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NavSource Online: Amphibious Photo Archive

USS LST-485


International Radio Call Sign:
November - Golf - Xray - Bravo
 NGXB
Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons


Precedence of awards is from top to bottom, left to right
Top Row - Navy Unit Commendation - China Service Medal (extended) - American Campaign Medal
Bottom Row - Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal (5) - World War II Victory Medal - Navy Occupation Service Medal (with Asia clasp)
LST-1 Class Tank Landing Ship:
  • Laid down, 17 December 1942, at Kaiser, Inc., Richmond, CA.
  • Launched, 9 January 1943
  • Commissioned USS LST-485, 19 May 1943, LT. Clinton E. Stover, USN, in command
  • During World War II USS LST-485 was assigned to the Asiatic-Pacific theater:
    LST Flotilla Five, CAPT. G.B. Carter, USN;
     LST Group Fifteen, CDR. V. K. Busck, USN;
     LST Division Twenty-Nine and participated in the following campaigns:

    Asiatic-Pacific Campaigns
    Campaign and Dates Campaign and Dates
    New Georgia Group operation
    Vella-Lavella occupation, 18 September 1943     		Tinian capture and occupation, 24 July to 10 August 1944
    Treasury-Bougainville operation
    Treasury Island landings, 27 October and 6 November 1943     		Okinawa Gunto operation
    Assault and occupation of Okinawa Gunto, 3 May to 20 June 1945
    Marianas operation
    Capture and occupation of Saipan, 15 June to 10 August 1944     		 

  • Following World War II USS LST-485 was assigned to Occupation and China service in the Far East for the following periods:

    Navy Occupation Service Medal
    China Service Medal (extended)
    24 February to 11 March 194624 January to 18 February 1946

  • Decommissioned, 30 July 1946
  • Struck from the Naval Register, 28 August 1946
  • USS LST-485 earned five battle stars and the Navy Unit Commendation for World War II service
  • Final Disposition, sold for scrapping, 29 March 1948, to Kaiser, 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 Source
    LST-485 142k USS LST-485 (left) is in the background of the plan view USS Hovey (DMS-11) at Mare Island Navy Yard, CA., 20 May 1943.
    US Naval History and Heritage Command Photo # NH 99567.    		 US Naval History and Heritage Command
    LST-485 153k USS LST-485 beached at Beach "D", Vella La Vella, Solomon Island, 18/19 September 1943. USS LST-485 was the temporary LST Group Fifteen flagship for the invasion on 19 September 1943, and was also part of a later logistical operation on 1 October 1943
    Photo from the estate of combat photograper Peter (Rupy) Ruplenas.    		 Brian Miller
    LST-485 226k USS LST-485, USS LST-78 (with LCT-1190 loaded on her main deck) and an unidentified LST beached at Okinawa, 3 May 1945, while bulldozers of the 807the Engineer Aviation Battalion build ramps to the LST so that the Battalion's other equipment can be off loaded across the beach.
    US National Archives photo, courtesy fold3.com.    		 George Lane
    LCI(L)-222 514k USS LST-485 and USS LCI(L)-24, USS LCI(L)-222, USS LCI(L)-334 load New Zealand troops of the 3rd Division Brigade, 25 October 1943, for a landing at Mono Island in the Treasury Island Group. Jerry Gilmartin MMC(SW) USN Ret. Secretary AFMM LCI 713, Curator PT-658 Save the PT Boat Inc, courtesy Dennis Blocker LCI National Association Historian
    LST-485 464k Painting of USS LST-485 in "Landing Ships under Fire, Treasury Island, 1943", by Russell Clark. Image shows New Zealanders from 8 Brigade, 3rd New Zealand Division, landing on Mono Island, 27 October 1943. Image courtesy of Archives New Zealand via Flickr. Robert Hurst
    LST-485 58k USS LST-485 under way in San Francisco Bay, CA., 1946.
    US Naval Naval History and Heritage Command Photo # NH 79011, courtesy of Donald M. McPherson, 1974.    		 US Naval Historical Center
    USS LST-485
    Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships (DANFS)
    Crew Contact And Reunion Information
    U.S. Navy Memorial Foundation - Navy Log
    Commanding Officers
    01LT. Stover, Clinton Edgar, USN19 May 1943 - 9 April 1944
    02LTjg. Breimyer, H. F., USNR9 April 1944 - 1 September 1944
    03LT. Moore, John Richard, USNR1 September 1944 - 26 April 1945
    04LT. Plummer, John M., USNR26 April 1945 - 20 September 1945
    05LT. Walsh, William D., USNR20 September 1945 - December 1945
    06LTjg Escherich, William W., USNRDecember 1945 - 30 July 1946
    Courtesy Wolfgang Hechler and Ron Reeves
    Additional Resources and Web Sites of Interest
    LST Flotilla Five War Diary May 1944
    LST Flotilla Five War Diary July 1944
    The USS LST Ship Memorial
    LST Home Port
    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 by David W. Almond and maintained by Gary P. Priolo
    All pages copyright NavSource Naval History
    Last Updated 9 June 2023