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NavSource Online: Amphibious Photo Archive

USS LST-814


International Radio Call Sign:
November - Hotel - Charlie - Echo
 NHCE
Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons


Precedence of awards is from top to bottom, left to right
Top Row - American Campaign Medal
Bottom Row - Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal (1) - World War II Victory Medal - Navy Occupation Service Medal (with Asia clasp)
LST-542 Class Tank Landing Ship:
  • Laid down, 25 August 1944, at Missouri Valley Bridge & Iron Co., Evansville, IN.
  • Launched, 4 October 1944
  • Commissioned USS LST-814, 27 October 1944, LT. William B. Faris, USN, in command
  • During World War II USS LST-814 was assigned to the Asiatic-Pacific Theater:
    LST Flotilla Twenty-One, CAPT. W. H. Brereton, USN (24);
     LST Group Sixty-Three, LCDR. R .E. Farnestock USNR;
     LST Division One Hundred Twenty-Six and participated in following campaign:

    Asiatic-Pacific Campaigns
    Campaign and Dates
    Okinawa Gunto operation
    Assault and occupation of Okinawa Gunto, 26 March to 28 May 1945

  • Following World War II USS LST-814 was assigned to Occupation service in the Far East for the following periods:

    Navy Occupation Service Medal
    2 September to 25 October 1945
    18 November 1945 to 15 April 1946

  • Severely damaged by collision with USS LST-1005 during a beaching operation off Sasebo, Japan, 30 December 1945
  • Decommissioned, 16 April 1946
  • Struck from the Naval Register, 8 May 1946
  • Final Disposition, sunk, 12 August 1946
  • USS LST-814 earned one battle star for World War II service
    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 Source
    LST-814 198k USS LST-814 under way bound for the war in the Pacific with floating causeways secured to her sides and LCT-1408 loaded on her main deck, date and location unknown.
    From the collection of David Read, USS LST 813. Published in "LST Scuttlebutt" magazine, May 2015 issue.    		 Zach Morris, Associate Member and Editor, LST Scuttlebutt Magazine, U.S. Landing Ship Tank Association
    LST-814 100k USS LST-814 beached with a sand ramp bulldozed up to her bow doors to facility unloading, date and location unknown. Dave Rodriguez
    LST-814 134k USS LST-814 moored at a ramp, date and location unknown. Dave Rodriguez
    LST-814 77k Ex-USS LST-814 and ex-USS LST-1005 beached at Okunoshima, Japan, 3 August 1946. The two LSTs had been damaged beyond economical repair and had been decommissioned, struck from the Naval Register and stripped of all useful material. They were then loaded with a cargo of poison gas, removed during "Operation Lewisite" from the Tokyo 2nd Arsenal, prior to being towed to the Philippines Sea for scuttling on 12 August 1946.
    Australian War Memorial photo # 131746.    		 Australian War Memorial
    LST-814 58k Ex-USS LST-814 and ex-USS LST-1005 beached at Okunoshima, Japan, 3 August 1946. The hulk of ex-LST-814, with a tug alongside, was ready to be towed to the Philippines Sea for disposal. Her cargo consisted of 85 tons of liquid Viesicant, 665 tons of Mustard bombs, 710 tons of Dyphenylcynarsine and 540 tons of Mustard and Lewisite gas containers. Making 2000 metric tons in all. Ship and cargo were sunk, 12 August 1946, by blowing holes in her hull with ten Beehive charges.
    Australian War Memorial photo # 131747.    		 Australian War Memorial
    LST-814 30k Ex-USS LST-814 being towed through the Bungo Straits on its last voyage, 8 August 1946. The ship was severely damaged in a collision with USS LST-1005 on 30 December 1945. Stripped of all usable equipment and loaded with ~2000 tons of chemical warfare bombs and gas, the ship was scuttled, 12 April in the Philippine Sea.
    Australian War Memorial, Photo No. 131752    		 Mike Green
    LST-814 39k Ex-USS LST-814 under tow off Okunoshima, Japan, 3 August 1946, bound for Philippines Sea for scuttling on 12 August 1946.
    Australian War Memorial photo # 131750.    		 Australian War Memorial
    LST-814 33k Ex-USS LST-814 under tow off Okunoshima, Japan in the Bungo Straits, 3 August 1946, bound for Philippines Sea for scuttling on 12 August 1946.
    Australian War Memorial photo # 131749.    		 Australian War Memorial
    USS LST-814
    Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships (DANFS)
    Commanding Officers
    01LT. Faris, William B., USN27 October 1944 - January 1946
    02LTjg. McGowin, Sumpter, M., USNRJanuary 1946 - 16 April 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 26 January 2017