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NavSource Online: Amphibious Photo Archive

LST-697

Flag Hoist/International Radio Call Sign:
November - Foxtrot - Oscar - Tango

Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons

Precedence of awards is from top to bottom, left to right
Top Row - China Service Medal (extended) - American Campaign Medal - Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal (5)
Bottom Row - World War II Victory Medal - Navy Occupation Service Medal (with Asia clasp) - Philippine Liberation Medal (2)

LST-542 Class Tank Landing Ship:

Laid down, 6 March 1944, at Jeffersonville Boat and Machine Co., Jeffersonville, IN.

Launched, 1 May 1944

Commissioned USS LST-697, 30 May 1944, ENS. Lo Presti USNR in command, Succeeded by LT. J.E. Tanner USNR

During World War II LST-697 was assigned to the Asiatic-Pacific Theater, LST Flotilla Eight (CAPT E. Watts, USN), Group 23 (CDR. T.C. Linthicum, USN), Division 46 and participated in the following campaign:

**Asiatic-Pacific Campaigns**
Campaign and Dates	Campaign and Dates
Western New Guinea operations Morotai landings, September 1944	Consolidation and capture of the Southern Philippines Visayan Island landings, March and April 1945
Leyte operations Leyte landings, Tacloban, San Pedro Bay, October and November 1944	Borneo operations Tarakan Island operation, April and May 1945
Luzon operation Lingayen Gulf landing, January 1945	.

Following World War II LST-697 performed occupation duty in the Far East and saw service in China until mid-December 1945

Decommissioned, 12 July 1946

Struck from the Naval Register, 28 August 1946

Final Disposition, sold, 14 October 1947, to William E. Skinner for scrapping

LST-697 earned five battle stars for World War II service

Specifications: (as reported by Office of Naval Intelligence-1945)
Displacement 1,625 t.(lt), 4,080 t.(fl) (sea-going draft w/1675 ton load)
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)
Speed 12 kts. (maximum)
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
Propulsion two General Motors 12-567, 900hp diesel engines, two shafts, twin rudders

Click On Image For Full Size Image	Size	Image Description	Contributed By
USS LST-697
	85k	*LST-741* *LST-1017, LST-170, LST-460, LST-613, LST-1018, LST-695, LST-628, LST-697, beached on D+2, 22 October 1944, while unloading at Tacloban, San Pedro Bay, Leyte, P.I. Photo was taken from the deck of LST-666*	Photo by James Hopkins BM2/c USS LST-666 submitted by Harold A. Young SM2/c USS LST-666
	69k	*LST-697* beached at Halmahera Islands, Netherlands East Indies, 16 November 1944, while members of the Royal Australian Air Force No. 3 Airfield Construction Squadron board as part of invasion force for the Leyte operation in the Philippines. Australian War Memorial photo # OG1818.	Australian War Memorial
	26k	*LST-697* beached at Lingayen Gulf, P.I. unloading trucks, November 1945	LST Home Port web site
	40k	*LST-697* and *LST-584* beached at Tarakan, Borneo, date unknown.	LST Home Port web site
	25k	*LST-697* and *LST-1025* beached on Blue Beach at Morotai, 17 May 1945. *LST-1025* is unloading wounded from Tarakan Island. Members of the Australian Army 2/12 Field Ambulance Transferred them to the 2/5 General Hospital.	Australian War Memorial
	79k	*LST-697* and *LST-626* beached at Morotai, 1 June 1945, while members of the 2/3RD Anti Aircraft Regiment wait on the beach to board the LSTs in preparation for "Operation Oboe 6". Australian War Memorial photo # 108691.	Australian War Memorial
	81k	*LST-697* beached at Morotai, 1 June 1945, while members of B Troop 6th Battery, 2/3rd Anti Aircraft Regiment embark in preparation for "Operation Oboe 6". Australian War Memorial photo # 108695.	Australian War Memorial
	76k	*LST-697* beached at Morotai, 1 June 1945, while a 150cm searchlight of 2/3rd Anti Aircraft Regiment is loaded aboard in preparation for "Operation Oboe 6". Australian War Memorial photo # 108696.	Australian War Memorial
	57k	*LST-697* beached at Morotai, 1 June 1945, while a 150cm searchlight of 2/3rd Anti Aircraft Regiment is loaded aboard in preparation for "Operation Oboe 6". Australian War Memorial photo # 108697.	Australian War Memorial
	66k	*LST-697* beached at Morotai, 1 June 1945, while a line of trucks and heavy equipment belonging to the Australian Army's 2/4th Pioneer Battalion waits to be loaded in preparation for "Operation Oboe 6". Australian War Memorial photo # 108410.	Australian War Memorial
	24k	*LST-697* entering San Francisco Bay while carrying 10 Kamikaze warheads which had started leaking necessitating that she sail 3 miles astern of the rest of the homeward bound Flotilla.	LST Home Port web site