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NavSource Online: Amphibious Photo Archive

USS LCI(L)-321

International Radio Call Sign:
November - Juliet - Oscar - Echo
NJOE

Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons

Precedence of awards is from top to bottom, left to right
Top Row - Combat Action Ribbon (retroactive - 6 June 1944, Normandy)
Second Row - Coast Guard Unit Commendation - American Campaign Medal - Europe-Africa-Middle East Campaign Medal (4)
Third Row - Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal - World War II Victory Medal - Navy Occupation Service Medal (with Asia clasp)

USS LCI(L)-321 was manned by the US Coast Guard

LCI-1 Class Landing Craft Infantry (Large):

Laid down, 26 November 1942, at Brown Shipbuilding Co., Houston, TX.

Launched, 21 January 1943

Commissioned USS LCI(L)-321, 6 February 1943, LTjg G. P. Hammond, USCG in command

USS LCI(L)-321 was assigned to the Europe-Africa-Middle East Theater:
LCI Flotilla Four, CAPT. M. E. Imlay, USCG:
LCI Flotilla Ten (at Normandy) and participated in the following campaigns:

Campaign and Dates	Campaign and Dates
Europe-Africa-Middle East Campaigns
North African occupation: Tunisian operation, 1 June to 9 July 1943	Salerno landings, 9 to 21 September 1943
Sicilian occupation, 9 to 15 July 1943	Invasion of Normandy, 6 to 25 June 1944

From October 1943 to June 1944 USS LCI(L)-321 trained in England in preparation for the Invasion of Normandy

USS LCI(L)-321 off loaded her troops into LCMs off Green Beach, Utah Beach on 6 June 1944 and after debarking her troops performed various tasks until 17 June 1944 when she retired to Weymouth, England. LCI(L)-321 crossed the channel seven more times carrying troops to Normandy until departing England 5 October 1944 for Charleston S.C. for repairs and overhaul.

USS LCI(L)-321 was reassigned to the Asiatic Pacific Theater:
LCI Flotilla Thirty-Five, CDR. H. J. Wuensch USCG;
LCT Group One Hundred Four, LCDR. W. B. Harbeson USCG;
LCT Division Two Hundred Eight

Departed San Diego, 20 April 1945, for Guam, and Eniwetok. Here she engage in ditching drills with US Army Air Force 315 Bomb Wing and made runs to Saipan, and Iwo Jima collecting personnel for transportation home. Departing Guam in early December 1945 for Galveston, TX.

Decommissioned, 2 April 1946, at Galveston, TX.

Struck from the Naval Register, 20 March 1946

Transferred to the Maritime Commission, 9 October 1947, for disposal

USS LCI(L)-321 earned four battle stars for World War II service

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

Size	Image Description	Source
1976k	From left to right, front row: USS LCI(L)-218, USS LCI(L)-35, USS LCI(L)-14, USS LCI(L)-326, USS LCI(L)-88, USS LCI(L)-91 and USS LCI(L)-229 From left to right back row: USS LCI(L)-2, USS LCI(L)-90, USS LCI(L)-320, USS LCI(L)-16, USS LCI(L)-3, USS LCI(L)-213, USS LCI(L)-321, USS LCI(L)-4, USS LCI(L)-86, USS LCI(L)-212, USS LCI(L)-217, USS LCI(L)-8, USS LCI(L)-83 and USS LCI(L)-94,massed at Bizerte, Tunisia, 6 July 1943 while loading troops for the invasion of Sicily. US Army Signal Corps photo # 176486, now in the collections of the US National Archives.	Dave Kerr
65k	USS LCI(L)-321 along with the rest of *LCI Flotillas Two* and *LCI Flotilla Four* ready to sail to North Africa with the *Third Infantry Division*.	Bill Brinkley
94k	USS LCI(L)-321 underway, date and location unknown.. Photo from the collections of the US Coast Guard.	US Coast Guard Historian's Office
305k	USS LCI(L)-321 at the Normandy beachhead, D-Day, 6 June 1944. LCVPs are from USS LST-284.	Jerry Gilmartin MMC(SW) USN Ret. Secretary AFMM LCI 713, Curator PT-658 Save the PT Boat Inc, courtesy Dennis Blocker LCI National Association Historian
91k	Alex Bosmony on the beach at Guam in May 1945 with USS LCI(L)-321, USS LCI(L)-87 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

The history for USS LCI(L)-321 is from "The Coast Guard At War, Transports and Escorts, Volume II"

Commanding Officers
01	LTjg. Hammond, G. P. Hammond USCG	6 February 1943 - 14 February 1943
02	LTjg. Hollis, J. E. USCGR	14 February 1943 - 11 September 1944
03	LTjg. Davis, D. H. USCGR	11 September 1944 - 22 November 1944
04	LTjg. Allen W. W. USCGR	22 November 1944 - 2 December 1944
05	LTjg. Swift, W. P. USCGR	2 December 1944 - 1 January 1946
06	LTjg. Owens, J. J. USCGR	1 January 1946 - 17 March 1946
07	BOSN. Neal, G. G. USCG	17 March 1946 - 2 April 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
U.S. Coast Guard Historian's Office - USS LCI(L)-321

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This page is created and maintained by Gary P. Priolo

Last Updated 7 March 2014