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NavSource Online: Amphibious Photo Archive

USS LST-640

International Radio Call Sign:
November - Foxtrot - Hotel - Tango
NFHT

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Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons


Precedence of awards is from top to bottom, left to right
Top Row - China Service Medal (extended) - American Campaign Medal - Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal (1)
Bottom Row - World War II Victory Medal - Philippines Presidential Unit Citation - Philippine Liberation Medal (1)

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During World War II USS LST-640 was assigned to the Asiatic-Pacific Theater:
LST Flotilla Eight;
LST Group Twenty-Two;
LST Division Forty-Three and participated in the following campaigns:

Asiatic-Pacific Campaigns
Campaign and Dates
Consolidation and capture of the Southern Philippines Palawan Island landings, 1 to 2 March 1945 Visayan Island landings, 25 to 28 March and 2 to 4 and 7 April 1945

Final Disposition, fate unknown

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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

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

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Click On Image For Full Size Image	Size	Image Description		Source
	518k	Launching of LST-640, 31 August 1944, at Chicago Bridge and Iron Co., Seneca, IL.		Michael Guinn for his father Harold C. Guinn GM2/c USS LST-640
	218k	USS LST-640 enlisted crew photo, date and location unknown.		Michael Guinn for his father Harold C. Guinn GM2/c USS LST-640
	152k	USS LST-640 Gunnery Division (Harold C. Guinn, front row 2nd from right), date and location unknown.		Michael Guinn for his father Harold C. Guinn GM2/c USS LST-640
	185k	USS LST-640 Gunnery Division (Harold C. Guinn, front row right), date and location unknown.		Michael Guinn for his father Harold C. Guinn GM2/c USS LST-640
	298k	USS LST-640 twin 40mm AA gun mount crew. Harold C. Guinn GM2/c third from right, probably 1945 heading for Labuan, North Borneo for operation Oboe.		Michael Guinn for his father Harold C. Guinn GM2/c USS LST-640
	311k	USS LST-640 approaching Brown Beach during the initial landings at Labuan, North Borneo, 10 July 1945. LST-640 was the first LST to land on Brown Beach. The first of seven waves of LVTs landed at Brown, White, and Green Beaches at 0915, 0916 and 0917 respectively. Next came LCIs, LSMs and last LSTs.		Carl Kracht for his father PHom1/c Ken Kracht
	300k
	43k	USS LST-640 beached at Labuan, North Borneo, 10 June 1945, as a jeep of the Australian Army's 24th Infantry Brigade moves ashore during "Operation Oboe 6". Australian War Memorial photo # 108914.		Australian War Memorial.
	66k	USS LST-640 beached at Labuan, North Borneo, 10 June 1945, as a bulldozer pulls a truck ashore. Note the Australian soldiers laying a wire mesh ramp to the water's edge to enable vehicles to come ashore without bogging down in the sand. Australian Naval Historical Collection photo # 305131.		Australian War Memorial.
	80k	USS LST-640 and USS LST-560 beached at Labuan, North Borneo, 10 June 1945, as a jeep of the Australian Army's 13 Wireless Section (Heavy) is towed ashore by a US bulldozer, during "Operation Oboe 6". Australian War Memorial photo # 108880.		Australian War Memorial.
	72k	USS LST-640 and USS LST-560 beached at Labuan, North Borneo, 10 June 1945, as a jeep of the Australian Army's 13 Wireless Section (Heavy) moving ashore during "Operation Oboe 6". Australian War Memorial photo # 108883.		Australian War Memorial.

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USS LST-640
Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships (DANFS)

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Commanding Officers
01	LT. McKenney Jr., Fred Palmer, USNR	18 September 1944 - 21 October 1945
02	LTjg. Spangler, Thomas Grace, USNR	21 October 1945 - 8 January 1946
03	LTjg. Williamson Jr., Arnold, USNR	8 January 1946 - 26 February 1946
04	LTjg. La Belle, Charles J., USNR	26 February 1946 - 31 March 1946

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 Homeport
State LST Chapters
United States LST Association

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This page is created and maintained by Gary P. Priolo

Last Updated 24 December 2020