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NavSource Online: Amphibious Photo Archive

USS LST-641

International Radio Call Sign:
November - Foxtrot - Hotel - Victor
NFHV

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Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons


Precedence of awards is from top to bottom, left to right
Top Row - Combat Action Ribbon (retroactive, Iwo Jima, 15 February 1945) - China Service Medal (extended) - American Campaign Medal
Bottom Row - Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal (2) - World War II Victory Medal - Navy Occupation Service Medal (with Asia clasp)

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During WWII USS LST-641 was assigned to Asiatic-Pacific Theater:
LST Flotilla Twenty-One, CAPT. W. H. Brereton USN (24);
LST Group Sixty-Two, CDR. W. M. Gullett USN (27);
LST Division One Hundred Twenty-Three and participated in the following campaigns:

Asiatic-Pacific Campaigns
Campaign and Dates	Campaign and Dates
Iwo Jima operation Assault and occupation of Iwo Jima, 20 to 28 February 1945	Okinawa Gunto operation Assault and occupation of Okinawa Gunto, 2 April to 29 June 1945

Following World War II USS LST-641 was assigned to Occupation and China service in the Far East for the following periods:

Navy Occupation Service Medal	China Service Medal (extended)
9 to 25 September 1945	6 March to 13 June 1946

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		Contributed By
1016064105	200k	LST-641 just prior to launching, 4 September 1944, at Chicago Bridge & Iron Co. Seneca, IL.		Eugene (Gene) Powell for his father-in-law Willie Carl Hammond SF/3c USNR USS LST-641 1944-46
	300k	LST-641 launching, 4 September 1944, at Chicago Bridge & Iron Co. Seneca, IL.		Mike Sheedy
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-609USS 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
1016060902 TL 11548889	2219k
1016060903 TL 115948888.	533k
	44k	USS LST-641 beached during the invasion of Iwo Jima on D-Day, 15 February 1945. Note Marines evacuating wounded comrades to a waiting amphibious vessel and LCT-1300 still loaded on LST-641's main deck.		Fred Wells USS LST-641 1944-46
	43k	USS LST-641 beached in the background during the invasion of Iwo Jima on D-Day, 15 February 1945 as Marines evacuate wounded comrades to a waiting amphibious vessel's.		Fred Wells USS LST-641 1944-46
	49k	USS LST-641 beached at Iwo Jima during the initial landings. Note LCVP No. 1 from the cargo ship USS Jupiter (AK-43) beached alongside USS LST-641		Fred Wells USS LST-641 1944-46
	43k	USS LST-641 and USS LST-654 moored on the Whangpoo River at Shanghai, China 3 March 1946		Fred Wells USS LST-641 1944-46
	783k	USS LST-641 ports of call, 22 September 1944 - 23 April 1946.		Eugene (Gene) Powell for his father-in-law Willie Carl Hammond SF/3c USNR USS LST-641 1944-46

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USS LST-641
Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships (DANFS)

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Commanding Officers
01	LT. Watson, Charles A., USNR	22 September 1944 - November 1945
02	LTjg. Ellis, Jack K., USNR	November 1945 - 13 June 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 13 August 2021