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NavSource Online: Amphibious Photo Archive

USNS T-LST-590
ex
USS LST-590 (1944 - 1952)

International Radio Call Sign:
November - Echo - Yankee - Tango
NEYT

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 (1)
Second Row - World War II Victory Medal - Navy Occupation Service Medal (with Asia clasp) - National Defense Service Medal
Third Row - Vietnam Service Medal (3) - Philippines Liberation Medal - Republic of Vietnam Campaign Medal

LST-542 Class Tank Landing Ship:

Laid down, 19 June 1944, at Missouri Valley Bridge and Iron Co., Evansville, IN.

Launched, 29 July 1944

Placed in reduced commission, 19 August 1944, at Evansville, IN., LT. Bob J. McGrath USN, in command

Commissioned in full as USS LST-590, 26 August 1944, at Algiers, LA., LT. Bob J. McGrath, USN, in command

During World War II USS LST-590 was assigned to the Asiatic-Pacific Theater and participated in the following campaign:

Campaign and Dates
Asiatic-Pacific Campaigns
Borneo operations Tarakan Island operation, 27 April to 5 May 1945

Following World War II USS LST-590 was assigned to Occupation service in the Far East for the following periods:

Navy Occupation Service Medal
23 September to 25 November 1945
25 December 1945 to 2 February 1946

Decommissioned, 2 February 1946, in Japan and assigned to Commander Naval Forces Far East (COMNAVFE) Shipping Control Authority for Japan (SCAJAP), redesignated Q036

Transferred to the Military Sea Transportation Service (MSTS), 31 March 1952 and placed in service as USNS T-LST-590 with a South Korean crew

During the Vietnam War USNS T-LST-590 participated in the following campaigns:

Campaign and Dates	Campaign and Dates
Vietnam War Campaigns
Vietnamese Counteroffensive - Phase II	Consolidation I, 21 October 1971
Vietnamese Counteroffensive - Phase III

Placed out of service and struck from the Naval Register, 15 June 1973

Transferred to the Maritime Administration, 25 June 1973

USS LST-590 earned one battle star for World War II service and as USNS T-LST-590 earned three or more campaign stars for Vietnam War service.

Final Disposition, sold for scrapping, 25 June 1973, to S.S. Zee, Inc., Taipei, Taiwan

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
USS LST-590
	351k	USS LST-590 and USS LST-584 beached on Red Beach, Tarakan Island while unloading, 1 May 1945.	Carl Kracht for his father PHom1/c Ken Kracht
	69k	USS LST-590 beached at Lingkas, Tarakan Island, Borneo, 1 May 1945. while unloading a Tank, Infantry, Mark II, Matilda I (No. 35421) of the 2/9 Armoured Regiment via a pontoon causeway to the beach. Australian War Memorial photo # 305126 (Naval Historical Collection).	Australian War Memorial
	66k	USS LST-590 beached at Lingkas, Tarakan Island, Borneo, 1 May 1945. while disembarking Australian troops of the 26th Infantry Brigade. Australian War Memorial photo # 305125 (Naval Historical Collection).	Australian War Memorial
	57k	USS LST-590, USS LST-637 and an unidentified LST at Morotai, Halmahera Islands, Netherlands, East Indies, 29 May 1945. From a crowded waterfront that only six months earlier had been a deserted tropical beach hundreds of heavily laden Royal Australian Air Force vehicles were embarked at Morotai before the invasion fleet sailed for Labuan, British North Borneo. Australian War Memorial photo # OG2802.	Australian War Memorial
	77k	USS LST-590 and USS LST-711 beached at Morotai, Halmahera Islands, Netherlands East Indies, 29 May 1945, waiting to load Royal Australian Air Force vehicles for the invasion of Lubuan, British North Borneo. Australian War Memorial photo # OG2803.	Mike Green
	59k	USS LST-590 and USS LST-742 at Labuan Island, 13 June 1945, while unloading trucks and cargo across pontoon causeways. Australian War Memorial photo # 109133.	Australian War Memorial
	66k	USS LST-590 at Labuan Island, 13 June 1945, while unloading trucks and cargo across a pontoon causeway. Australian War Memorial photo # 109134.	Australian War Memorial
	80k	USS LST-590 at Labuan Island, 13 June 1945, while trucks unload cargo across a pontoon causeway. Australian War Memorial photo # 109136.	Australian War Memorial
USNS T-LST-590
	600k	USNS T-LST-590 at anchor in the harbor at Nha-Be, South Vietnam, circa 1967.	Photo by Shot by SSG Tommy Trampp
	465k	USNS T-LST-590 (at left) and USNS Harris County (T-LST-822) beached at South Beach, Cam-Ranh Bay, South Vietnam, circa 1967.	Photo by Shot by SSG Tommy Trampp
	445k		Photo by Shot by SSG Tommy Trampp
	432k	USNS T-LST-590 underway in the Mekong Delta, South Vietnam, circa 1967.	Photo by Shot by SSG Tommy Trampp
	63k	USNS T-LST-590 docked at the ramp at Tan My (Muy), South Vietnam, 21 October 1971. The 3/5 Cav was standing down at the time and we were heading to DaNang to turn in their equipment.	Photo by Shot by SGT Richard E. White, C Troop 3d Squadron 5th U.S. Cavalry, 9th Infantry Division
	70k	USNS T-LST-590 with C Troop 3d Squadron 5th U.S. Cavalry, 9th Infantry Division, aboard for the voyage from Hue (Tan My) to DaNang, South Vietnam, 21 October 1971.	Photo by Shot by SGT Richard E. White, C Troop 3d Squadron 5th U.S. Cavalry, 9th Infantry Division

USS LST-590 / USNS T-LST-590
Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships (DANFS)

Commanding Officers
01	LT. McGrath, Bob James, USN	19 August 1944 - 1 February 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 by David W. Almond and maintained by Gary P. Priolo

Last Updated 11 January 2019

NavSource Online: Amphibious Photo Archive

USNS T-LST-590ex USS LST-590 (1944 - 1952)

USNS T-LST-590
ex
USS LST-590 (1944 - 1952)