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NavSource Online: Amphibious Photo Archive

Contributed by Al Grazevich

USS Chittenden County (LST-561)
ex
USS LST-561 (1944 - 1955)

International Radio Call Sign:
November - Echo - Uniform - Xray
NEUX

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Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons



Precedence of awards is from top to bottom, left to right
Top Row - American Campaign Medal
Second Row - European-Africa-Middle East Campaign Medal (1) - World War II Victory Medal - National Defense Service Medal
Bottom Row - Korean Service Medal (2) - United Nations Service Medal - Republic of Korea War Service Medal (retroactive)

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During World War II USS LST-561 was assigned to the Europe-Africa-Middle East Theater and participated in the following campaign:

Europe-Africa-Middle East Campaign
Campaign and Dates
Invasion of southern France 15 August to 25 September 1944

During the Korean War USS LST-561 participated in the following campaigns:

Korean War Campaigns
Campaign and Dates	Campaign and Dates
Second Korean Winter 22 December 1951 to 30 January 1952 16 to 30 April 1952	Korean Defense Summer-Fall 1952 1 to 18 May 1952 2 to 24 July 1952

Final Disposition, sunk as a target off Diamond Head, Oahu, Hawaii, 21 October 1958, by USS Sargo (SSN-583)

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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

7 officers, 104 enlisted

Troop Accommodations

16 officers, 147 enlisted

Boats 3 LCVP, 1 LCPL

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

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Click On Image For Full Size Image	Size	Image Description		Source
	49k	USS LSM-547, USS LSM-175 and USS LST-561 beached, probably in the San Diego Bay area, circa 1950-1955		Tommy Trampp
	489k	USS Chittenden County (LST-561) underway in the Arctic during the Summer-Fall of 1955 in support of the DEW line radar stations.		David LaPell
	84k	Forward port quarter view of USS Chittenden County (LST-561) in the Mare Island channel, 9 April 1957. Chittenden County was under repair at Mare Island from 31 January to 9 April 1957. Mare Island Naval Shipyard photo # 33859-4-57, 4/9/57.		Darryl Baker
	94k	Broadside view of USS Chittenden County (LST-561) in the Mare Island channel, 9 April 1957. Mare Island Naval Shipyard photo # 33861-4-57, 4/9/57.		Darryl Baker
	78k	USS Chittenden County (LST-561) under way, date and location unknown.		Tommy Trampp
	387k	USS Chittenden County (LST-561) outbound to sea from San Diego, CA., date unknown. US National Archives Photo # USN 1045669, a US Navy photo now in the collections of the US National Archives.		Mike Smolinski
	983k	Six periscope images of ex-USS Chittenden County (LST-561) being sunk by a torpedo fired by USS Sargo (SSN-583), 21 October 1958, off Diamond Head, Hawaii.		Darryl Baker
	771k	Mare Island Shipyard newspaper the "Grapevine", 15 May 1959 issue with photos of USS Sargo (SSN-583) sinking ex-USS Chittenden County (LST-561), 21 October 1958, off Diamond Head, Hawaii.		Darryl Baker

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USS LST-561 / USS Chittenden County (LST-561)
Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships (DANFS)

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Commanding Officers
01	LT. Foster, Volvey W., USNR	15 May 1944 - November 1945
02	LT. Mickey, E. T., USNR	November 1945 - February 1946
03	LT. Reed, C. E., USNR	February 1946 - 30 April 1946
	Decommissioned	30 April 1946 - 18 September 1950
04	LT. Bush, H. D.	1952
05	LT. Kirk, George Griswald Ely, USN (USNA 1947)	1955 - 20 October 1956
06	LT. Ripley, Robert Kenyon, USN (USNA 1949)	20 October 1956 - 15 May 1958
07	LTjg. Oberg, Chester R., USNR	15 May 1958 - 2 June 1958

Courtesy Wolfgang Hechler and Ron Reeves

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Crew Contact And Reunion Information
U.S. Navy Memorial Foundation - Navy Log

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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 by David W. Almond and maintained by Gary P. Priolo

Last Updated 22 March 2024