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NavSource Online: Amphibious Photo Archive

USS LST-695


International Radio Call Sign:
November - Foxtrot - Oscar - Kilo
NFOK
Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons


Precedence of awards is from top to bottom, left to right
Top Row - Combat Action Ribbon (retroactive-24 October 1944)American Campaign Medal - Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal (2)
Bottom Row - World War II Victory Medal - Philippines Presidential Unit Citation - Philippine Liberation Medal (1)


Personnel Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons

Silver Star-4 {LTjg. Matthew C. Cavoretto, ENS. George E Zillgitt, CMoMM David h. Stehens, MoMM1 Walter J. Boademan}
Bronze Star-8 (LT. Joseph F. White Jr., ENS. Harry D. Hendren, MoMM3c Edgar R. Snider, RdM3c Leland G. Morlan, F1c Samuel L. Mowder, S1c John S Strzelezyk, Cox Leonard C. Hern, F1c John L. Hershey
Purple Hearts (estimated 56+)
Commander 7th Fleet Letters of Commendation-5 (ENS. James E. Welch, S1c Wellington C. Grant, S1c Carl W. Puckett, S1c Thorn P. Starkey, S1c William E. Tinsmith

LST-542 Class Tank Landing Ship:
  • Laid down, 28 February 1944, at Jeffersonville Boat and Machine Co., Jeffersonville, IN.
  • Launched, 24 April 1944
  • Commissioned USS LST-695, 22 May 1944, at New Orleans, LT. D. M. Freeman Jr., USNR in command
  • During World War II USS LST-695 was assigned to the Asiatic-Pacific Theater:
    LST Flotilla Eight, CAPT E. Watts, USN;
    LST Group Twenty-Three, CDR. T.C. Linthicum, USN;
    LST Division Forty-Six and participated in the following campaigns:

    Asiatic-Pacific Campaigns
    Campaign and Dates Campaign and Dates
    Western New Guinea operations
    Morotai landings, 15 September 1944
    Leyte operations
    Leyte landings, Tacloban, San Pedro Bay, 16 October to 29 November 1944

  • Struck by torpedo attack by Japanese submarine HIJMS I-56, 24 October 1944
  • Decommissioned, 6 November 1945
  • Struck from the Naval Register, 28 November 1945
  • USS LST-695 earned two battle stars for World War II service
  • Final Disposition, sold, 22 March 1946, to George Pollock Co., Stockton, CA., fate unknown
    Specifications:
    Displacement
    1,625 t.(lt)
    4,080 t.(fl) (sea-going draft w/1675 ton load)
    2,366 t.
    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-695
    1016069505
    314k USS LST-695 crew photo taken upon completion of training at Camp Bedford Amphibious Warfare Training Center, Norfolk, VA. in February 1944 Craig Freeman for his father Deane Freeman Jr. LST-695
    LST-695
    1016069501
    357k USS LST-695 en route to the Philippines, 24 October 1944. Note the rough awnings rigged to shield men from the tropical sun. The ship is crowded with troops and supplies bound for Leyte Island, Philippine Islands. Large numbers of troops had to live on deck as more were carried than could be quartered below.
    US National Archives Identifier # 80662621 a US Army Signal Corps photo now in the collections of the US National Archives
    David Upton
    and Robert Hurst
    LST-695
    1016069508
    336k View of the bridge of USS LST-695 enroute to Leyte, Philippine Islands, 18 October 1944. Note signalman signaling to another ship in the convoy and the officer of the deck with the long glass.
    US Navy photo from the US National Archives.
    David Upton
    LST-695 54k USS LST-695 beached while unloading a bulldozer, date and location unknown. Craig Freeman for his father Deane Freeman Jr. LST-695
    LST-695
    1016069506
    178k USS LST-695 unloading equipment, date and location unknown Craig Freeman for his father Deane Freeman Jr. LST-695
    LST-695 280k A cropped photo of USS LST-695 drydocked. showing damage to the ship's stern from torpedo attack by Japanese submarine HIJMS I-56 on 24 October 1944. Craig Freeman for his father Deane Freeman Jr. LST-695
    LST-695
    1016069507
    202k USS LST-695 underway while in company with USS LST-537, date and location unknown. Craig Freeman for his father Deane Freeman Jr. LST-695
    LST-695 31k USS LST-695 enters Advance Base Sectional Dock USS ABSD-2, 11 April 1945 at Manus, Admiralty Islands.
    US Navy photo, Still Pictures Branch, National Archives and Records Administration, College Park, MD.
    Robert Hurst

    USS LST-695
    Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships (DANFS)
    Commanding Officers
    01LT. Freeman Jr., Deane M., USNR22 May 1944 - September 1945
    02LT. Watson, Edward B., USNRSeptember 1945 - 6 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
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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 5 February 2021