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NavSource Online: Amphibious Photo Archive

USS LST-646

International Radio Call Sign:
November - Foxtrot - India - Foxtrot
NFIF

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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) - American Campaign Medal
Bottom Row - Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal (1) - World War II Victory Medal - Navy Occupation Service Medal (with Asia clasp)

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During World War II USS LST-646 was assigned to the Asiatic-Pacific Theater:
LST Flotilla Twenty-One, CAPT. W. H. Brereton, USN (24);
LST Group Sixty-Three, LCDR. R .E. Farnestock USNR;
LST Division One Hundred Twenty-Five and participated in the follow campaign:

Asiatic-Pacific Campaign
Campaign and Dates
Iwo Jima operation Assault and occupation of Iwo Jima, 20 February to 16 March 1945

Following World War II USS LST-646 was assigned to Occupation service in the Far East for the following periods:

Navy Occupation Service Medal
2 September to 26 October 1945
1 to 6 November 1945
1 to 6 December 1945

Final Disposition, sold, 11 May 1948 to J. Willis Smith and Bros. for scrap

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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
	47k	LST-646, launching, 25 September 1944, at Chicago Bridge and Iron Co., Seneca, IL		LST Home Port Web Site
1016064605	389k	USS LST-646 crew photo taken on commissioning day, 13 October 1944, at Chicago Bridge and Iron Co., Seneca, IL		Joe Schmidt for his grandfather Leslie Schmidt RDmC USS LST-646
	403k	USS LST 646 in the background moored in Apra Harbor, Guam, 15 April 1945, while undergoing overhaul following a month of heavy action at Iwo Jima. In the foreground Navy hospital personnel offload 595 patients (and the remains of one soldier who died enroute) from the fight raging on Okinawa from USS Solace (AH-5) Solace also disembarked Navy photographer LTjg. Victor Jorgenson who was assigned temporarily to the ship. He is very likely the source of these photos. Solace, “The Workhorse of the Pacific” then took on fuel and other supplies in preparation for a return to Okinawa for more casualties. This was one of seven trips Solace made from Okinawa, delivering over 4000 casualties to base hospitals throughout the Marianas.		Brian Miller
	517k
	128k	USS LST-646 and USS LST-662 entering the floating drydock USS ABSD-6 in Apra Harbor, Guam, 29 May 1945. US National Archives photo #80-G-379469, a US Navy photo now in the collections of the US National Archives.		US Naval Historical Center
	143k	USS LST-646 and USS LST-662 in the floating drydock USS ABSD-6, Apra Harbor, Guam, 29 May 1945. US National Archives photo # 80-N-379472, a US Navy photo now in the collection of the US National Archives.		US Naval Historical Center
	19k	USS LST-646 beached at Iwo Jima, circa 1945.		LST Home Port Web Site

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USS LST-646
Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships (DANFS)

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Commanding Officers
01	LT. Fitzgerald, Hugh F., USNR	13 October 1944 - 26 November 1945
02	LT. Muenster, William R., USNR	26 November 1945 - 15 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 22 April 2022