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NavSource Online: Amphibious Photo Archive

USS LST-740

International Radio Call Sign:
November - Golf - Echo - Hotel
NGEH

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Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons


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

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During World War II USS LST-740 was assigned to the Asiatic-Pacific Theater:
LST Flotilla Eight, CAPT. E. Watts, USN;
LST Group Twenty-Two, CDR. E.H.Pope, USN;
LST Division Forty-Four and participated in the following campaigns:

Asiatic-Pacific Campaigns
Campaign and Dates	Campaign and Dates
Western New Guinea operation Morotai landings, 15 September 1944	Consolidation and capture of the Southern Philippines Mindanao Island landings, 17 to 23 April 1945
Leyte operation Leyte landings, 16 to 30 October and 9 to 29 November 1944	Borneo operation Balikpapan operation, 26 June to 9 July 1945
Luzon operation Lingayen Gulf landing, 4 to 17 January 1945

USS LST-740 earned five battle stars for World War II service

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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		Contributed By
	149k	USS LST-740 beached at Morotai Island, circa September 1944.		Clark E. Parks SM1/c USS LST-740
	40k	USS LST-740 beached at Sansapor, Western New Guinea, circa September 1944.		Clark E. Parks SM1/c USS LST-740
	43k	USS LST-632, USS LST-740 and USS LST-1017 beached at Morotai, Dutch East Indies, 18 September 1944, D+3.		Clark E. Parks SM1/c USS LST-740
	247k	Leyte Operation, 1944. Twenty landing ships, tank, pour army equipment ashore on Cataisan Point, near Tacloban City, Leyte, during the build up of U.S. forces there, circa late October or early November 1944. Note large number of vehicles parked on and near the airfield, and the very wet condition there, two most distant LST's in upper right are USS LST-740 and USS LST-1014. US National Archives photo # 80-G-272632 from the collections of the US Naval History and Heritage Command		Clark E. Parks SM1/c USS LST-740
	494k	General Douglas A. MacArthur goes ashore in Lingayen Gulf in the Philippines near noon of S-Day, January 9, 1945. Nearing the beach, General MacArthur seated and his Chief of Staff, Lieutenant General R.K. Sutherland seek a place to land their Navy LCVP. Waving their greetings from surrounding Navy LSTs soldiers and sailors alike hail their Commander-in-Chief. Note USS LST-740 in the background. US National Archives photo # 80-G-299234, a US Navy photo released 22 January 1945, now in the collections of the US National Archives		National Museum of the US Navy
	28k	USS LST-740 in the background of this photo of General MacArthur coming ashore in an LCVP at Luzon, Lingayen Gulf, 9 January 1945.		Clark E. Parks SM1/c USS LST-740
	48k	USS LST-740 and USS LST-614 are in the background of this posed photo of General Mac Arthur and staff wading ashore at Luzon, 9 January 1945.		Clark E. Parks SM1/c USS LST-740
	36k	USS LST-740 beached at Lingayen Gulf, 9 January 1945		Hyperwar US Navy in World War II
	47k	USS LST-740 and other LSTs beached at Lingayen Gulf, 9 January 1945		Clark E. Parks SM1/c USS LST-740
	74k	USS LST-740 crew members; Halstead, Hall, Fluck, Parks, Rau, Drago, Brummer, McElcar, CicCic on the beach at Morotai, Dutch East Indies, 24 February 1945.		Clark E. Parks SM1/c USS LST-740
	60k	USS LST-740 beached, date and location unknown. Crew members; Derail, Blanchard and Parks.		Clark E. Parks SM1/c USS LST-740
	126k	USS LST-740 beached, date and location unknown. Crew members; Letts and Fluck.		Clark E. Parks SM1/c USS LST-740
	116k	USS LST-740's three Signalmen; Godin, Parks, Derail, date and location unknown.		Clark E. Parks SM1/c USS LST-740
	42k	USS LST-740 crew members QM2/c Fluck and SM1/c Parks one the bridge, date and location unknown.		Clark E. Parks SM1/c USS LST-740
	71k	USS LST-740 crew members QM2/c Fluck and SM1/c Parks with locals at Sansapor, New Guinea, 10 April 1945.		Clark E. Parks SM1/c USS LST-740
	34k	USS LST-740 and USS LST-679 at Mindanao Island, April 1945.		Clark E. Parks SM1/c USS LST-740
	82k	USS LST-740 at anchor off Tacloban, Leyte Island with LCT-732 and several native outrigger canoes alongside, date unknown.		Clark E. Parks SM1/c USS LST-740
	80k	USS LST-740 beached at Saidor, New Guinea, 10 May 1945. while taking on cargo, (Clark E. Parks is at right at bottom of ramp).		Clark E. Parks SM1/c USS LST-740
	49k	USS LST-740 beached at Saidor, New Guinea, 10 May 1945. while taking on cargo,		Clark E. Parks SM1/c USS LST-740
	42k	USS LST-740 and USS LST-1016 beached at Balikpapan, Borneo, 14 July 1945.		Clark E. Parks SM1/c USS LST-740
	43k	USS LST-740 crew members hold a Japanese flag, date and location unknown. Clark E. Parks is fourth from left. This flag is actually pretty special, in its own way. It is not just a Japanese flag, it is an IJN Vice Admiral’s ensign, and an unusually large one at that. Assuming it’s genuine, it probably came from a particularly large warship that was acting as a flagship, possibly a battleship or cruiser. There must be an interesting story about how it fell into the hands of an LST crew.		Clark E. Parks SM1/c USS LST-740

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USS LST-740
Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships (DANFS)

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Commanding Officers
01	LT. Hampton, John, USNR	15 May 1944 - June 1945
02	LT. McMahon, Arthur G., USNR	June 1945 - December 1945
03	LT. Wilson, W. C.	December 1945 - 8 March 1946

Courtesy Wolfgang Hechler and Ron Reeves

Crew Contact And Reunion Information
U.S. Navy Memorial Foundation - Navy Log

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Additional Resources and Web Sites of Interest
History and Story of the LST 740
The USS LST Ship Memorial
LST Homeport
State LST Chapters
United States LST Association

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This page is created and maintained by Gary P. Priolo

Last Updated 17 January 2020