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NavSource Online: Amphibious Photo Archive

USS LST-16


International Radio Call Sign:
November - Papa - Bravo - Delta
 NPBD
Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons


Precedence of awards is from top to bottom, left to right
Top Row - American Campaign Medal - Europe-Africa-Middle East Campaign Medal (5)
Bottom Row - Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal - World War II Victory Medal - Navy Occupation Service Medal (with Asia clasp)

USS LST-16 was manned by the US Coast Guard during World War II
LST-1 Class Tank Landing Ship:
  • Laid down, 1 September 1942 at Dravo Corp., Wilmington, DE.
  • Launched, 19 December 1942
  • Commissioned, USS LST-16, 17 March 1943, LT Rufus W. L. Horton, USCGR, in command
  • During World War II, USS LST-16 was first assigned to the Europe-Africa-Middle East Theater:
    LST Flotilla Eighteen;
     LST Group Fifty-Three;
     LST Division One Hundred Five and participated in the following campaigns:

    Europe-Africa-Middle East Campaigns
    Campaigns and Dates Campaigns and Dates
    North African occupation
    Tunisian operations, 1 to 9 July 1943     		West coast of Italy operations
    Anzio-Nettuno advanced landings, 22 January to 4 February 1944
    Sicilian occupation, 9 to 15 July 1943 Invasion of Normandy, 6 to 25 June 1944
    Salerno Landings, 9 to 21 September 1943  

  • While assigned to the Asiatic-Pacific Theater USS LST-16 was assigned to:
    LST Flotilla Thirty-Eight;
    LST Group One Hundred Twelve;
    LST Division Two Hundred Twenty-Three
  • Following World War II USS LST-16 was assigned to Occupation service in the Far East from 10 September to 25 November 1945
  • Decommissioned, 8 March 1946
  • Struck from the Naval Register, 12 April 1946
  • USS LST-16 earned five battle stars for World War II Service
  • Final Disposition, sold to Ships and Power Equipment Co., Barber, N.J., 5 December 1947, for scrapping
    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
    LST-16 222k A tug moves in after LST-16's launch, 19 December 1942, at Dravo Corporation's Wilmington Shipyard in Delaware.
    US National Archives Photo 80-G-40268 a US Navy photo now in the custody of the US National Archives at College Park, MD.    		 Tracy White
    LST-379 1541k USS LST-379, at left, an unidentified British Landing Ship, center, and USS LST-16 in the far distance land tanks and reinforcements at Salerno, 9 July 1943.
    US Signal Corps photo # SC 181224 now in the collections of the US National Archives.    		 Dave Kerr
    LST-16 57k USS LST-16 under way in the Mediterranean area. Note the USAAF L-4 Grasshopper on the 220ft x 16ft flight deck ready for take-off.
    US Navy photo from "Aircraft Carriers" by Norman Polmar.    		 Robert Hurst
    LST-16 136k USS LST-16 equipped with a portable landing strip, serves as a mini-aircraft carrier to launch USAAF L-4 Grasshopper aircraft with spotters for the offshore naval gunfire during European invasions in 1944.
    Naval History and Heritage Command, Photo # NH 94902    		 Mike Green
    LST-16 182k USS LST-16 beached, alongside USS LST-27, not shown, June 1944, location unknown. Timothy Duffy for his father Francis Duffy USS LST-27
    USS LST-16
    Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships (DANFS)
    Commanding Officers
    01LT. Horton, Rufus, W. L., USCGR17 March 1943 - 22 May 1945
    02LTjg. Kenneally, W. J., USCGR22 May 1945 - 8 March 1946
    Courtesy Wolfgang Hechler and Ron Reeves

    For more photos and information about USS LST-16 see;
  • The Brodie System - Runway On A Rope
  • Brodie System YouTube video
  • Brodie Landing System
  • The Saga of the Seasick US Army Piper Cubs on the Navy's Smallest Aircraft Carriers
  • 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
    All pages copyright NavSource Naval History
    Last Updated 22 November 2019