Please report any broken links or trouble you might come across to the Webmaster. Please take a moment to let us know so that we can correct any problems and make your visit as enjoyable and as informative as possible.

NavSource Online: Amphibious Photo Archive

Contributed by Mike Smolinski

Contributed by Al Grazevich

USS Donner (LSD-20)

International Radio Call Sign:
November - Juliet - Papa - Lima NJPL

---

Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons


Precedence of awards is from top to bottom, left to right
Top Row - American Campaign Medal - World War II Victory Medal
Bottom Row - Navy Occupation Service Medal (with Europe clasp) - National Defense Service Medal (2) - Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal (1-Congo, 1-Dominican Republic)

---

Final Disposition, scrapped at All Star Metals, Brownsville, TX.

---

Specifications: (as reported by Office of Naval Intelligence, 7 April 1944)
Displacement 4,032 (light draft), 7,930 (seagoing - loaded)
Length 457' 9" o.a.
Beam 72"

Draft

8' 2 ½" fwd, 10' ½" aft (light draft)

15' 5 ½" fwd, 16' 2" aft (seagoing loaded)

Speed 17 kts (design speed)

Endurance 8,000 miles @ 15 knots

Complement

Officers 17

Enlisted 237

Troop Accommodations

Officers 22

Enlisted 218

Well Deck Capacity (varies with mission)

three LCT (Mk V or VI) each w/ 5 medium tanks or

two LCT (Mk III or IV) each w/ 12 medium tanks or

fourteen LCM (Mk III) each w/ 1 medium tank or 1, 500 long tons cargo or

forty-seven DUKW or

forty-one LVT or

Any combination of landing vehicles and landing craft up to capacity

Aircraft (still in commission in late 40's or early 50's) were fitted/retro-fitted with a prefabricated steel grated "Portable Deck" suspended between the wing walls and supported by removable I-beam girders. The aft end of the portable deck contained a wooden helicopter platform, enabling the ship to land and launch 1 helicopter at a time. Stowage of helicopters was limited to capacity of the portable deck installed for the mission. Aircraft servicing was limited to re-fueling. With portable deck and aircraft platform installed, the Landing ship, dock was still capable of transporting, launching and repairing smaller amphibious craft and vehicles up to the size of a Landing craft, utility (LCU) in their well decks.

Armament

one single 5"/38 cal dual purpose gun mount in open tub (w/director)

two quad 40mm AA gun mounts (w/directors)

two twin 40mm AA gun mounts (w/directors)

sixteen single 20mm AA gun mounts (local control)

Fuel Capacities

NSFO 11,720 Bbls

Diesel 160 Bbls

Gasoline 5,085 Gals

Propulsion

two Newport News Shipbuilding steam turbines

two Babcock and Wilcox oil fired D-type boilers, two drum, single furnace, single uptake, 250psi

single Newport New Main Reduction Gears

two turbo-drive 300Kw 120V/240V D.C. Ship' Service Generators

twin propellers, 7,000shp

---

Click On Image For Full Size Image	Size	Image Description		Contributed By
	81k	USS Donner (LSD-20) under way, 5 January 1951, probably near the New York Naval Shipyard. Photo from "U.S. Amphibious Ships and Craft: An Illustrated Design History" by Norman Friedman.		Robert Hurst
	300k	USS Donner (LSD-20) off New York Naval Shipyard, 29 January 1951. New York Naval Shipyard photo # NY6-6793		Robert M. Cieri
	429k	USS Donner (LSD-20) under way, circa 1957, location unknown.		Larry L. Legge
	115k	USS Donner (LSD-20) at anchor in a Mediterranean port, date unknown.		Richard Miller BMCS USNR Ret.
	85k	USS Donner (LSD-20) entering the port of Valletta, Malta, date unknown. US Navy photo.		Richard Miller BMCS USNR Ret.
	254k	Recovery personnel aboard USS Donner (LPD-20) remove Ham, a 37-pound chimpanzee, from a Mercury-Redstone spacecraft following the successful Mercury-Redstone 2 (MR-2) suborbital flight from Cape Canaveral, Florida. The primate's 420-statute mile MR-2 flight was a significant accomplishment on the American route toward manned space flight.NASA photo # S61-00199 (31 Jan. 1961).		Bill Gonyo
	130k	USS Donner (LSD-20) under way in the Atlantic Ocean, about 200 miles east of Jacksonville and Cape Canaveral FL. as an HS-34 helicopter brings the Mercury space capsule aboard with "Space Chimp Ham" aboard after a successful NASA sub-orbital flight of the Mercury-Redstone MR2 and Mercury capsule, 31 January 1961. This picture is respectfully submitted in the name of relieving CO, CDR. Martin V. Cornetta USN Ret. 1961-1963 (now deceased). CO at the date of recovery, CDR. Ralph Brackett USN Ret.		Ronald D. Luxon, Secretary USS Donner Memorial Association, Inc
	214k	The chimpanzee astronaut Ham is greeted by the commanding officer CDR. Ralph A. Brackett, of the recovery ship USS Donner (LSD-20), 31 January 1961, after his 16-min suborbital flight on the Mercury Redstone 2 rocket. NASA. Image # : 61C-0189		Robert Hurst
	57k	USS Donner (LSD-20) under way in 1965. Note UH-34D Seahorse helicopters aft. Photo courtesy of Dr Georgio Arra.		Robert Hurst
	97k	USS Donner (LSD-20) and USS San Marcos LSD-25) at anchor in Grand Harbor, Valletta, Malta in 1967.		Warren Polensky USS San Marcos
	87k	USS Donner (LSD-20) under way in the Mediterranean Sea in 1967.		Warren Polensky USS San Marcos
	300k	USS Donner (LSD-20) and USS San Marcos at anchor in the harbor at Genoa, Italy, 31 December 1967.		Photos by Carlo Martinelli
	851k
	141k	USS Donner (LSD-20) under way, date and location unknown. US Navy photo.		Richard Miller BMCS USNR Ret.
	98k	USS Donner (LSD-20) under way, date and location unknown.		Richard Miller BMCS USNR Ret.
	96k	USS Donner (LSD-20) little changed from her World war II appearance, under way in December 1968, location unknown. The most visible modifications are the extension of the deckhouse under her bridge (the 5"/38 gun forward has been removed) and the addition of another, enclosed, bridge level (the old bridge windows have been plated in).. Test and photo from "U.S. Amphibious Ships and Craft: An Illustrated Design History" by Norman Friedman.		Robert Hurst
	118k	USS Donner (LSD-20) under way, date and location unknown. US Navy photo		Gene Maresca

---

USS Donner (LSD-20)
Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships (DANFS)

---

Commanding Officers
01	LCDR. McPeake, Paul V., USNR	31 July 1945 - 30 December 1945
02	CAPT. Richardson, Gill MacDonald, USN (USNA 1927)	30 December 1945 - 12 December 1946
03	CDR. Brock, James Ward, USN (USNA 1934) :RADM	August 1951 - 1952
04	CDR. Bailey, Benjamin Franklin, USN (USNA 1932)	1952 - 1953
05	CDR. Fletcher, Robert Charles, USN (USNA 1938)	- 14 May 1956
06	CDR. Renfro, John Norton, USN (USNA 1939)	14 May 1956 - 5 December 1957
07	CDR. Gray, Taylor Woodrow, USN	5 December 1957 - 1 December 1958
08	CDR. Tolivaisa, Homer, USN	1 December 1958 - 10 June 1959
09	CDR. Brackett, Ralph Anders, USN	10 June 1959 - 21 July 1961
10	CDR. Cornetta, Martin Vincent, USN	21 July 1961 - 23 February 1963
11	CDR. Harlan Jr., Wick Raymond USN (USNA 1946)	23 February 1963 - 18 July 1964
12	CDR. Lyons, Richard Thomas, USN (USNA 1946)	18 July 1964 - 23 September 1965
13	CDR. Crane Jr., John Willoughby, USN (USNA 1947)	23 September 1965 - 11 September 1966
14	LCDR. Haltom, Joseph Harris, USN (temporary)	11 September 1966 - 7 December 1966
15	CDR. Crane Jr., John Willoughby, USN (USNA 1947)	7 December 1966 - October 1967
16	CDR. Richmond Jr., John Walker, USN	October 1967 - 6 May 1969
17	CDR. Malone, Roy Wilson, USN (USNA 1951)	6 May 1969 - 23 October 1970

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
USS Donner Memorial Association, Inc.

---

Back To The Navsource Photo Archives Main Page

Back To The Amphibious Ship Type Index

Back To The Dock Landing Ship (LSD) Photo Index

Comments, Suggestions, E-mail Webmaster.

This page is created and maintained by Gary P. Priolo

Last Updated 10 February 2023