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NavSource Online: Amphibious Photo Archive

USS LST-884

International Radio Call Sign:
November - Juliet - Alpha - Foxtrot
NJAF

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Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons


Precedence of awards is from top to bottom, left to right
Top Row - Combat Action Ribbon (retroactive)
Bottom Row - American Campaign Medal - Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal (2) - World War II Victory Medal
Personal Awards

Purple Heart (Navy 1-KIA, 1-WIA, Marines 19-KIA, 1 April 1945)

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USS LST-884 was manned by the US Coast Guard during World War II

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During World War II, USS LST-884 was assigned to the Asiatic-Pacific Theater:
LST Flotilla Twenty-Nine, CAPT. H. E. Richter USCG (24);
LST Group Eighty-Seven; CDR. E. Anderson USCG;
LST Division One Hundred Seventy-Four, 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 to 14 April 1945

USS LST-884 earned two 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
	295k	Vehicles on Iwo Jima's Red Beach, circa 25 February 1945, with USS LST-884 (center) and USS LST-929 (at left, with H markings on her hull) unloading in the background. Among the vehicles are trucks, mobile cranes, amphibious tractors (LVTs), jeeps and a variety of trailers. A field artillery piece is being pulled along in the right center. Note the pierced steel matting roadways. The original photograph came from Rear Admiral Samuel Eliot Morison's World War II history project working files. US US Naval History and Heritage Command Photo # NH 104589		Suzanne Carter Isaacson
	34k	USS LST-884 lays abandoned after being hit by a Japanese kamikaze attack off Okinawa, 1 April 1945.		Allen Pike, Courtesy Joseph LaGeorge USS APB-44
1016088417	322k	The bow and midsection of LST-884 being salvaged, 9 July 1945. She was too damaged to be of any use and was sunk later in 1946. US National Archives ID # 193705117, a US Army Air Corps photo now in the collections of the US National Archives		David Upton
	16k	USS LST-884 LCVP crew members		Courtesy Joseph Boone, GM3, USS LST-884 Suzanne Carter Isaacson
	18k	USS LST-884 crew photo. Notice the many different uniforms, a result of the crews loss of almost everything in the fire. This picture was taken once the crew was reunited at Ulithi.		Courtesy Joseph Boone, GM3, USS LST-884 Suzanne Carter Isaacson

US Navy Damage Assessment photos of USS LST-884 after Kamikaze attack off Okinawa on 1 April 1944 Submitted by Keith Brooker

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USS LST-884
Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships (DANFS)

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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
USS LST-884
LST Home Port
State LST Chapters
United States LST Association

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Commanding Officers
01	LT. Pearson, Clemon C., USCG	10 October 1944 - 15 February 1946

Courtesy Wolfgang Hechler and Ron Reeves

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This page is created and maintained by Gary P. Priolo

Last Updated 15 January 2021

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The Coast Guard at War

*"On the morning of 1 April, 1945, at about 0548, three planes were seen approaching the Coast Guard manned LST-884 which was part of Task Group 51.8 then off Okinawa. All port guns opened fire and one plane immediately burst into flames, nosed into a shallow dive and crashed into the port side of the LST, plunging through the ship fitter's shop, and into the tank deck, where it exploded with intense flame. The plane had crashed through the 81 HM and 60 MM mortar ammunition, causing it to explode. Three fire nozzles were placed down vents, as nearly as possible to the point of impact but the LST was repeatedly shaken by violent explosions. At 0554 the fire, which had started in the main engine room, was reported under control, but a heavy, acrid smoke had entered the engine room making it impossible for men on watch to remain and the engines were secured. The auxiliary engine room watch reported the plating getting red hot and the smoke unbearable and these men were also ordered out. It appeared that the ship would be blown to bits by exploding ammunition or fuel tanks and at 0555 the order was given to abandon ship. By 0605 all hands were reported out of living spaces and engine rooms. Men in the water were being picked up by the ship's boats and boats from other LST's and LSM's. At 0610 the Commanding Officer, after all hands had cleared ship, departed and was taken to a destroyer lying nearby. At 0731 it was determined that most of the heavier ammunition had already exploded and the commanding officer and four other officers returned aboard with two enlisted men, manned the pump and brought two streams to bear on the fire. At 0800 three other officers and 15 enlisted men voluntarily returned to assist in fire fighting and 4 LCS's secured alongside, putting enough water on deck to permit walking about. Several heavy explosions and numerous minor ones occurred during this time and it seemed for a while that it would be impossible to bring the fire under control. Cargo ammunition carried on the main deck, starboard side, was jettisoned, but it was impossible to jettison TNT blocks and W. P. ammunition carried on the port side as the heat and flames had set it afire and the W.P. had begun to explode. At 1100, however, the fire was deemed under control, but as the tank deck and both engine rooms were flooded, it was suggested that the ship be beached. At 1400, the USS YUMA (AT-94) took the LST in tow and anchored in Kerama Retto Harbor at 1838. By the 13th the ship was reported ready for sea, after eleven days of cleaning and salvage work. As a 20 foot hole remained in the port side and the tank deck was open to the sea, plating was welded over these holes completely closing them. On the 14th, the LST was underway for Guam in tow of LST-940. Twenty bodies had been buried, some identified and others not. It was believed that all dead, with one exception, were Marines, as most of the bodies were taken from the tank deck. One member of the ship's company was wounded and one killed."
(www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/USCG/VI-Pacific/USCG-VI-26.html)