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NavSource Online: Amphibious Photo Archive
Contributed by Mike Smolinski

Elk River (IX-501)
ex
 USS LSM(R)-501 (1945 - 1955)

Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons


Precedence of awards is from top to bottom, left to right
Top Row - Navy Meritorious Unit Commendation
Bottom Row - American Campaign Medal - World War II Victory Medal - National Defense Service Medal
LSM(R) 501 Class Landing Ship Medium (Rocket):
  • Laid down, 24 March 1945, at Brown Shipbuilding Co, Houston, TX.
  • Launched, 21 April 1945
  • Commissioned USS LSMR-501, 27 May 1945, LTjg. Richard W. Elicker, USNR in command
  • During World War II USS LSM(R)-501 was assigned to the Asiatic-Pacific Theater:
    LSM(R) Flotilla Eighteen, CAPT. C. F. Macklin USN
     LSM(R) Group Forty-Three
     LSM(R) Division One Hundred Five
  • Decommissioned, 1 August 1946, at Astoria, OR.
  • Laid up in the Pacific Reserve Fleet, Columbia River Group
  • Named Elk River and redesigned as Miscellaneous Unclassified (IX-501), 1 October 1955
  • Converted to a Deep Submergence Support Ship at Avondale Shipyards, Inc., Westwego, LA., and at San Francisco Bay Naval Shipyard, Hunters Point
  • "Special" in service, January 1969
  • "Active" in service, January 1973
  • Relegated to barracks craft, October 1986
  • Struck from the Naval Register,13 August 1999
  • Final Disposition; sunk as a target, 24 February 2001
    LSM(R) Specifications:
    Displacement 758 t.(light), 993 t. (attack) 1,175 t. (fully loaded)
    Length 206' 3"
    Beam 34' 6"
    Draft light, 5' 4" (mean), attack 6' 9" (mean), fully loaded 7' 9" (mean)
    Speed 13 kts.
    Complement 6 officers, 137 enlisted
    Armament
    one single 5"/38 dual purpose gun mount
    two twin 40mm AA gun mounts
    four twin 20mm AA gun mounts
    ten twin continuous loading 5" SS rocket launchers
    four 4.2" mortars
    Armor 10-lb. STS on conning station, pilot-house, radio room, radar plot, and rocket control, 10-lb. ASPP around 40 and 20mm gun mounts and directors
    Endurance 3,000 miles @ 13kts
    Propulsion
    two General Motors 16-278A (non-reversing with airflex clutch) Diesel engines, direct drive with 1,440 BHP each @ 720rpm
    Ship's Service Generators
     four Diesel-drive 100Kw 450V A.C.
     two Diesel-drive 20Kw 120V D.C.
    twin screws 2,800 shp
    Click On Image
    For Full Size Image    		 Size Image Description Contributed
    By
    USS LSM(R)-501
    LSMR 501 88k Model of LSM(R)-501 built by Gibbs & Wilcox Co. The model never left the Naval Academy in Annapolis, MD. It is currently on display at Rickover Hall. USS LSM / LSMR Association
    LSMR 501/505/503 88k LSM(R)-505, LSM(R)-501, LSM(R)-503 and an unidentified LSMR moored in a nest, date and place unknown. Innocent Hoel to the USS LSM / LSMR Association
    Elk River (IX-501)
    LSMR 501 90k Elk River (IX-501) in the at Avondale Shipyards, Inc. while being converted to a Deep Submergence Support Ship, date unknown. Richard S. Fish to the USS LSM / LSMR Association
    LSMR 501 80k Elk River (IX-501) in drydocked while undergoing conversion to a Deep Submergence Support Ship, date and place unknown. USS LSM / LSMR Association
    LSMR 501 85k Elk River (IX-501) dockside in 1967, location unknown. USS LSM / LSMR Association
    Elk River 27k Elk River (IX-501) under way, date and location unknown. Gunter Krebs
    Elk River 68k Elk River (IX-501) moored pierside, date and location unknown. Richard Miller BMCS USNR Ret.
    LSMR 501 77k Overhead view of Elk River (IX-501) underway, off Long Beach, CA., in November 1967 in support of the SEALAB III Project. Note the command and medical vans on her main deck.
    US Navy photo # NH 43550 from the collections of the US Naval Historical Center.    		 USS LSM / LSMR Association
    LSMR 501 73k Elk River (IX-501) pierside at Naval Station Long Beach, CA., in November 1967 in support of the SEALAB III Project. Note the command and medical vans on her main deck. The project transfer capsule is on the pier.
    US Navy photo # K-81513.    		 USS LSM / LSMR Association
    LSMR 501 78k Elk River (IX-501) in support of the SEALAB III Project off San Clemente Island, CA. A Personnel transfer capsule is lowered into the open well deck of the ship during a certification dive of the Mark II Diving System, November 1967.
    US Navy photo # K-81530.    		 USS LSM / LSMR Association
    LSMR 501 38k Elk River (IX-501) moored pierside at Naval Air Station North Island, San Diego, CA. in 1993.
    A Ted Stone photo.    		 USS LSM / LSMR Association
    LSMR 501 101k Elk River (IX-501) at sea, date and location unknown.
    US Navy photo.    		 Robert Hurst
    LSMR 501 70k Elk River (IX-501) moored pierside at Naval Station San Diego in March 1997.
    Photo by CWO3 Al Tarantino, USN (Ret.)    		 USS LSM / LSMR Association
    LSMR 501 79k Elk River (IX-501)'s superstructure while moored pierside at Naval Station San Diego in March 1997.
    Photo by CWO3 Al Tarantino, USN (Ret.)    		 USS LSM / LSMR Association
    LSMR 501 154k Elk River (IX-501)'s underway, date and location unknown Tommy Trampp
    USS Elk River Additional Ships Patches
    Juneau
    Contributed by Tommy Trampp    		 Juneau
    Contributed by Tommy Trampp
    The history for LSM(R)-501 / Elk River (IX-501) was partially extracted from LSM-LSMR Amphibious Forces, Vol. II. Paducah, Kentucky: Turner Publishing Company, ©1997. (ISBN 1-56311-389-9).
    Crew Contact And Reunion Information
    U.S. Navy Memorial Foundation - Navy Log
    USS LSM-LSMR Association
    Additional Resources and Web Sites of Interest
    Postal Covers related to the ship
    Back To The Navsource Photo Archives Main Page Back To The Amphibious Ship Type Index Back To the Service Force Ship Type Index Back To The Landing Ship Medium (LSM) Photo Index Back To The Miscellaneous Unclassified Ship (IX) Photo Index
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    This page is created and maintained by Gary P. Priolo
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    Last Updated 13 December 2019