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NavSource Online: Amphibious Photo Archive
Contributed by Al Grazevich

USS Jefferson County (LST-845)
ex
 USS LST-845 (1945 - 1955)


International Radio Call Sign:
November - India - Golf - India
 NIGI
Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons



Precedence of awards is from top to bottom, left to right
Top Row - China Service Medal (extended) - American Campaign Medal - Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal
Second - World War II Victory Medal - Navy Occupation Service Medal (with Asia clasp)- National Defense Service Medal
Third Row - Korean Service Medal (5) - United Nations Service Medal - Republic of Korea War Service Medal (retroactive)
LST-542 Class Tank Landing Ship:
  • Laid down, 23 October 1944, at American Bridge Co., Ambridge, PA.
  • Launched, 7 December 1944
  • Commissioned USS LST-845, 1 January 1945, at New Orleans, LA., LT. Charles E. Lowe, USN, in command
  • During World War II USS LST-845 was assigned to the Asiatic-Pacific Theater:
    LST Flotilla Thirty-One, CAPT. H. S. Covington USN (23);
     LST Group Ninety-Three CDR. E. R. Sperry USN (23);
     LST Division One Hundred Eighty-Four
  • Following World War II USS LST-845 was assigned to Occupation and China service in the Far East for the following periods:

    Navy Occupation Service Medal
    China Service Medal (extended)
    6 September to 1 October194529 May to 24 July 1946
    15 October to 1 December 1945 
    6 April to 29 May 1946 
    10 July to 4 September 194729 September to 31 October 1948

  • During the Korean War USS LST-845 participated in the following campaigns;

    Korean War Campaigns
    Campaigns and Dates Campaigns and Dates
    North Korean Aggression
    18 September to 2 November 1950     		First UN Counter Offensive
    25 January to 9 April 1951
    Communist China Aggression
    3 November 1950 to 24 January 1951     		Korean Defense Summer-Fall 1952
    27 to 30 November 1952
    Inchon Landing
    15 to 17 September 1950     		 

  • Named USS Jefferson County (LST-845), 1 July 1955
  • Decommissioned, 28 November 1960, at San Diego, CA.
  • Laid up in the Pacific Reserve Fleet, San Diego Group
  • Struck from the Naval Register, 1 February 1961
  • USS LST-845 earned five battle stars for Korean War service
  • Final Disposition, sold to Zidell Explorations, Inc., Portland, OR., 22 August 1961 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-845 17k USS LST-845 commissioning crew photo, 23 October 1944 at American Bridge Co., Ambridge, PA. LST Home Port Web Site
    LST-845
    1016084508     		63k USS LST-845 in the harbor at Yokosuka, Japan in late 1945.
    FLICKR submitted by Steve Given    		 John Spivey
    LST-845 24k USS LST-845 at Sasebo, Japan, October 1945. LST Home Port Web Site
    LST-611/715/845 164k USS LST-845 during the Inchon invasion, September 1950. Four LSTs unload men and equipment while "high and dry" at low tide on Inchon's Red Beach, 16 September 1950, the day after the initial landings there. USS LST-715 is on the right end of this group, which also includes USS LST-611, USS LST-845 and one other. Another LST is beached on the tidal mud flats at the extreme right. Note bombardment damage to the building in center foreground, many trucks at work, Wolmi-Do island in the left background and the causeway connecting the island to Inchon. Ship in the far distance, just beyond the right end of Wolmi-Do, is USS Lyman K. Swenson (DD-729).
    US National Archives photo # 80-G-420027, a US Navy photo now in the collection of the US National Archives.    		 US Naval Historical Center
    LST-845 100k USS LST-845 "married" to a pontoon causeway during landing operations in Korean/Japanese waters. Photograph dated 26 March 1951.
    US National Archives photo # 80-G-426659, a US Navy photo now in the collections of the US National Archives.    		 US Naval Historical Center
    LST-845 181k USS LST-845 beached at Hungnam, South Korea loading refugees.
    DOD photo # USN 424093 from "All Hands" magazine October 1950     		Joe Radigan MACM USN Ret.
    LST-845 69k USS LST-845 loading/unloading material across a causeway, date and place unknown.
    US Navy photo from "All Hands" magazine November 1951     		Joe Radigan MACM USN Ret.
    LST-845 460k USS LST-845 underway, date and place unknown.
    US National Archives photo # USN 1046027, a US Navy photo now in the collections of the US National Archives.    		 Mike Smolinski
    USS LST-845
    Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships (DANFS)
    Commanding Officers
    01LT. Lowe, Charles Emory, USN1 January 1945 - ?
    02LT. Nelson, William Raymond, USN1948 - 18 February 1950
    03LT. Butler, John Franklyn, USN18 February 1950 - 5 July 1951
    04LT. Gospodarich, John, USN5 July 1951 - ?
    05LT. Reeder, Marion Vincent no dates
    06LT. McGrath, Bob James, USN1953 - ?
    07LT/LCDR. Crane Jr., John Willoughby, USN (USNA 1947)1955 - 25 June 1958
    08LT. Taylor, Clinton Wagner, USN :RADM25 June 1958 - 17 May 1960
    09LT. Keily, Lawrence John (Larry), USN (USNA 1951)17 May 1960 - 28 November 1960
    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
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    Last Updated 22 March 2024