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NavSource Online: Amphibious Photo Archive

USS LST-353


International Radio Call Sign:
November - Zulu - Alpha - Zulu
 NZAZ
Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons

Precedence of awards is from left to right
American Campaign Medal - Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal (3) - World War II Victory Medal
LST-1 Class Tank Landing Ship:
  • Laid down, 15 July 1942, at Charleston Navy Yard, Charleston, S.C.
  • Launched, 12 October 1942
  • Commissioned USS LST-353, 27 November 1942, LT. Luther E. Reynolds, Jr., USNR, in command
  • During World War II USS LST-353 was assigned to the Asiatic-Pacific Theater:
    LST Flotilla Five, CAPT. J.R. Clark, USN
     LST Group Fourteen, CDR. R.W. Lejeunesse, USN
     LST Division Twenty-Seven and participated in following campaign:

    Asiatic-Pacific Campaigns
    Campaign and Dates Campaign and Dates
    Consolidation of Solomon Islands
    Consolidation of southern Solomons, 16 June 1943     		Treasury Island-Bougainville operation
    Occupation and defense of Cape Torokina, 6 and 17 November 1943
    New Georgia Group operations
    New Georgia-Rendova-Vangunu occupation, 2 July 1943
    Vella Lavella occupation, 31 August 1943     		 

  • While moored in the West Loch at Pearl Harbor USS LST-353 was sunk by an internal explosion, 21 May 1944
  • Decommissioned, date unknown
  • Struck from the Naval Register, 18 July 1944
  • USS LST-353 earned three battle stars for World War II service
    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-353
    1016035308    		 92k USS LST-353 beached on Tenaru Beach, Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands, the afternoon of 16 June 1943 assisting USS LST-340 in putting out fires after LST-340 was bombed by the Japanese off Guadalcanal
    Frame from the short film "LST NO 340 Bombed By Japanese Off Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands, SW Pacific" Dept. of the Army. National Archives ID 15648. Local ID 111-ADC-1842.    		 David Upton
    LST-340
    1016034007    		 341k USS LST-340 on fire after beaching on Tenaru Beach, Guadalcanal the afternoon of 16 June 1943, after being dive bombed off the north coast of Guadalcanal. LST-340 beached here and with the assistance of USS LST-398, on LST-340's starboard quarter, and USS LST-353, on LST-340's port quarter, fought a massive fire, saving the ship.
    Photo from the LST-340-Action Report 6/16/43, page 5; National Archives ID 134284080, roll A435.
    		 David Upton
    LST-353
    1016035302    		 403k USS LST-353 unloading at Rendova Island in the Solomon Islands, June 1943.
    US Navy photo released, 19 October 1943.    		 David Wright
    LST-353 188k Reinforcements wade ashore from USS LST-353 on the shores of Empress Augusta Bay, Bougainville, 6 November 1943. Also present are USS LST-488 and USS LST-70. Note barrage balloons overhead.
    US National Archives Catalog # 80-G-202485 a US Navy photo now in the collections of the US National Archives.    		 US Naval History and Heritage Command
    LST-353
    1016035306    		 263k Anti-aircraft gunners ashore and aboard the ships are at the ready as USS LST-353 and USS LST-488, and one unidentified LST lined unload heavy equipment at Empress Augusta Bay, Bougainville, Solomon Islands, 17 November 1943.
    US National Archives Identifier 193852167, US Army Air Corps photo # 67341A.C. now in the collections of the US National Archives    		 David Upton
    LST-353
    1016035304    		 226k Four LSTs; USS LST-353, USS LST-488, and two unidentified LST lined up along the beach while unloading heavy equipment at Empress Augusta Bay, Bougainville, Solomon Islands, 17 November 1943.
    US National Archives Identifier 193852929, US Army Air Corps photo # 67339A.C. now in the collections of the US National Archives    		 David Upton
    LST-353
    1016035303    		 252k USS LST-353 beached while unloading heavy equipment at Empress Augusta Bay, Bougainville, Solomon Islands, 17 November 1943.
    US National Archives Identifier 193852926, US Army Air Corps photo # 67340A.C. now in the collections of the US National Archives    		 David Upton
    LST-353
    1016035305    		 237k USS LST-353 beached in the Marshall Islands while unloading with the help of a bulldozer, date unknown.
    US National Archives Identifier # 6676617, a US Navy photo.    		 David Upton
    LST-353
    1016035307    		 208k At dawn, 1 March 1944, USS LST-353, part of a convoy carrying equipment of the 12th Detachment, 20th Army Airways Communications System, beached in the lagoon at Nissan Island in the Green Island Group.
    US National Archives Identifier 204988528, Local ID 342-FH-3A44643-67777AC, US Army Air Corps photo 67777A.C.    		 David Upton
    USS LST-353
    Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships (DANFS)
    Commanding Officers
    01LT. Reynolds Jr., Luther E., USNR27 November 1942 - December 1943
    02LTjg. Hodges, W. P., USNRDecember 1943 - 21 March 1944
    02LTjg. Martin, C. A., USN21 March 1944 - 21 May 1944
    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
    LST Flotilla Five War Diary May 1944
    The USS LST Ship Memorial
    LST Home Port
    State LST Chapters
    United States LST Association
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    This page is created by David W. Almond and maintained by Gary P. Priolo
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    Last Updated 9 June 2023