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NavSource Online: Amphibious Photo Archive


Contributed by Mike Smolinski

USS Mahnomen County (LST-912)
ex
USS LST-912 (1944 - 1955)


International Radio Call Sign:
November - Victor - Papa - Quebec
NVPQ
Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons




Precedence of awards is from top to bottom, left to right
Top Row - Combat Action Ribbon (retroactive, 8 January 1945) - American Campaign Medal
Second Row - Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal (4) - World War II Victory Medal - Navy Occupation Service Medal (with Asia or Europe clasp)
Third Row - National Defense Service Medal (2) - Vietnam Service Medal (2) - Philippines Presidential Unit Citation
Fourth Row - Philippines Liberation Medal (2) - Republic of Vietnam Gallantry Cross Unit Citation - Republic of Vietnam Campaign Medal

Individual Awards

Purple Heart (4-KIA, 4-WIA - 8 January 1945)

LST-542 Class Tank Landing Ship:
  • Laid down, 5 February 1944, at the Bethlehem-Hingham Shipyard in Hingham, MA.
  • Launched, 22 April 1944
  • Commissioned, USS LST-912, 21 May 1944, LT. Lloyd R. White, USN in command
  • During World War II USS LST-912 was assigned to the Asiatic-Pacific Theater:
    LST Flotilla Eight, CAPT. E. Watts, USN;
    LST Group Twenty-Three, CDR. T.C. Linthicum, USN;
    LST Division Forty-Five and participated in the following campaigns:

    Asiatic-Pacific Campaigns
    Campaign and Dates Campaign and Dates
    Western New Guinea operations
    Morotai landings, 15 September 1944
    Luzon operations
    Lingayen Gulf landing, 4 to 17 January 1945
    Leyte operations
    Leyte landings, 5 to 18 November 1944
    Consolidation and capture of the Southern Philippines
    Palawan Island landings, 28 February to 2 March and 6 to 7 March1945
    Mindanao Island landings, 17 to 23 April 1945

  • Following World War II USS LST-912 was assigned to Occupation service in the Far East and in Europe for the following periods:

    Navy Occupation Service Medal
    (Asia) 23 September to 24 October 1945
    (Asia) 18 November to 8 December 1945
    (Asia) 18 December 1945 to 1 January 1946
    (Europe) 23 September 1948 to 22 January 1949

  • Named USS Mahnomen County (LST-912), 1 July 1955
  • Decommissioned, 25 August 1955
  • Recommissioned, 27 March 1963
  • During the Vietnam War USS Mahnomen County (LST-912) participated in the following campaigns:

    Vietnam War Campaigns
    Campaign and Dates Campaign and Dates
    Vietnam Counteroffensive
    27 May to 7 June 1966
    Vietnam Counteroffensive - Phase II
    3 July to 14 July 1966
    26 to 29 September1966
    11 to 21 October 1966
    22 to 24 October 1966
    15 to 25 November 1966
    6 to 15 December 1966

  • USS Mahnomen County (LST-912) ran aground at Chu Lai, South Vietnam during a typhoon on 30 December 1966. After four weeks of unsuccessful attempts to re-float her she was stripped for salvageable materials
  • Decommissioned, 2 February 1967
  • Final Disposition, demolished by personnel of the Navy Support Detachment, Chu Lai
  • Struck from the Naval Register, 31 July 1967
  • USS Mahnomen County (LST-912) earned four battle stars for World War II service and two campaign stars for Vietnam 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 Contributed
    By
    USS LST-912
    LST-912 Mahnomen County 56k USS LST-912 underway, date and place unknown. LST 912 web site
    LST-933 259k Among the LSTs beached at Mindoro, Philippines are USS LST-933, USS LST 912, USS LST 639, USS LST 721, USS LST 680. The photo is undated but the handwriting on the back identified the location as Mindoro. Based on hull numbers alone, this was likely taken while this element of CTU 78.7.2 unloaded the 41st Infantry Division at Mangarin Bay from 8-10 February 1945. LST 639 reportedly had an LCT aboard that was launched on 10 February that does not appear here, but everything else matches the reports. CTU 78.7.2 was comprised of LST’s from across a few LST groups, although most pictured here were from LST Group 66 (CTF 76). This convoy was the smaller element of the task unit and consisted of 16 LSTs, six LSMs, and five merchant ships under the command of Navy CAPT H. B. Hudson, CO of LST Flotilla Twenty-Four. The larger convoy of CTU 78.7.2 split off for Lingayen the day before. Brian Miller
    LST-933 309k
    LST-912 Mahnomen County
    1016091215
    382k USS LST-912 and USS LST-619 beached at Palawan Island, Philippine Islands, March 1945. David A. Mucklow for his father Cecil N. Mucklow MoMM/3c USS LST-666
    LST-912 Mahnomen County 114k USS LST-912 beached while discharging vehicles, date and place unknown.
    US Navy photo from "All Hands" magazine, December 1947
    LST 912 web site
    LST-912 Mahnomen County
    1016091216
    135k USS LST-912 participating in US Marine Corps amphibious landing training, date and location unknown. David Upton
    USS Mahnomen County (LST-912)
    LST-912 Mahnomen County
    1016091209
    268k Overhead view of USS Mahnomen County (LST-912) fitted with the LST-1179 class bow ramp for tests, at the Norfolk Naval Shipyard, 26 April 1965. Note M-48 tank on deck.
    US Naval History and Heritage Command photo # NH 85394.
    Mike Smolinski
    LST-912 Mahnomen County 220k USS Mahnomen County (LST-912) under way, circa 1965, location unknown. Mahnomen County is equipped with a test version of the ramp apparatus for the Newport Class Tank Landing Ships. Nick Lightner and Joseph Williams
    LST-912 Mahnomen County
    1016091210
    250k USS Mahnomen County (LST-912) landing a 155 mm self-propelled gun during tests of the LST-1179 class bow ramp gear, 18 August 1965.
    US Naval History and Heritage Command photo # NH 85393.
    Mike Smolinski
    LST-912 Mahnomen County
    1016091211
    269k USS Mahnomen County (LST-912) marrying to a causeway during tests of the LST-1179 class bow ramp gear, 18 August 1965.
    US Naval History and Heritage Command photo # NH 85390.
    Mike Smolinski
    LST-912 Mahnomen County
    1016091212
    277k USS Mahnomen County (LST-912) approaches a beach during tests of bow ramp gear for the LST-1179 class, 10 November 1965.
    US Naval History and Heritage Command photo # NH 85389.
    Mike Smolinski
    LST-912 Mahnomen County
    NH 86391
    171k USS Mahnomen County (LST-912) married to a causeway during tests of the LST-1179 class bow ramp gear, 1965.
    US Naval History and Heritage Command photo #'s NH 85391 and NH 85392 .
    Mike Smolinski
    LST-912 Mahnomen County
    NH 85392
    233k
    LST-912 Mahnomen County 57k USS Mahnomen County (LST-912) impaled on rocks off Chu Lai, South Vietnam. Salvage efforts being unsuccessful her cargo was removed, she was stripped of salvageable materials and demolished by personnel of the US Navy Support Detachment, Chu Lai, circa January 1967.
    Photo from the collection of the US Naval Institute.
    Photos of the hulk of ex-USS Mahnomen County (LST-912)
    Robert Langill
    LST-912 Mahnomen County 483k USS Mahnomen County (LST-912) plaque Nick Lightner and Joseph Williams

    USS LST-912 / USS Mahnomen County (LST-912)
    Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships (DANFS)
    Commanding Officers
    01LT. White, Lloyd R.. USN21 May 1944 - December 1945
    02LTjg. Thomas, Claude Bledsoe. USNRDecember 1945 - 1 May 1946
    03LT. Bergeron, Ameda Joseph, USN1 May 1946 - ?
    04CDR. Adrian, Robert Nelson, USN (USNA 1943)June 1949 - January 1951
     Decommissioned25 August 1955 - 27 March 1963
    05LT. Withers, John Henry, USN27 March 1963 - 2 December 1965
    06LT. Arbuckle, William Spencer, USN2 December 1965 - 2 February 1967
    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
    Back To The Navsource Photo Archives Main Page Back To The Amphibious Ship Type Index Back To The Tank Landing Ship (LST) Photo Index
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    This page is created and maintained by Gary P. Priolo
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    Last Updated 24 December 2020