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NavSource Online: Amphibious Photo Archive

USS LST-899


International Radio Call Sign:
November - Juliet - Hotel - Hotel
 NJHH
Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons


Precedence of awards is from top to bottom, left to right
Top Row - China Service Medal (ex tended) - American Campaign Medal
Bottom Row - Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal - World War II Victory Medal - Navy Occupation Service Medal (with Asia clasp)
542 Class Tank Landing Ship:
  • Laid down, 22 October 1944, at Dravo Corp., Pittsburgh, PA.
  • Launched, 2 December 1944
  • Commissioned USS LST-899, 1 January 1945, ENS. Albert H. Thornton USN in command
  • During World War II USS LST-899 was assigned to the Asiatic-Pacific Theater:
    LST Flotilla Thirty-One, CAPT. H. S. Covington USN (22);
     LST Group Ninety-Two, CDR. J. G. Winn USN;
     LST Division One Hundred Eighty-Four
  • Following World War II USS LST-899 was assigned to Occupation and China service in the Far East for the following periods;

    Navy Occupation Service Medal
    China Service Medal (extended)
    2 September to 14 November 1945 
    26 November to 19 December 1945 
    30 December 1945 to 4 April 194630 December 1945 to 4 April 1946

  • Decommissioned, 15 July 1946
  • Struck from the Naval Register, 15 August 1946
  • Final Disposition, sold for scrapping, 5 December 1947, to Bethlehem Steel Co., Bethlehem, PA
    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-899 110k USS LST-899 commissioning crew, at Dravo Corp., Pittsburgh, PA., 23 December 1944. Note; Daniel Tannenbaum is in the second row, 7th from the left. Marc Tannenbaum for his father Daniel Tannenbaum, Y/3c USS LST-899
    LST-899 39k USS LST-899 at San Pedro, CA, in 1944. The ship had arrived at San Pedro after sailing down the Ohio River from Pittsburgh, down the Mississippi, to New Orleans, and through the Panama Canal. USS LST-899 continued on her journey via Pearl Harbor before arriving at Okinawa. Note the deck load on trucks. Jack Harbison for his father John Douglas Harbison MM1, USS LST-899 and Ruth D. Laskowski for her brother John J. Rzeszut BKR3/c (at right) USS LST-899
    LST-899 40k USS LST-899 under way, date and location unknown. Note the pontoon causeway lashed to her port side. Ruth D. Laskowski for her brother John J. Rzeszut BKR3/c (at right) USS LST-899
    LST-899 42k USS LST-899 crewmen working on the mainmast, date and location unknown. Ruth D. Laskowski for her brother John J. Rzeszut BKR3/c (at right) USS LST-899
    LST-899 45k USS LST-899 officers, date and location unknown. Ruth D. Laskowski for her brother John J. Rzeszut BKR3/c (at right) USS LST-899
    LST-899 56k USS LST-899 with trucks loaded on her main deck, date and location unknown. Ruth D. Laskowski for her brother John J. Rzeszut BKR3/c (at right) USS LST-899
    LST-899 68k USS LST-899 moored with trucks and other heavy equipment loaded on her main deck, date and location unknown. Ruth D. Laskowski for her brother John J. Rzeszut BKR3/c (at right) USS LST-899
    LST-899 49k One of USS LST-899's two LCVPs in the water, date and location unknown. Ruth D. Laskowski for her brother John J. Rzeszut BKR3/c (at right) USS LST-899
    LST-899 58k USS LST-899 crew members celebrate VJ-Day, the end of the war in the Pacific, 15 August 1945. Ruth D. Laskowski for her brother John J. Rzeszut BKR3/c (at right) USS LST-899
    LST-899 56k USS LST-899 beached on a ramp, date and location unknown. Ruth D. Laskowski for her brother John J. Rzeszut BKR3/c (at right) USS LST-899
    LST-899 60k USS LST-899 transporting repatriated Japanese soldiers, date and location unknown. Ruth D. Laskowski for her brother John J. Rzeszut BKR3/c (at right) USS LST-899
    LST-899 50k USS LST-899 and at left USS LST-674 beached, date and place location. Ruth D. Laskowski for her brother John J. Rzeszut BKR3/c (at right) USS LST-899
    LST-899 73k USS LST-899 beached alongside an unidentified LST while off-loading vehicles and other equipment, date and location unknown. Ruth D. Laskowski for her brother John J. Rzeszut BKR3/c (at right) USS LST-899
    LST-899 56k USS LST-899 morning muster, date and location unknown. Ruth D. Laskowski for her brother John J. Rzeszut BKR3/c (at right) USS LST-899
    LST-899 81k USS LST-899 crew and US Army stevedore troops on the main deck, date and location unknown. In the third photo John Rzeszut is the sailor in the front row left of center, no shirt or hat, right arm up, dark wavy hair (he is left of sailor with hat and shirt on in center). Ruth D. Laskowski for her brother John J. Rzeszut BKR3/c (at right) USS LST-899
    LST-899 140k
    LST-899 167k
    LST-899 81k USS LST-899 crew and US Army stevedore troops off-loading vehicles, date and location unknown. Ruth D. Laskowski for her brother John J. Rzeszut BKR3/c (at right) USS LST-899
    LST-899 55k Deck crew of USS LST-899 giving the main deck a fresh water washdown, date and location unknown. Ruth D. Laskowski for her brother John J. Rzeszut BKR3/c (at right) USS LST-899
    LST-899 42k USS LST-899 and USS LST-1011 moored at Pearl Harbor, T.H., date unknown. Jack Harbison for his father John Douglas Harbison MM1, USS LST-899 and Ruth D. Laskowski for her brother John J. Rzeszut BKR3/c (at right) USS LST-899
    LST-899 43k USS LST-899, USS LST-1011 and USS LST-530 moored at Pearl Harbor, T.H., date unknown. Jack Harbison for his father John Douglas Harbison MM1, USS LST-899
    LST-899 446k USS LST-899 moored at Shanghai in January 1946. Ruth D. Laskowski for her brother John J. Rzeszut BKR3/c (at right) USS LST-899
    LST-1060/899 42k USS LST-899 at left, USS LST-1060 center, and an unidentified LST at right, moored at Shanghai, 4 January 1946 Doug Lamson for his father
    Bradley Lamson USS LST-1060
    LST-899 112k USS LST-899 passing under the Golden Gate Bridge at San Francisco, CA., date unknown. Jack Harbison for his father John Douglas Harbison MM1, USS LST-899
    LST-899 54k USS LST-899 heading toward the Golden Gate Bridge as she steams into San Francisco Bay, date unknown. Ruth D. Laskowski for her brother John J. Rzeszut BKR3/c (at right) USS LST-899
    LST-899 56k USS LST-899 under way in heavy seas off Portland, OR., date unknown. Note the two ships propellers secured to her main deck. Jack Harbison for his father John Douglas Harbison MM1, USS LST-899 and Ruth Laskowski for her brother John J. Rzeszut BKR3/c (at right) USS LST-899
    LST-899 143k Decommissioning day for USS LST-899 was 15 July 1946. Crew members Red & Lund standing at atop the mast. Ruth Laskowski for her brother John J. Rzeszut BKR3/c (at right) USS LST-899
    USS LST-899
    Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships (DANFS)
    Commanding Officers
    01ENS. Thornton, Albert Hughes, USN1 January 1945 - 3 January 1946
    02LTjg. Lee, Warden S., USNR3 January 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
    Fitting Out and Commissioning Crew Roster
    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 17 July 2015