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NavSource Online: Amphibious Photo Archive

USS LST-478


International Radio Call Sign:
November - Golf - November - Quebec
NGNQ
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 (5) - World War II Victory Medal
Bottom Row - Navy Occupation Service Medal (with Asia clasp) - Philippines Presidential Unit Citation - Philippine Liberation Medal (1)


LST-1 Class Tank Landing Ship
  • Laid down, 17 August 1942, at Kaiser, Inc, Richmond, CA.
  • Launched, 7 November 1942
  • Commissioned USS LST-478, 13 March 1943. LT. H. F. Holmshaw in command
  • During World War II, USS LST-478 was assigned to the Asiatic-Pacific Theater:
    LST Flotilla Three, CDR. A. A. Ageton USN;
    LST Group Seven, LCDR. E. B. Garrigures;
    LST Division Thirteen and participated in the following operations

    Asiatic-Pacific Campaigns
    Campaign and Dates Campaign and Dates
    Gilbert Islands operation 21 November to 8 December 1943 Leyte operation
    Leyte landings, 20 October 1944
    Hollandia operation 21 to 29 April 1944 Okinawa Gunto operation
    Assault and occupation of Okinawa Gunto, 2 to 9 April 1945
    Marianas operation
    Capture and occupation of Guam, 21 to 27 July 1944
     

  • Following World War II USS LST-478 was assigned to Occupation service in the Far East from 20 January to 23 March 1946
  • Decommissioned, 23 March 1946 and assigned to Commander Naval Forces Far East (COMNAVFE) Shipping Control Authority for Japan (SCAJAP), redesignated Q100
  • Struck from the Naval Register, 28 August 1947
  • USS LST-478 earned five battle stars for World War II service
  • Transferred to the Maritime Administration (MARAD) 25 March 1948
  • Final Disposition, sold for scrapping, 25 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-478 158k Plan view aft of USS LST-478 at Navy Yard Mare Island, 13 March 1943, undergoing an inclining experiment.
    Navy Yard Mare Island photo # 1772-43.
    Darryl Baker
    LST-20 1634k USS LST-478 and USS LST-20 unloading on the beach at Kiska Island, Alaska, 23 August 1943. Just visible In the distance is the Japanese cargo ship Nozina Maru, beached by the Japanese after bombing by American forces.
    US National Archives photo # III-SC 182872, Box 187, a US Army Signal Corps photo by PFC Sanderson now in the collections of the US National Archives.
    Dave Kerr
    LST-478
    1016047805
    168k USS LST-478 unloading equipment onto the beach at Kiska Island, Alaska. The beach is strewn with barracks bags and boxes of gear or supplies; a bulldozer operates along shore.
    US Navy BUAIR photo #5603, Bureau of Aeronautics Photograph Collection, Kiska, 1943. ASL-PCA-430. Alaska Digital Archives ID ASL-P430-26. Alaska Historical Collections
    David Upton
    LST-478 118k USS LST-478 beached at Okinawa after the Invasion of Okinawa Gunto campaign has ended, circa second half of 1945.
    Photo by Frederick C. Keller.
    Donn Cuson
    LST-478 199k Plan view amidships looking aft of USS LST-478 at Navy Yard Mare Island, 17 August 1945. USS LST-487 is aft of her and various yard craft and barges are to the right. Beyond the causeway is YHB-2 (Port of Stockton) and the never to be completed USS Creamer (DE-308), USS Ely (DE-309) and USS Delbert W. Halsey (DE-310).
    Navy Yard Mare Island photo # 6007-45.
    Darryl Baker
    LST-478 47k USS LST-478 moored pierside at Navy Yard Mare Island, 17 August 1945 LST Home Port Web Site

    USS LST-478
    Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships (DANFS)
    Commanding Officers
    01LT. Holmshaw Jr., Harry Fred, USN (USNA 1936)13 March 1943 - 24 September 1943
    02LT. Aderhold, Leon W., USNR24 September 1943 - 9 March 1944
    03LT. McCormick Jr., Jack C., USNR9 March 1944 - 20 January 1945
    04LTjg. Tennyson, Scott P., USNR20 January 1945 - 7 April 1945
    05LT. Bradford, G.K., USNR7 April 1945 - December 1945
    06LTjg. Long, Fletcher J., USNRDecember 1945 - 23 March 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 Homeport
    State LST Chapters
    United States LST Association
    Back To The Navsource Photo Archives Main Page Back To the Amphibious Ship Type Index Back To The Tank Landing Ship (LST) Photo Index
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    This page is created and maintained by Gary P. Priolo
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    Last Updated 25 June 2021