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NavSource Online: Amphibious Photo Archive

USS LST-809


International Radio Call Sign:
November - Hotel - Bravo - Hotel
 NHBH
Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons


Precedence of awards is from top to bottom, left to right
Top Row - Combat Action Ribbon (retroactive, Iwo Jima) - American Campaign Medal
Bottom Row - Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal (2) - World War II Victory Medal - Navy Occupation Service Medal (with Asia clasp)
LST-543 Class Tank Landing Ship:
  • Laid down, 5 August 1944, at Missouri Valley Bridge & Iron Co., Evansville, IN.
  • Launched, 19 September 1944
  • Commissioned USS LST-809, 10 October 1944, LT. Martin J. Daly, USNR, in command
  • During World War II USS LST-809 was assigned to the Asiatic-Pacific Theater:
    LST Flotilla Twenty-Five, CAPT. H.E. Richter USN (24);
     LST Group Seventy-Four, CDR. J.G. Farnsworth;
     LST Division One Hundred Forty-Seven and participated in the following campaigns:

    Asiatic-Pacific Campaigns
    Campaign and Dates Campaign and Dates
    Iwo Jima operation
    Assault and occupation of Iwo Jima, 20 to 28 February 1945     		Okinawa Gunto operation
    Assault and occupation of Okinawa Gunto, 1 April to 18 June 1945

  • Following World War II USS LST-809 was assigned to Occupation service from 22 December 1945 to 6 March 1946
  • Decommissioned, 15 July 1946
  • Struck from the Naval Register, 18 August 1946
  • USS LST-809 earned two battle stars for World War II service
  • Final Disposition, sold to Bethlehem Steel Co., of Bethlehem, PA., for scrapping
    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-809
    1016080902    		 401k USS LST-809 and USS LST-715 at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, between 8 December 1944 and 22 January 1945, training for Operation Detachment, the invasion of Iwo Jima.
    TimeLife. TimeLife Image 115948822, by W. Eugene Smith. For personal non-commercial use only.    		 David Upton
    LSM-242 97k USS LST-809 with USS LCI(G)-346 secured to her port side and USS LSM-242 beached at Iwo Jima, circa 19 February 1945 USS LSM / LSMR Association
    Catclaw 96k USS LST-809 can be seen in the background of this photo of USS Catclaw (AN-60) and USS Baretta (AN-41) salvaging a Japanese Type A or Type C midget submarine at Untan Ro, Okinawa, circa July-September 1945. The submarine had been sunk there by American planes during the Okinawa campaign.
    US National Archives photo # 80-G-350054, a US Navy photo now in the collection of the US National Archives.    		 US Naval Historical Center
    USS LST-809
    Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships (DANFS)
    Commanding Officers
    01LT. Daly, Martin J., USNR10 October 1944 - 29 October 1945
    02LT. Salter, Harold S., USNR29 October 1945 - March 1946
    03LTjg. Jernigan, Jack J., USNRMarch 1946 - June 1946
    04ENS. Elliott, William M., USNRJune 1946 - 15 July 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 Homeport
    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 18 June 2021