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NavSource Online: Amphibious Photo Archive

USS LST-609


International Radio Call Sign:
November - Foxtrot - Charlie - Tango
NFCT
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 (4)
Bottom Row - World War II Victory Medal - Philippines Presidential Unit Citation - Philippine Liberation Medal (2)


LST-542 Class Tank Landing Ship:
  • Laid down, 10 December 1943 at Chicago Bridge & Iron Co., Seneca, IL.
  • Launched, 15 April 1944
  • Placed in reduced commission, 27 April 1944, for transit to her fitting out yard at New Orleans, LA.
  • Commissioned in full USS LST-609, 15 May 1944, LT. Walter S. Schaar USNR in command
  • During World War II USS LST-609 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
    Manila Bay-Bicol operations
    Zambales-Subic Bay, 29 to 30 January 1945
    Luzon operations
    Mindoro landings, 12 to 18 December 1944
    Okinawa Gunto operation
    Assault and occupation of Okinawa Gunto, 1 to 10 April 1945

  • For the Okinawa Gunto operation USS LST-609 was assigned to:
    LST Flotilla Sixteen, CAPT. N. W. Sears;
    LST Group Forty-Seven, CDR. L. A. Drexler USN (23);
    LST Division Ninety-Three
  • Decommissioned, 4 January 1946
  • Struck from the Naval Register, 21 January 1946
  • USS LST-609 earned four battle stars for World War II service
  • Final Disposition, sold for scrapping, 26 September 1947, to Boston Metals Co., Baltimore, MD.
    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-242,219,608,609 99k LSTs unloading supplies at Leyte Gulf in October 1944.
    USS LST-242, and USS LST-608 at the bottom of the photo. In the middle of the photo and in the background can be seen numerous small craft along with six additional LSTs. Recognizable are USS LST-609 and USS LST-219.
    US Army Signal Corps. photo
    Dave Kerr and Vicki Purl Ferrier-Taylor for Purl Allan Ferrier, Seaman 1st class, SV-6 USNR.
    LST-660 150k USS LST-609 and USS LST-660 beached in the Philippines, date and location unknown. Photo by Richard R. Humpert USS LST-660
    submitted by Matt Schneider by his grandfather Richard R. Humpert
    LST-609
    1016060901
    TL 115948783
    2336k Six LSTs loading for their next combat operation moored at Naval Station Pearl Harbor, between 8 December 1944 and 22 January 1945. From left to right;
    USS LST-609, with an LCT loaded on her main deck (Manila Bay-Bicol operations)
    USS LST-790,with an LCT loaded on her main deck (Invasion of Iwo Jima)
    USS LST-641, with LCT(6)-1300 loaded on her main deck (Invasion of Iwo Jima)
    USS LST-944, (Invasion of Iwo Jima)
    USS LST-84, (Invasion of Iwo Jima) and
    USS LST-648, with LCT(6)-1404 loaded on her main deck (Invasion of Iwo Jima) and with an LCI alongside.
    TimeLife_Image_115948783, 11548889 and 115948888, by W. Eugene Smith. For personal non-commercial use only.
    David Upton
    LST-609
    1016060902
    TL 11548889
    2219k
    LST-609
    1016060903
    TL 115948888.
    533k
    LST-609
    1016060904
    137k USS LST-609, USS LST-612 and USS LST-573 along with numberous other LSTs beached at Mindoro Island disgorging their vital cargoes of men and material, completing the over water movement from Leyte of 600 miles to seize the dominant beaches along the southern coast of Mindoro in and almost unopposed landings, circa March 1945.
    Photo by Tom Shafer, Acme Newspictures
    Vincent Solinap

    USS LST-609
    Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships (DANFS)
    Commanding Officers
    01LT. Schaar, Walter S., USNR27 April 1944 - August 1945
    02LT. Sharples, Charles S., USNRAugust 1945 - 4 January 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 and maintained by Gary P. Priolo
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    Last Updated 25 February 2022