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NavSource Online: Amphibious Photo Archive

USS LST-20



International Radio Call Sign:
November - Quebec - Bravo - Golf
NQBG
Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons


Precedence of awards is from top to bottom, left to right
Top Row - American Campaign Medal - Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal (4)
Bottom Row - World War II Victory Medal - Navy Occupation Service Medal (with Asia clasp) - Philippine Liberation Medal (2)



USS LST-20 was manned by the US Coast Guard during World War II
LST-1 Class Tank Landing Ship: Laid down, 5 October 1942 at Dravo Corp., Pittsburgh, PA.
  • Launched, 15 February 1943
  • Commissioned USS LST-20, 14 May 1943, LT Charles W. Smith USCG, in command
  • During World War II, USS LST-20 was assigned to the Asiatic-Pacific Theater:
    LST Flotilla Fourteen, CAPT. E. A. Seay USN (USNA 1924);
    LST Group Forty Two, CDR. G. E. Artz, USN (USNA 1934);
    LST Division Eighty-Four and took part in the following campaigns:

    Asiatic-Pacific Campaigns
    Campaign and Dates Campaign and Dates
    Gilbert Islands operation
    November and December1943
    Luzon operation
    Lingayen Gulf landings, January 1945
    Leyte operation
    Leyte landings-October 1944
    Okinawa Gunto operation
    Assault and occupation of Okinawa Gunto, April 1945

  • Following World War II USS LST-20 was assigned to Occupation Service in the Far East from 29 October to 12 November 1945
  • Decommissioned, 3 April 1946
  • USS LST-20 earned four battle stars for World War II service
  • Struck from the Naval Register, 19 June 1946
  • Title transferred, 8 October 1947, the the Maritime Commission
  • Sold, 8 October 1947, to Southern Shipwrecking Co.
  • Resold, 21 December 1948, to Pan Ore Steamship Co., reflagged Panama
  • Final Disposition, fate unknown
    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 Source
    LST-20 1634k USS LST-20 and USS LST-478 unloading on the beach at Kiska Island, Alaska, 23 August 1943. Just visible In the distance is the Japanese cargo ship Nozina Maru, beached by the Japanese after bombing by American forces.
    US National Archives photo # III-SC 182872, Box 187, a US Army Signal Corps photo by PFC Sanderson now in the collections of the US National Archives.
    Dave Kerr
    LST-20
    1016002001
    236k USS LST-20 and an unidentified LST beached at Kiska Island, Alaska, 23 August 1943, while delivering much need supplies to the occupation forces.
    US Navy BUAIR Photograph Collection, Kiska, 1943. ASL-PCA-430. Alaska Digital Archives ID ASL-P430-33.
    David Upton
    LST-20 71k USS LST-20 moored pierside at Naval Station Treasure Island, in San Francisco Bay, August 1945. Denise Murphy for her father Denny Lewis Miller F1/c USS LST-20
    LST-20 126k USS LST-20 beached at Guam, Marianas Islands in 1945 while loading/unloading a light tank. Denise Murphy for her father Denny Lewis Miller F1/c USS LST-20
    LST-20 81k USS LST-20 (not shown) exchanging movies at sea with USS LST-125, date unknown. Denise Murphy for her father Denny Lewis Miller F1/c USS LST-20
    LST-20 61k USS LST-20 beached at Iwo Jima, November 1945. Denise Murphy for her father Denny Lewis Miller F1/c USS LST-20
    LST-20 317k USS LST-20 forming up to join a convoy to Okinawa in 1945, probably in the Philippines. Bruce Stevens for his father DuWayne Stevens USS LST-20
    LST-APB-44 70k USS LST-20 at anchor at Okinawa, April 1945. Photo taken from USS LST-678 Photo by LT. Fred C. Anderson Jr. USS LST-678
    LST-451
    1016045122
    310k USS LST-20 beached alongside LST-451 probably at Okinawa in 1945. Bob Martin Jr.

    USS LST-20
    Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships (DANFS)
    Commanding Officers
    01LT. Smith, Charles W., USCG14 May 1943 - ?
    02LT. Duprey, Edgard, USCGRno dates
    03LT. Garrity, Raymond F., USCGRno dates
    04LTjg. Cieslinski, Stanley J., USCGRno dates
    05LT. Sinkler, William L. E., USCGRno dates
    06LTjg. Eib, Warren B., USCGR8 January 1946 - 3 April 1946

    Crew Contact And Reunion Information
    U.S. Navy Memorial Foundation - Navy Log
    Additional Resources and Web Sites of Interest
    The USS LST Ship Memorial
    LST Home Port
    State LST Chapters
    United States LST Association
    MARAD Vessel History Database

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    This page is created and maintained by Gary P. Priolo
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    Last Updated 16 April 2021