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NavSource Online: Amphibious Photo Archive

USS LCI(L)-87


International Radio Call Sign:
November - Delta - Golf - Romeo
NDGR
Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons


Precedence of awards is from top to bottom, left to right
Top Row - Combat Action Ribbon (retroactive) - (Coast Guard Unit Commendation - American Campaign Medal
Bottom Row - Europe-Africa-Middle East Campaign Medal (4) - Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal - World War II Victory Medal

Individual Awards

Capt. M.E. Imlay USCG (LCI Flotilla 4)
Silver Star (Normandy), Legion of Merit (Sicily and Salerno)



USS LCI(L)-87 was manned by the US Coast Guard during World War II
LCI-1 Class Landing Craft Infantry (Large):
  • Laid down, 16 October 1942, at Brown Ship Building Corp. Orange, TX.
  • Launched, 20 December 1942
  • Commissioned USS LCI(L)-87, 2 February 1943, LT. John C. Whitbeck, USCG in command
  • During World War II USS LCI(L)-87 was first assigned to the Europe-Africa-Middle East Theater
  • USS LCI(L)-87 was designated as LCI Flotilla Four (flagship) and reassigned to LCI Flotilla Ten for Normandy, Capt. M. E. Imlay, USCG and participated in the following campaigns:

    Europe-Africa-Middle East Campaigns
    Campaign and Dates Campaign and Dates
    North African occupation:
    Tunisian operation, 1 June to 9 July 1943
    Salerno landings, 9 to 21 September 1943
    November 1943 to June 1944 training in England in preparation for the Invasion of Normandy
    Sicilian occupation, 9 to 15 July 1943 Invasion of Normandy-Omaha Beach, 6 to 25 June 1944

  • USS LCI(L)-87 was assigned to directing landing craft traffic and escorting landing craft from England to the northern coast of France from July through September 1944
  • USS LCI(L)-87 departed Falmouth England 5 October 1944, for Charleston, S.C.
  • Assigned to LCI Flotilla 30 while at Charleston during overhaul and repair
  • Departed Charleston, 14 December 1944 for Little Creek, VA. for amphibious training at Solomon Island, MD. until 18 December 1944
  • Departed Norfolk, 27 December 1944, for San Diego via Key West and Canal Zone
  • Arrived at San Diego, 27 January 1945 - attached to Ship Training Group, Naval Repair Base, San Diego.
  • USS LCI(L)-87 was reassigned to the Asiatic Pacific Theater:
    LCI Flotilla Thirty-Five (flagship) CDR. H. J. Huensch USCG;
    LCI Group One Hundred Three, LCDR. B. A Walliser USCGR;
    LCI Division Two Hundred Five
  • Departed San Diego for Peal Harbor, T.H. 20 April 1945, arriving Pearl Harbor, 1 May 1945
  • Departing Pearl Harbor, 18 May 1945, for Eniwetok
  • Arrived Eniwetok, 18 May 1945
  • Departed for Guam, 22 May 1945 - for off shore patrol and B-29 crew ditching practice
  • Returned, 1 August 1945 at Eniwetok - served as inter-island ferry
  • Departed Eniwetok, 24 November 1945, for San Pedro, CA. via Pearl Harbor and San Diego
  • Arrived San Pedro, 6 February 1946
  • Decommissioned, 20 March 1946, at San Pedro, CA.
  • Struck from the Naval Register, date unknown
  • USS LCI(L)-87 earned four battle stars for World War II service
  • Final Disposition, transferred to the Maritime Commission, 2 February 1948, for disposal
    Specifications:
    Displacement 236 t.(light), 264 t.(landing), 419 t.(loaded)
    Length 158' 5½"
    Beam 23' 3"
    Draft
    Light, 3'1½" mean
    Landing, 2' 8" forward, 4' 10" aft
    Loaded, 5' 4" forward, 5' 11" aft
    Speed
    16 kts (max.)
    14 kts maximum continuous
    Complement
    4 officers
    24 enlisted
    Troop Capacity
    6 officers
    182 enlisted
    Cargo Capacity 75 tons
    Armor 2" plastic splinter protection on gun turrets, conning tower and pilot house
    Endurance 4,000 miles at 12 kts, loaded, 500 miles at 15 knots; and 110 tons of fuel
    Armament
    five single 20mm guns, one bow mounted, one each port and starboard forward of wheelhouse, one each port and starboard aft of wheelhouse
    on some LCIs two .50 cal machine guns were added
    Fuel Capacity
    Diesel 860 Bbls
    lube oil 200 gal
    Propulsion
    two sets of 4 General Motors 6051 series 71 Diesel engines, 4 per shaft
    single General Motors Main reduction gears
    two Diesel-drive 30Kw 120V D.C. Ship's Service Generators
    twin variable pitch propellers, 2,320shp

    Click On Image
    For Full Size Image
    Size Image Description Source
    LCI(L)-87 68k USS LCI(L)-87 underway, date and location unknown
    US Coast Guard photo from the collections of the US Coast Guard Historian's Office
    Mike Green
    LCI(L)-87 215k USS LCI(L)-87 and USS LCI(L)-488 beached, probably at Slapton Sands, England, during the spring of 1944 while preparing for the Invasion of Normandy.
    US Coast Guard photo from the collections of the US Coast Guard Historian's Office
    Mike Green
    LCI(L)-87 75k From right to left:USS LCI(L)-87, USS LCI(L)-85 and USS LCI(L)-319 nested at anchor, prior to the Normandy Invasion, date and location unknown.
    US Coast Guard
    Robert Morrissey
    LCI(L)-87 105k USS LCI(L)-87 discharging troops, date and location unknown.
    US Navy photo
    Capt Jerry Mason USN
    LCI(L)-87 87k Coast Guard LCI Flotilla 4, including USS LCI(L)-87 and USS LCI(L)-84 tied up in the background along with British landing craft, preparing to sail the English Channel and invade Nazi-occupied France. These landing craft landed US troops on Omaha Beach.
    USCG photo, date unknown.
    Joe Radigan MACM USN Ret
    LCI(L)-87 256k USS LCI(L)-87, USS LCI(L)-84 and USS LCI(L)-497 tied up in the background along with Royal Navy landing craft, (LCA)s preparing to sail the English Channel and invade Nazi-occupied France. These landing craft landed US troops on Omaha Beach.
    USCG photo, date unknown.
    A US National Archives photo from the USS National LCI Association newsletter "The Elsie Item" April 2009 issue, Courtesy Dennis Blocker.
    Ardie Hunt
    LCI(L)-84
    1015008415
    301k USS LCI(L)-84, USS LCI(L)-87 and USS LCI(L)-497 tied up in the background along with Royal Navy landing craft, (LCA)s preparing to sail the English Channel and invade Nazi-occupied France. These landing craft landed US troops on Omaha Beach.
    An Imperial War Museum, London, photo in the collections of the US National Archives
    David Upton
    LCI(L)-84.87 76k USS LCI(L)-87 and USS LCI(L)-84 in an English port, date unknown. Bill Brinkley
    LCI(L)-96
    1015009608
    304k Army personnel delivering supplies to LCI(L)'s waiting for D-Day and start of the Normandy invasion in an English port. Among the LCI(L)'s are USS LCI(L)-96, USS LCI(L)-87 and in the far distance USS LCI(L)-493
    US National Archives National Archives Identifier 12003998 (photo # 80-G-251871).
    David Upton
    LCI(L)-87 109k USS LCI(L)-87 at anchor in a British port prior to the Invasion of Normandy, June 1944.
    Photo with permission from Mr. Denver Collins, Editor, of the Timeless Media Group DVD, "D-Day Code Name Overlord"
    Robert G. Morrissey
    LCI(L)-87 309k USS LCI(L)-87 gun mount # 2-20mm gun crew at General Quarters, 6 June 1944.
    Photo No. 14 (Imlay collection) from Miles Imlay files. A US Coast Guard photo from the collections of the US Coast Guard Historian's Office
    Mike Green
    LCI(L)-87 84k USS LCI(L)-87 underway, date and location unknown.
    US Coast Guard Public Relations release
    Hail the Heroes of Three European Beach Invasions

    The anchor has hit the bottom in an American harbor as a Coast Guard-manned LCI(L) is home from three invasions in the European war theater. Greetings are gaily exchanged between the veterans lining the rail of the battle-scarred craft, and the two SPARS riding out on a Coast Guard patrol boat. The Flotilla of Coast Guard-manned LCI's hit the beaches of Sicily, Italy and Normandy and made an unprecedented round trip Atlantic voyage, for their size and type."
    US Coast Guard photo
    Sean Connor in honor of his grandfather Frederick V. Ahern USS LCI(L)-65
    LCI(L)-87 91k Alex Bosmony on the beach at Guam in May 1945 with USS LCI(L)-87, USS LCI(L)-321 and an unidentified LCI in the background.
    Photo is from the USS LCI National Association's newsletter "The Elsie Item", March 2002, photo courtesy of Alex Bosmony USS LCI(L)-87.
    Ardie Hunt
    LCI(L)-87 101k USS LCI(L)-87 crew photo, somewhere in the Pacific, May 1945.
    Photo from the USS LCI National Association's newsletter "The Elsie Item", March 2002, photo courtesy of Alex Bosmony USS LCI(L)-87.
    Ardie Hunt

    The history for USS LCI(L)-87 is from "The Coast Guard At War, Transports and Escorts, Volume II"
    Commanding Officers
    01LT. Whitbeck John C. USCG2 February 1943 - 30 November 1944
    02LT. Smith, Luther E. USCGR30 November 1944 - 13 January 1945
    03LTjg. Vernon, Albert B. USCGR13 January 1945 - 1945
    04LTjg. Treinen, R. F. USCGR1945 - 20 September 1945
    05LTjg. Wadleigh, Fred L. USCGR20 September 1945 - 20 March 1946

    Crew Contact And Reunion Information
    U.S. Navy Memorial Foundation - Navy Log

    Additional Resources and Web Sites of Interest
    USS Landing Craft Infantry National Association

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    This page is created and maintained by Gary P. Priolo
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    Last Updated 4 March 2022