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NavSource Online: Amphibious Photo Archive

USS LST(H)-477
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USS LST-477 (1943 - 1945)


International Radio Call Sign:
November - Golf - Lima - Yankee
NGLY
Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons


Precedence of awards is from top to bottom, left to right
Top Row - Combat Action Ribbon (21 and 23 February 1945) - Navy Unit Commendation - American Campaign Medal
Bottom Row - Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal (4) - World War II Victory Medal - Navy Occupation Service Medal (with Asia clasp)

Individual Awards

Purple Heart (2-KIA, 7-WIA 21 and 23 February 1945, Iwo Jima)

LST-1 Class Tank Landing Ship:
  • Laid down, 12 August 1942, at Kaiser, Inc., Richmond, CA.
  • Launched, 29 October 1942
  • Commissioned USS LST 477, 19 February 1943, LT. Josiah K, Adams Jr., USNR, in command
  • During World War II USS LST-477 was assigned to the Asiatic-Pacific Theater:
    LST Flotilla Five, CAPT. J. R. Clark;
    LST Group Thirteen, CDR. C. R. Lea USNR;
    LST Division Twenty-Five and participated in the following campaigns:

    Asiatic-Pacific Campaigns
    Campaign and Dates Campaign and Dates
    Gilbert Islands operation, 21 November to 8 December 1943 Marianas operation
    Capture and occupation of Guam, 21 to 29 July 1944
    Marshall Islands operation
    Occupation of Kwajalein and Majuro Atolls, 2 to 8 February 1944
    Iwo Jima operation
    Assault and occupation of Iwo Jima, 20 to 28 February 1945

  • Following World War II USS LST(H)-477 was assigned to Occupation service in the Far East for the following periods:

    Navy Occupation Service Medal
    20 November to 11 December 1945
    26 December 1945 to 25 April 1946

  • Redesignated Landing Ship Tank (Hospital) USS LST(H)-477, 15 September 1945
  • Decommissioned, 25 April 1946 and assigned to Commander Naval Forces Far East (COMNAVFE) Shipping Control Authority for Japan (SCAJAP), redesignated Q091
  • Struck from the Naval Register, 28 August 1947
  • USS LST-477 earned four battle stars and the Navy Unit Commendation for World War II service
  • Final Disposition, sold for scrapping, 27 March 1948, to Consolidated Builders, Inc., Seattle, WA.
    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
    LST-477 61k USS LST-477 underway, 30 March 1943, location unknown.
    US Navy photo
     
    LST-477
    1016047705
    285k An unidentified LST and USS LST-477 beached at Makin Island, Gilbert Islands Group where the incoming tide caught some supplies and equipment being unloaded. Cardboard cartons and boxes proved inadequate under these conditions and many fell apart resulting in the loss of some of the much needed resuppy items.
    National Archives Identifier 193851475 US Army Air Corps photo # A50532A.C.
    David Upton
    LST-477
    1016047706
    390k USS LST-477 and LCT(5)-346 bringing seabees and supplies to Kwajalein Atoll, Marshall Islands in February 1944.
    U.S. Navy Photo. 108-6 from the Digital Collections of the National WWII Museum. Accession number 2013-495-463. Contributed Thomas J. Hanlon.
    David Upton
    LST-944
    1016094402
    402k from left to right; USS LST-944, USS LST-477 and USS LST-795 moored Naval Station Pearl Harbor between 8 December 1944 and 22 January 1945 undergoing training during the build up for Operation Detachment, the Assault and Occupation of Iwo Jima in February 1945.
    TimeLife_Image_115948783, by W. Eugene Smith. For personal non-commercial use only.
    David Upton
    LST-724
    1016072407
    350k from left to right; LCT-1245, USS LST-724, USS LST-944, USS LST-477 and USS LST-795 moored Naval Station Pearl Harbor between 8 December 1944 and 22 January 1945 undergoing training during the build up for Operation Detachment, the Assault and Occupation of Iwo Jima in February 1945.
    TimeLife_Image_115948775, by W. Eugene Smith. For personal non-commercial use only.
    David Upton
    LST-477 59k Beach scene at Iwo Jima circa 23 February 1945 showing the beach cluttered with wrecked LVTs, landing craft and other debris. USS LST-477 is in the extreme right background. USS LST 477 was schedule to make her landing on 19 February with Marines of the 5th Tank Battalion but was delayed because of a direct hit from a kamikaze. It took the crew and the Marines until the morning of 23 February before they were able to land. The original print came from Rear Admiral Samuel Eliot Morison's World War II history project working files. It was provided to Morison by Ellery Sedgwick, Jr.
    US Naval History and Heritage Command photo # NH 104211
    John Somes
    LST-477 101k USS LST-477 unloading an M4 Tank of the USMC 3rd Tank Battalion the morning of 23 February 1945 at Iwo Jima about 45 min after the flag raising. LST-477 was delayed because of a Kamikaze hit the morning of 19 February 1945 the ship was heavily damaged but the crew and Marines worked together and managed to limp in and get back in the war. John Somes for his father George E. Somes USS LST-477
    LST-477 57k USS LST-477 moored, date and location unknown. John Somes

    USS LST-477
    Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships (DANFS)
    Commanding Officers
    01LT. Adams Jr., Josiah K., USNR19 February 1943 - 20 September 1943
    02LTjg. Seale, A. W., USNR20 September 1943 - September 1944
    03LTjg. Hazelrigg, Charles Tabb, USNRSeptember 1944 - August 1945
    04LT. Ennis, William Waggaman, USNR (USNA 1942)August 1945 - December 1945
    05LTjg. Burston, Leroy M., USNRDecember 1945 - February 1946
    06LTjg. Bearden, L. R., USNRFebruary 1946 - 25 April 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
    History of LST Flotilla Seven
    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 29 September 2023