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NavSource Online: Amphibious Photo Archive

USS LST-21


International Radio Call Sign:
November - Quebec - Foxtrot - Charlie
NQFC
Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons

Precedence of awards is from left to right
American Campaign Medal - Europe-Africa-Middle East Campaign Medal (1) - World War II Victory Medal



USS LST-21 was manned by the US Coast Guard during World War II
LST-1 Class Tank Landing Ship:
  • Laid down, 25 September 1942, at Dravo Corp, Neville Island, DE.
  • Launched, 18 February 1943
  • Commissioned USS LST-21, 14 April 1943, LT. Charles M. Brookfield, USCGR in command
  • During World War II USS LST-21 was assigned to the Europe-Africa-Middle East Theater and participated in the following campaign:

    Europe-Africa-Middle East Campaign
    Campaign and Dates
    Invasion of Normandy, 6 to 25 June 1944
  • Decommissioned, 25 January 1946
  • Struck from the Naval Register, 19 June 1946
  • Final Disposition, sold to Louis Feldman, Flushing, NY, 12 March 1948 for scrapping
  • USS LST-21 received one battle star for World War II service
    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-21 27k The Coast Guard-manned USS LST-21 ferries rolling stock from a British port to a French beach railhead, forming a floating link between the railroads of the two countries. Priceless hours, unloading and reloading, are saved by running packed cars into the track-equipped tank deck of the LST and carrying them across the English Channel to roll down a tracked ramp onto French rails. From this point, trainloads of war equipment and supplies move smoothly and swift off the fighting fronts.
    USS LST-21 loading railroad cars at Southhampton, England in June 1944.
    LST Home Port Web Site
    LST-21 20k USS LST-21 unloading at Normandy in June 1944 LST Home Port Web Site
    LST-21 22k USS LST-21 unloading at Normandy in June 1944 LST Home Port Web Site
    LST-21 27k USS LST-21 unloading railroad cars at Normandy in June 1944. LST-21 served as a railroad bridge between the United Kingdom and France.
    US Coast Guard photo #220-8
    John H. Kellers GM3/c USS LCT-539
    LST-21 1079k A slightly different view of USS LST-21 unloading railroad cars at Normandy in June 1944. Note the censors erasure of the ships in the background.
    US National Archives photo # 26-G-4389, a US Coast Guard photo now in the collections of the US National Archives
    Dave Kerr
    LST-21 86k USS LST-21 unloading railroad cars at Normandy in June 1944.
    US Coast Guard photo # Photo No. 4387 from the US Coast Guard Historian's Office.
    Mike Green
    LST-21
    1016002111
    309k USS LST-21 unloading railroad cars at Normandy in June 1944.
    U.S. National Archives Identifier 12003981, a U.S. Coast Guard photo.
    David Upton
    LST-21 96k USS LST-21 unloads British Army tanks and trucks onto a "Rhino" barge during the early hours of the invasion, 6 June 1944. Note the nickname "Virgin" on the "Sherman" tank at left.
    USCG photo # 26-G2370 from the US Coast Guard collection in the US National Archives.
    John H. Kellers GM3/c USS LCT-539
    LST-21 77k US LST-21 at anchor, date and location unknown.
    US Coast Guard photo from the US Coast Guard Historian's Office.
    Don Leal USS LST-19 and USS LST-67
    LST-21 51k USS LST-21 unloading supplies onto a "Rhino" ferry after D-Day. LST-21 supported the initial British landings off Gold Beach on 6 June 1944 and thereafter continued to supply Allied forces along the Normandy coast.
    US Coast Guard photo # 2366 from the US Coast Guard Historian's Office.
    Mike Green
    LST-21 113k USS LST-21, 12 July 1944, in the background, flying a barrage balloon to discourage attacks from low-flying German aircraft. In the foreground German POWs, captured in the St. Lo. area during the Battle of Normandy lined up on the beach awaiting transportation to England. Many of this group of prisoners are Poles, Austrians and Czechs.
    US Coast Guard photo from the US Coast Guard Historian's Office.
    Mike Green
    LST-310 51k USS LST-21, USS LST-519 and USS LST-310, off-loading vehicles and equipment at La Havre, France summer of 1944 LST 519 web site

    USS LST-21
    Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships (DANFS)
    Commanding Officers
    01LT. Brookfield, Charles M., USCGR14 April 1943 - ?

    Additional Resources and Web Sites of Interest
    The USS LST Ship Memorial
    LST Home Port
    State LST Chapters
    United States LST Association

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    This page created by Gary P. Priolo and maintained by Joe Radigan
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    Last Updated 19 March 2021