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NavSource Online: Amphibious Photo Archive

USS LST(H)-23
ex
 USS LST-23 (1943 - 1945)


International Radio Call Sign:
November - Yankee - Papa - Delta
 NYPD
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 (6)
Bottom Row - World War II Victory Medal - Navy Occupation Service Medal (with Asia clasp) - Philippine Liberation Medal (1)

USS LST-23 was manned by the US Coast Guard during World War II
LST-1 Class Tank Landing Ship:
  • Laid down, 27 October 1942, at Dravo Corp., Neville Island, PA.
  • Launched, 13 March 1943
  • Commissioned USS LST-23, 22 May 1943, LT. John B. Swann Jr., USCGR, in command
  • During World War II USS LST-23 was assigned to the Asiatic-Pacific Theater:
    LST Flotilla Thirteen, CAPT. J.G. Sampson USN (22);
     LST Group Thirty-Eight, LCDR. M.F. Stiling USNR;
     LST Division Seventy-Five and participated in the following campaigns:

    Asiatic-Pacific Campaigns
    Campaign and Dates Campaign and Dates
    Gilbert Islands operation, 21 November to 5 December 1943 Tinian capture and occupation, 24 to 28 July 1944
    Marshall Islands operation
    Occupation of Kwajalein and Majuro Atolls, 2 to 8 February 1944     		Western Caroline Islands operation
    Capture and occupation of southern Palau Islands, 9 September to 14 October 1944
    Marianas operation
    Capture and occupation of Saipan, 18 June to 28 July 1944     		Luzon operation
    Lingayen Gulf landings, 9 January 1945

  • Redesignated Tank Landing Ship (Hospital) LST(H)-23, 15 September 1945
  • Following World War II USS LST(H)-23 was assigned to Occupation service in the Far East for the following periods:

    Navy Occupation Service Medal
    10 to 29 September 1945
    21 October to 5 December 1945

  • Decommissioned, 24 May 1946
  • Struck from the Naval Register, 3 July 1946
  • Final Disposition, sold for scrapping, 6 April 1948, to Kaiser Co., Inc., Seattle, WA.
  • USS LST-23 earned six battle stars 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 Source
    LST-23 178k USS LST-23 launching, 13 March 1943, at Dravo Corp., Pittsburgh, PA. David Fuller for Albert Bailey USCG USS LST-23
    LST-69 135k USS LST-69 and USS LST-23 beached at Kiska Island, Aleutian Islands, Territory of Alaska, during Operation Cottage August 1943.
    101606904 - US Coast Guard Identifier # 924435
    101502331 - US Nation Archives Identifier # 205585342, Local Identifier 26-G-09-24-43(4), US Coast Guard photo 0924434..
    101502331 - US Nation Archives Identifier # 205585339, Local ID 26-G-09-24-43(7), US Coast Guard Identifier 0924437.    		 1016006902-Mike Green
    1016002331-1016002332 David Upton
    LST-23
    1016002331    		 511k
    LST-23
    1016002332    		 603k
    LST-23 277k USS LST-23 crew members at Hawaii, circa 4 and 16 October 1943. Back of photo indicates "Pearl Harbor". Brian Miller
    LST-23 163k USS LST-23 crew members in the Solomon Islands, circa 1944-45. (Back of photo indicates "Solomons". Brian Miller
    LST-23 205k USS LST-23 officers, date and locations unknown. Brian Miller
    LST-23 178k
    LST-23 150k
    LST-23 1086k USS LST-23 beached at Green Beach Kwajalein Atoll, probably 3 February 1944 unloading across the floating causeways she transported for the invasion. Raymond Cvetovich, Ph.D.
    LST-23 101k USS LST-23 beached while unloading probably at Green Beach Kwajalein Atoll, probably 3 February 1944. US Coast Guard Historian's Office
    LST-910 87k USS LST-23 and USS LST-910 beached in the Philippines, circa 1944. Photo by Millard Hathaway USS LST-910
    LST-23 84k USS LST-23 beached, possibly at Lingayen Gulf, Philippines, circa January 1945 Brian Miller
    LST-23 108k USS LST-23 crew members, date and location unknown. David Fuller for Albert Bailey USCG USS LST-23
    LST-23 286k USS LST-23 officers, date and location unknown. Left to right: H.C. Sortevik, G.M. Miller, J.K. Shynovec and G.E. Collinson. David Fuller for his father ENS Ernest E Fuller USS LST-23
    LST-23 242k USS LST-23 beached, date and location unknown. David Fuller for his father ENS Ernest E Fuller USS LST-23
    LST-23 198k USS LST-23 and USS LST-222 beached, date and location unknown. David Fuller for Albert Bailey USCG USS LST-23
    LST-23 117k USS LST-23 beached with other LSTs, date and location unknown. Brian Miller
    LST-23 66k USS LST-23 under way, date and location unknown. Brian Miller
    LST-23 78k USS LST-23 entering San Francisco Bay, date unknown. David Fuller for Albert Bailey USCG USS LST-23
    LST-23 48k USS LST-23 underway in San Francisco, Bay, circa May 1945. John H.S. Scott, USCG, 1942-1946

    For more photos and information about USS LST-23, see;
  • Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships
  • USS LST-23 Voyage Record
  • Deck Log entries for 9 January 1945, Lingayen Gulf landings
  • Western Caroline Islands Attack Landing Order
  • Beach White Peleliu - CTF 32 Operation Plan A501-44 Appendix 4 to Annex "D"
  • The USS LST Ship Memorial
  • LST Home Port
  • State LST Chapters
  • United States LST Association
    • Commanding Officers
    01LT. Swann Jr., John B. USCGR22 May 1943 - 1944
    02LT. Martin, George A. USCGRMay 1945 - 22 May 1946
    Courtesy Wolfgang Hechler and Ron Reeves
    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 by David W. Almond and maintained by Gary P. Priolo
    All pages copyright NavSource Naval History
    Last Updated 13 August 2021