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NavSource Online: Amphibious Photo Archive

USS Hampden County (LST-803)
ex
USS LST-803 (1944 - 1955)

International Radio Call Sign:
November - Hotel - Alpha - November
NHAN

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Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons




Precedence of awards is from top to bottom, left to right
Top Row - China Service Medal (extended)
Second Row - American Campaign Medal - Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal (1) - World War II Victory Medal
Third Row - Navy Occupation Service Medal (with Asia clasp) - National Defense Service Medal - Korean Service Medal (5)
Fourth Row - Philippines Liberation Medal - United Nations Service Medal - Republic of Korea War Service Medal (retroactive)

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During World War II USS LST-803 was assigned to the Asiatic-Pacific Theater:
LST Flotilla Twenty-Three CAPT. W. W. Weeden Jr., USN;
LST Group Sixty-Seven, CDR V. A. King USN;
LST Division One Hundred Thirty-Four and participated in the following campaign;

Asiatic-Pacific Campaign
Campaign and Dates
Okinawa Gunto operation Assault and occupation of Okinawa Gunto, 2 April to 10 June 1945

Following World War II USS LST-803 was assigned to Occupation and China service in the Far East for the following periods:

Navy Occupation Service Medal	China Service Medal (extended)
6 to 24 September 1945	31 March to 1 April 1953
29 October to 8 November 1945	7 to 13 February 1955
20 to 24 May 1947

During the Korean War USS LST-803 participated in the following campaigns:

Korean War Campaigns
Campaign and Dates	Campaign and Dates
Communist China Spring Offensive 18 May to 6 June 1951	Third Korean Winter 15 to 18 December 1952 25 February to 15 March 1953 29 to 30 April 1953
UN Summer-Fall Offensive 25 July 1951 10 August to 3 September 1951	Korea Summer-Fall 1953 1 to 17 May 1953 18 to 19 June 1953 9 July and 27 July 1953
Second Korean Winter 7 December 1951 to 4 January 1952	.

Final Disposition, sunk as a target, 26 September 1958, off the coast of California "Navy Times" 15 October 1958

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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
USS LST-803
	263k	USS LST-803 beached in the Philippines, date and location unknown.		J. Orawczyk
	950k	USS LST-803 beached on a ramp at Subic Bay in the Philippines in 1945. Photo taken from the deck of LCT 642 by Robert Moon.		David Moon for his father Robert Moon EM2/c LCT-642
	288k	USS LST-803 underway, date and location unknown. US National Archives photo # USN 1045682, , a US Navy photo now in the collections of the US National Archives.		Mike Smolinski
1016077204	316k	USS LST-772 and USS LST-803 berthed at Long Beach Naval Shipyard, 15 December 1953. U.S. National Archives, Riverside photo, a U.S. Navy photo now in the collections of the U.S. National Archives.		Dave Schroeder and John Chiquoine
USS Hampden County (LST-803)
	87k	USS Hampden County (LST-803) underway, date and location unknown.		Michael Abbott

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USS LST-803 / USS Hampden County (LST-803)
Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships (DANFS)

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Commanding Officers
01	LT/LCDR. Parsons, Henry McIlvaine, USNR	17 November 1944 - 24 November 1945
02	LT. Blackmore, Willie Franklin, USNR	24 November 1945 - 9 January 1946
03	LTjg. Gillis, James Daniel, USN	9 January 1946 - 1 April 1946
04	LT. Martin, C. A., USN	1 April1946 - August 1947
05	LT. Allard, Laurence Peter , USN	August 1947 - January 1948
06	LT. June, Russell Quartus, USN	January 1948 - 15 June 1949
	decommissioned	15 June 1949 - 15 November 1950
07	LT. Owen, Ben	15 November 1950 - ?
08	LT/LCDR. Pohrman, David Charles, USN	1955 - 2 January 1958

Courtesy Wolfgang Hechler and Ron Reeves

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

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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

Last Updated 22 March 2024