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NavSource Online: Amphibious Photo Archive

USS LST-357


Nicknamed by her crew "Palermo Pete"
International Radio Call Sign:
November - Zulu - Delta - Golf
 NZDG
Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons


Precedence of awards is left to right
Top Row - American Campaign Medal - European-African-Middle East Campaign Medal (3)
Bottom Row - Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal - World War II Victory Medal - Navy Occupation Medal (with Asia clasp)
Personnel Awards

Navy Cross (LTjg. Warren C. Gill, USCG, U.S.S LST-357, 9 September 1943) Citation
Purple Hearts (LTjg. Warren C. Gill, USCG, 9 September 1943), Salerno (90 WIA/KIA)
LST-1 Class Tank Landing Ship:
  • Laid down, 24 October 1942, at Charleston Navy Yard, Charleston, S.C.
  • Launched, 14 December 1942
  • Commissioned USS LST-357, 8 February 1943, LT. George Vaughn USN, in command
  • During World War II USS LST-357 was assigned to the Europe-Africa-Middle East Theater and participated in the following campaigns:

    Europe-Africa-Middle East Campaigns
    Campaign and Dates Campaign and Dates
    Sicilian occupation, Licada,Sicily 10 July 1943 Invasion of Normandy, Omaha Beach, 6 June 1944
    Salerno landings, 9 September 1943  

  • Following World War II USS LST-357 was assigned to Occupation service in the Far East from 13 October to 13 November 1945
  • Decommissioned, 17 June 1946
  • Struck from the Naval Register, 31 July 1946
  • USS LST-357 earned three battle stars for World War II service
  • Final Disposition, sold for scrapping, 1 April 1948, to the Bethlehem Steel Co., Bethlehem, PA.
    "We transported British Soldiers from Tripoli into Salerno, Italy. After the initial invasions we made many backup trips to the above with tanks, troops and supplies. At Salerno we suffered 90 some casualties including the skipper, Lt. George Vaughn who survived. On our return to our home port of Bizerte or whatever other port in North Africa we were assigned we transported prisoners and casualties as required.". William M. Peacock, Quartermaster, USS LST 357, 8 February 1943 to 16 August 1944

    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-357 84k LST-357 launching, 14 December 1942, at Charleston Navy Yard, Charleston, SC.
    US Navy photo.    		 Bob Hall
    LST-357 66k LST-357 after launching, 14 December 1942, on the Cooper River, at Charleston Navy Yard, Charleston, SC.
    US Navy photo.    		 Bob Hall
    LST-357 104k USS LST-357 beached at Salerno, Italy, 9 September 1943.
    US National Archives photo # 80-G-82347, a US Navy photo now in the collections of the US National Archives.    		 William M. Peacock, LST-357
    LST-357 57k USS LST-357 ready for inspection in a southern English port by King George VI, circa May 1944. Warren Storms for his father Fred Storms MoM/c USS LST-357
    LST-357 254k Newspaper article about King George VI's visit to USS LST-357 which also contains a letter written by Fred Storms to his parents on 7 June 1944 concerning the King's visit. Warren Storms for his father Fred Storms MoM/c USS LST-357
    LST-357 208k USS LST-357 loading an ambulance at a southern England port in preparation for the cross channel invasion of Normandy in June 1944.
    Photo from US Army Center for Military History    		 Bill Gonyo
    LST-357 134k USS LST-357 beached on a ramp while loading amphibious DUKWS, circa 1944, location unknown. Robert Hurst
    LST-357 80k USS LST-357 underway, date and location unknown
    US Navy photo.    		 Bob Hall
    LST-357
    1016035714    		 160k USS LST-357 underway in June 1944 during the invasion of Normandy.
    TimeLife_Image_116687662 by David Scherman, Life Magazine    		 David Upton
    LST-357 84k USS LST-357 beached at Omaha Beach, Normandy, 6 June 1944. Jesse Iatonna LCT-218
    LST-357 186k Casualties being brought aboard USS LST-357 from an LCT on D-Day, 6 June 1944. Few casualties could be retrieved from Omaha Beach on the 1st day. They were brought out in relatively small craft and then hoisted aboard the LST by sling. LST-357 received only about a dozen before turning back to England that evening for the second load of Army personnel and their equipment.
    US Navy Medicine photo # 09-7912-49 by Dale Groom, LTJG, MC, USNR.    		 Robert Hurst
    LST-357 128k On her fifth trip to Normandy USS LST-357 rests high and dry on Utah Beach in June 1944. Note the "barrage balloons", tethered to each ship to discourage low strafing by aircraft.
    US Navy Medicine photo # 09-7915-51 by Dale Groom, LTJG, MC, USNR.    		 Robert Hurst
    LST-357 154k USS LST-357 unloading across a causeway at Omaha Beach in 1944. Manuel Provence
    LST-357 105k USS LST-357 delivering supplies to the beach on Tinian, Marianas Islands, circa late 1945. Note LCT-776 loaded on the main deck of LST-357.
    Photo from Frank Piet's Tinian Island.    		 John Clingman
    USS LST-357
    Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships (DANFS)
    Commanding Officers
    01LT. Vaughn, George, USN8 February 1943 - May 1944
    02LT. MacLeod, James J., USNRMay 1944 - September 1944
    03LT. Reynolds, John C.September 1944 - May 1945
    04LT. Blackburn, James R., USNRMay 1945 - November 1945
    05LTjg. Rosenberg, Fred L., USNRNovember 1945 - March 1946
    06LTjg. Plotz, Stanley W., USNRMarch 1946 - 17 June 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 Home Port
    State LST Chapters
    United States LST Association
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    This page is created and maintained by Gary P. Priolo
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    Last Updated 1 January 2016