives	David Upton
1016033710	109k		David Upton
1016033703	1169k	USS LST-337 off-loading troops and equipment of the US Army's *151st Field Artillery, 34th Infantry Division, over a causeway at Salerno, D-day, 9 September 1943. Also, 9 September 1943, LST-337* suffered two near misses by German artillery, wounding Brigadier General Lewis (most probably Brig. Gen. Thomas Edward Lewis, 5th Army Artillery) and severely wounding S1/C R. L. Brooks on the signal bridge (both received purple heart recommendations). The ship sustained minor damage to the upper hull. US National Archives photo # III-SC 181077, Box 181, a US Army Signal Corps. photo now in the collections of the US National Archives. LST-338 War Diary, LST-337 War Diary, COM 8th Fleet [Reports of Action by COMTASKFOR 81 on the landing at Salerno, Italy] serial 00264. National Archives	Dave Kerr
1016033708	279k	USS LST-337 lays at anchor off the coast of Salerno, Italy, 15 September 1943, after an enemy bombing attack left a Liberty ship SS Bushrod Washington ablaze. In the distance is USS LCI(L)-233. *Bushrod Washington* was hit by a bomb the previous day. The photograph clearly shows *LST-337* without the flight deck. According to the War Diary of LST-337, the aircraft were never launched on D-Day as originally planned but were ordered to be retained on ship that day due to operational concerns. Between September 9th and September 15th LST-337 made a trip to Sicily and reloaded with RAF units and returned to the Salerno beachhead and off-loaded. (no mention of what happened to the flight deck or aircraft). U.S. National Archives Identifier 193778459, US Army Air Corps photo # 67074A.C., now in the collections of the U.S. National Archives LST-338 War Diary, LST-337 War Diary, COM 8th Fleet [Reports of Action by COMTASKFOR 81 on the landing at Salerno, Italy] serial 00264. National Archives	David Upton
	42k	USS LST-337 at Normandy, off loading equipment onto the beach, date unknown US National Archives image	Bill Brinkley
	87k	USS LST-337 at anchor, probably off the Normandy beachhead, date unknown. Note the attached barrage balloon overhead. US Navy photo from "Allied Landing Craft and Ships of World War Two" by the US Division of Naval Intelligence	Robert Hurst
1016033711	93k	USS LST-337 loading railcars in Southampton, England, 1944. Photo from www.flickriver.com by photolibrarian	John Spivey
Merchant Service
	278k	Ex-USS LST-337 in merchant service as the Chinese flagged MV Wan Shen carries trucks, medical supplies and food up the Yangtze River from Shanghai to China's critical famine area in Hunan, China, 30 December 1948. United Nations Archives photo # S-0801-0011-0001-00006	R.J.E. Bayliff
	251k	MV Wan Shen unloading trucks of the United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration at Changsha, capital of the famine-stricken province of Hunan, China, 30 December 1948. United Nations Archives photo # S-0801-0011-0001-00005	R.J.E. Bayliff