Please report any broken links or trouble you might come across to the Webmaster. Please take a moment to let us know so that we can correct any problems and make your visit as enjoyable and as informative as possible.


NavSource Online: Amphibious Photo Archive

YF-1079
ex
USS LST-39 (1943 - 1944)


International Radio Call Sign:
November - Golf - Xray - Victor
NGXV
Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons

Precedence of awards is from left to right
American Campaign Medal - Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal - World War II Victory Medal


LST-1 Class Tank Landing Ship:
  • Laid down, 23 April 1943, at Dravo Corp., Neville Island, PA.
  • Launched, 29 July 1943
  • Delivered and placed in reduced commission, 2 September 1943, for transit to her fitting out yard at New Orleans, LA.
  • Placed in full commissioned as USS LST-39, 8 September 1943, LT. Raymond J. Figaro, USN. in command
  • During World War II USS LST-397 was assigned to the Asiatic-Pacific Theater:
    LST Flotilla Five, CAPT. J.R. Clark;
    LST Group Fourteen, CDR. R.W. Lejeuneesse, USN
    LST Division Twenty-Eight
  • Lost in the accidental explosion of ammunition in West Loch Pearl Harbor, 21 May 1944
  • Struck from the Naval Register, 25 February 1946
  • Refloated and converted to a spare parts issue barge, redesignated YF-1079
  • Placed out of service circa July 1945 to January 1946
  • Final Disposition, destroyed in 1946
    LST 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
    USS LST-39
    LST-39
    1016003909
    191k LSTs, including USS LST-39, beached at an advanced base in the Solomon Islands where they are loading the equipment of the US Army 12th Detachment, 20th Army Airways Communications System for transport to "Square Peg", the code name for the Green Islands, February 1944. Note the barrage balloons which will be part of the protection of the convoy as they proceed to the Green Islands.
    US Army Air Corps photo # 67772 A.C. now in the collections of the US National Archives.
    Jason Post
    LST-39
    1016003910
    NA 193853603
    233k LSTs, including USS LST-39 and USS LST-117, beached at an advanced base in the Solomon Islands where they are loading the equipment of the US Army 12th Detachment, 20th Army Airways Communications System for transport to "Square Peg", the code name for the Green Islands, February 1944. Note the barrage balloons which will be part of the protection of the convoy as they proceed to the Green Islands.
    US National Archives Identifier # 193853603, US Army Air Corps photo # 67769A.C., and US National Archives Identifier # 193853606, US Army Air Corps photo # B-67769A.C.,
    David Upton
    LST-39
    1016003912
    NA 193853606
    217k
    LST-39
    1016003911
    207k A truck and trailer, loaded with equipment of the 12th Detachment, 20th Army Airways Communications System, is backed into cavernous mouth of USS LST-0029 for the transfer to "Square Peg" - code name for the Green Islands. Solomon Islands, February 1944.
    US National Archives Identifier # 193853597, US Army Air Corps photo # 67768 A.C.
    David Upton
    LST-39 74k The burned out hulk of USS LST-39 after the fire and explorations in the West Loch at Pearl Harbor, 21 May 1944. Photo from the Army Signal Corps Collection in the US National Archives. Photo #: SC 427952 Robert Hurst
    LST-39
    SC 187501
    1793k USS LST-39 on fire, 22 May 1944, as crew men work on her bow ramp, probably removing cargo into waiting small craft and tugs attempt to put her fires out. Note smoke rising from the wreck of USS LST-480, at right, as tugs and other craft try to put out her fires. Photos dated 22 May 1944, the day after the West Loch explosion. Photo from the Army Signal Corps Collection in the US National Archives. Photo #'s SC 185701 and SC 185701 Cropped Dave Kerr (SC 187501)
    Robert Hurst (SC 187501 Cropped)
    LST-39
    SC 187501 Cropped
    113k
    LST-39
    1016003907
    80-G-276940
    217k Aerial views of the burned out and grounded USS LST-39 off the Ferry Dock at Naval Ammunition Depot, Pearl Harbor. Photographed on 22 May 1944, the day after the explosions and fire which destroyed six LSTs in West Loch.
    US National Archives, Photo No's 80-G-276940 and 80-G-306117, US Navy photos now in the collections of the US National Archives.
    Dave Kerr - 1016003907
    Rick Davis - 1016003907
    LST-39
    1016003908
    80-G-306117
    318k
    LST-39 1593k Overhead view of the burned out hulk of USS LST-39 in the West Loch at Pearl Harbor after being towed away from the conflagration that engulfed USS LST-353 and USS LST-480. Photo from the Army Signal Corps Collection in the US National Archives. Photo # SC 276941 Dave Kerr
    YF-1079
    LST-39 82k YF-1079 (in the center middle distance) Aground in Buckner Bay, Okinawa, after Typhoon Louise ravaged that port in October 1945. Photographed in November 1945. The stores issue barge YF-1079 was the portion of USS LST-39 that was salvaged after the LST was sunk by the ammunition explosions in West Loch, Pearl Harbor, on 21 May 1944. In front of her is the middle portion of USS Nestor (ARB-6), and in the foreground is the stern of USS LCI(R)-337. This image is cropped from Photo # NH 105654 (See USS LCI(R)-337).
    US Naval History and Heritage Command photo # NH 105654A from the collection of Dr. Richard Raymond Gratton (1915-1990), donated by his daughter, Barbara Gratton Stillwater, 2008.
    Marc Levine
    LST-39 69k YF-1079 beached and damaged in Buckner Bay, Okinawa, after Typhoon Louise ravaged that port in October 1945. Photographed in November 1945. The image shows the after portion of her starboard side, which was damaged by a collision with another YF during the storm. Another service craft, possibly YF-757, lies sunken to the left. LST-39 was sunk in the West Loch ammunition explosion at Pearl Harbor, 21 May 1944. She was raised, converted to a spare parts issue barge, and redesignated YF-1079 in August 1944. YF-1079 had Diesel parts on board when wrecked. She was stricken from the Naval Register in February 1946 and destroyed in August 1946.
    US Naval History and Heritage Command photo # NH 105635 from the collection of Dr. Richard Raymond Gratton (1915-1990), donated by his daughter, Barbara Gratton Stillwater, 2008.
    Marc Levine

    USS LST-39 / YF-1079
    Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships (DANFS)
    Commanding Officers
    01LT. Figaro, Raymond Joseph, USN8 September 1943 - 21 May 1944
    Courtesy Wolfgang Hechler and Ron Reeves

    Crew Contact And Reunion Information
    U.S. Navy Memorial Foundation - Navy Log

    Additional Resources and Web Sites of Interest
    LST Flotilla Five War Diary May 1944
    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
    Comments, Suggestions, E-mail Webmaster.
    This page is created by David W. Almond and maintained by Gary P. Priolo
    All pages copyright NavSource Naval History
    Last Updated 9 June 2023