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NavSource Online: Amphibious Photo Archive

USS LST-684


International Radio Call Sign:
November - Foxtrot - Mike - Papa
 NFMP
Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons


Precedence of awards is from top to bottom, left to right
Top Row - American Campaign Medal
Bottom Row - Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal (3) - World War II Victory Medal - Navy Occupation Service Medal (with Asia clasp)
LST-542 Class Tank Landing Ship:
  • Laid down, 13 December 1943, at Jeffersonville Boat and Machine Co., Jeffersonville, IN.
  • Launched, 12 February 1944
  • Commissioned USS LST-684, 3 April 1944, LT. Paul B. Welch, Jr., USNR, in command
  • During World War II USS LST-684 was assigned to the Asiatic-Pacific Theater:
    LST Flotilla Twenty-One, CAPT. W. H. Brereton USN (24);
     LST Group Sixty-One, CAPT. R.M. MacKinnon USN (25);
     LST Division One Hundred Twenty-Two

    Asiatic-Pacific Campaigns
    Campaign and Dates Campaign and Dates
    Marianas operation, July and August 1944
    Capture and occupation of Guam, 22 July to 15 August 1944     		Okinawa Gunto operation, April through June 1945
    Assault and occupation of Okinawa Gunto, 2 April to 7 June 1945
    Iwo Jima operation, February 1945
    Assault and occupation of Iwo Jima, 19 to 25 February 1945     		 

  • Following World War II USS LST-684 was assigned to Occupation service in the Far East from 2 September to 22 November 1945
  • Decommissioned, 25 November 1945
  • Struck from the Naval Register, 5 June 1946
  • Final Disposition, destroyed, 22 March 1946
  • USS LST-684 earned three battle stars for World War II service
    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
    9 officers
    120 enlisted
    Troop Accommodations
    14 officers
    131 enlisted
    Boats 6 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 Source
    LST-684 77k USS LST-684 under way off the invasion beaches at either Iwo Jima or Okinawa. Robert Hurst
    LST-684 320k USS LST-684 unloading across a pontoon pier at Okinawa, date unknown. Raymond Cvetovich, Ph.D.
    USS LST-684
    Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships (DANFS)
    Commanding Officers
    01LT. Welch Jr., Paul Bion, USNR3 April 1944 - 21 June 1945
    02LTjg. Mears, Harold Wilfred, USNR21 June 1945 - 24 November 1945
    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
    Back To The Navsource Photo Archives Main Page Back To The Amphibious Ship Type Index Back To The Tank Landing Ship (LST) Photo Index
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    This page is created by David W. Almond and maintained by Gary P. Priolo
    All pages copyright NavSource Naval History
    Last updated 26 September 2015