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NavSource Online: Amphibious Photo Archive

USAT LST-648
ex
USS LST-648 (1944 - 1947)

International Radio Call Sign:
November - Foxtrot - India - Juliet
NFIJ

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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 Medal (with Asia clasp)

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During World War II USS LST-648 was assigned to the Asiatic-Pacific Theater:
LST Flotilla Twenty-Five, CAPT. H. E. Richter USN (24);
LST Group Seventy-Three, CDR. L. D. York USNR;
LST Division One Hundred Forty-Six and participated in the following campaign:

Asiatic-Pacific Campaign
Campaign and Dates
Iwo Jima operation Assault and occupation of Iwo Jima, 19 to 29 February 1945

Following World War II USS LST-648 was assigned to Occupation service in the Far East for the following periods:

Navy Occupation Service Medal
2 to 13 September 1945
20 September 1945 to 14 February 1947

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
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
1016060902 TL 11548889	2219k
1016060903 TL 115948888.	533k
1016064802	147k	USS LST-648 with LCT-1404 on deck, 19 February 1945, in the transport area off Iwo Jima. Frames from a short film called "Amphibious Invasion of Iwo Jima, H-Hour Minus One". Dept. of the Navy. National Archives ID 80201, Local ID 428-NPC-15841.		David Upton
1016064803	159k
1016064804	139k	USS LST-648 in the transport area off Iwo Jima, 19 February 1945. Frames from a short film called "Amphibious Invasion of Iwo Jima, H-Hour Minus One". Dept. of the Navy. National Archives ID 80201, Local ID 428-NPC-15841.		David Upton
1016064801	301k	USS LST-648 beached at Iwo Jima during the Assault and occupation campaign in February - March 1945. In the foreground is a battery of US Marine Corps 105-mm howitzers. US National Archives Identifier # 74241733, a US Marine Corps photo now in the collections of the US National Archives.		David Upton

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USS LST-648
Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships (DANFS)

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Commanding Officers
01	LCDR. Rabell, Charles Frederick, USNR	21 October 1944 - 5 September 1945
02	LT. Thomas Jr., Allan Morton, USNR	5 September 1945 - 22 November 1945
03	LTjg. Carruth, Edward Norman, USN	22 November 1945 - 13 February 1946
03	LTjg. Minges, George Alfred, USNR	13 February 1946 - 1 April 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 Home Port
State LST Chapters
United States LST Association ÿ
>

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This page is created by David W. Almond and maintained by Gary P. Priolo

Last Updated 26 August 2022