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NavSource Online: Amphibious Photo Archive

USS LST-605


International Radio Call Sign:
November - Foxtrot - Charlie - Golf
 NFCG
Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons



Precedence of awards is from top to bottom, left to right
Top Row - Navy Unit Commendation
Second Row - American Campaign Medal - Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal (3) - World War II Victory Medal
Third Row - Navy Occupation Medal (with Asia clasp) - Philippines Presidential Unit Citation - Philippine Liberation Medal (2)
LST-542 Class Tank Landing Ship:
  • Laid down, 30 September 1943, at Chicago Bridge and Iron Co., Seneca, IL.
  • Launched, 29 March 1944
  • Commissioned USS LST-605, 14 April 1944. LT Howard B. Nooman USNR in command
  • During World War II USS LST-605 was assigned to the Asiatic-Pacific Theater and participated in the following campaigns:

    Asiatic-Pacific Campaigns
    Campaign and Dates Campaign and Dates
    Leyte operation
    Leyte landings, 20 October 1944     		Okinawa Gunto operation
    Assault and occupation of Okinawa Gunto, 2 May to 29 June 1945
    Luzon operation
    Mindoro landings, 12 to 18 December 1944
    Lingayen Gulf landings, 4 to 18 January 1945     		 

  • For the Okinawa Gunto operations USS LST-605 was assigned to:
    For Okinawa only
     LST Flotilla Sixteen, CAPT. N. W. Sears;
     LST Group Forty-Six, LCDR. J. R. Keeling USNR;
     LST Division Ninety-Two
  • Following World War II USS LST-605 was assigned to Occupation service in the Far East for the following periods:

    Navy Occupation Service Medal
    6 to 23 September 1945
    5 to 20 December 1945

  • Decommissioned, 24 May 1946
  • Struck from the Naval Register, 3 July 1946
  • USS LST-605 received the Navy Unit Commendation and earned three battle stars for World War II service
  • Custody transferred to the Maritime Commission for disposal
  • Final Disposition, sold for scrapping, 15 April 1948, to Kaiser Co., Inc., Vancouver, 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-605 55k LST-605 being launched at Chicago Bridge and Iron Co., Seneca, IL., 29 March 1944. Mike Joseph for his father Ed Joseph USS LST-605
    LST-565
    101656501    		 265k Three Coast Guardsmen, silhouetted at the stern of a Coast-Guard manned LST watch the convoy of LSTs including "> USS LST-565 and USS LST-605 making there way to Morotai in the Halmaheras. The convoy was part of General MacArthur's array of sea strength which stormed and captured Morotai." Note: LST-565 and LST-605 were not involved in the invasion of Morotai. They were a part of Flotilla Sixteen and were four days out of Pearl Harbor when the landings at Morotai began, 15 September 1944, and left Manus Island in Admiralty Islands, 11 October1944, eight days after the fighting ended.
    National Archives war diaries and ships muster rolls, National Archives Identifier 205586182. Local Identifier 26-G-2925, US Coast Guard photo # 2925.
    US National Archives WAR & CONFLICT BOOK #: 1162, Location: MOROTAI, HALMAHERAS INDONESIA (IDN)>i>    		 Joe Radigan, MACM USN Ret and David Upton
    USS LST-605
    Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships (DANFS)
    Commanding Officers
    01LT. Nooman, Howard B., USNR14 April 1944 - September 1944
    02LT. Clegg, William J., USNRSeptember 1944 - April 1945
    03LT. Gaddis, Golden Hic, USNApril 1945 - November 1945
    04LT. Fullmer, Bert L.November 1945 - 24 May 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
    MARAD Vessel History Database
    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
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    Last Updated 16 July 2021