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NavSource Online: Amphibious Photo Archive

USS Douglas County (LST-731)
ex
 USS LST-731 (1952 - 1955)
 USS LST(H)-731 (1945 - 1952)
 USS LST-731 (1944 - 1945)


International Radio Call Sign:
November - Golf - Bravo - Foxtrot
 NGBF
Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons


Precedence of awards is from top to bottom, left to right
Top Row - Combat Action Ribbon (retroactive -Iwo Jima, 19 February to 16 March 1945) - American Campaign Medal
Bottom Row - Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal (2) - World War II Victory Medal - Navy Occupation Service Medal (with Asia clasp)
LST-542 Class Tank Landing Ship:
  • Laid down, 27 December 1943, at Dravo Corp., Neville Island, Pittsburgh, PA.
  • Launched, 12 February 1944
  • Commissioned USS LST-731, 30 March 1944, ENS. Kenneth S. McCann, Jr., USN, in command
  • During World War II USS LST-731 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 and participated in the following campaigns:

    Asiatic-Pacific Campaigns
    Campaign and Dates Campaign and Dates
    Marianas operation
    Capture and occupation of Guam, 22 July to 15 August 1944     		Iwo Jima operation
    Assault and occupation of Iwo Jima, 19 February to 16 March 1945

  • USS LST-731 was redesignated Landing Ship Tank (Hospital) LST(H)-731, 15 September 1945
  • Following World War II USS LST(H)-731 was assigned to Occupation service in the Far East for the following periods:

    2 September to 15 December 1945
    26 December 1945 to 17 February 1946
  • Decommissioned, 2 June 1950
  • Laid up in the Reserve Fleet
  • Reverted to LST-731, 6 March 1952
  • Named Douglas County (LST-731), 1 July 1955
  • Struck from the Naval Register, 1 November 1958
  • USS LST-731 earned two battle stars for World War II service
  • Final Disposition, fate unknown
    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
    Click On Image
    For Full Size Image    		 Size Image Description Contributed
    By
    LST-731 61k USS LST-731, probably, at the fitting out pier at Dravo Corp., Neville Island, Pittsburgh, PA., circa January-February 1944. David LaPell
    LST-731 92k USS LST-731 beached at Iwo Jima, circa 9 February to 16 March 1945. Gerd Matthes
    LST-731 564k USS LST-731 with LCT(6)-971 loaded on her main deck, entering San Francisco BAy, circa 1946.
    US Naval History and Heritage Command photo # NH 79021, courtesy of Donald M. McPherson, 1974.    		 Stephen Eakle, CMSgt USAF for his father Eugene E. Eakle USS LST-731
    USS LST-731
    Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships (DANFS)
    Commanding Officers
    01ENS. McCann Jr., Kenneth Sutherland USN30 March 1944 - November 1945
    02LT. Lane, Paul H. USNRNovember 1945 - 5 January 1946
    03LTjg. Parkinson, Don G. USNR5 January 1946 - ?
    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 and maintained by Gary P. Priolo
    All pages copyright NavSource Naval History
    Last Updated 20 March 2015