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NavSource Online: Amphibious Photo Archive

USS LST-78


International Radio Call Sign:
November - Foxtrot - Delta - Uniform
 NFDU
Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons

Precedence of awards is from left to right
American Campaign Medal - Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal (4) - World War II Victory Medal
LST-1 Class Tank Landing Ship:
  • Laid down, 9 February 1943, at Jeffersonville Boat & Machine Co., Jeffersonville, IN.
  • Launched, 28 April 1943
  • Commissioned USS LST-78, 8 July 1943, LT. Cornelius J. Smits, USNR, in command
  • During World War II USS LST-78 was assigned to the Asiatic-Pacific Theater:
    LST Flotilla Thirteen, CAPT. J.G. Sampson USN (22);
    LST Group Thirty-Seven, CDR. R.D. Higgins USNR;
    LST Division Seventy-Three and participated in the following campaigns

    Asiatic-Pacific Campaigns
    Campaign and Dates Campaign and Dates
    Gilbert Islands operation
    Makin and Tarawa, 29 November to 5 December 1943     		Marianas operation
    Capture and occupation of Guam, 21 to 25 July 1944
    Marshall Islands operation
    Occupation of Kwajalein and Majuro Atolls, 31 January 8 February 1944     		Okinawa Gunto operation
    Assault and occupation of Okinawa Gunto, 3 May 30 June 1945

  • Decommissioned, 8 March 1946
  • Struck from the Naval Register, 8 May 1946
  • USS LST-78 earned four battle stars for World War II service
  • Final Disposition, sold to Kaiser Co., Inc., Seattle, WA. for scrapping, 13 April 1948
    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-179
    1016017901    		 301k US Army soldiers unloading gasoline drums from USS LST-179 and USS LST-78 during landing operations on Makin Island, Gilbert Islands, 25 November 1943.
    US National Archives Identifier 193851502, US Army Air Corps photo # A63172AC.    		 David Upton
    LST-78/781 60k USS LST-78 beached, circa April 1945 at Okinawa. To her port side is USS LST-781 and to her starboard an unidentified LST. Photo by LTjg. (E) Jack D. Curlee,
    Engineering Officer USS LST-78
    LST-485 226k USS LST-485, USS LST-78 (with LCT-1190 loaded on her main deck) and an unidentified LST beached at Okinawa, 3 May 1945, while bulldozers of the 807the Engineer Aviation Battalion build ramps to the LST so that the Battalion's other equipment can be off loaded across the beach.
    US National Archives photo, courtesy fold3.com.    		 George Lane
    LST-78/244/801 56k Just visible to starboard of USS LST-78 is USS LST-801, center is an unidentified water tanker, to her port side is USS LST-244. LST-78 LCVP-78-1 is across the open bow doors of USS LST-78. Photo circa 1945, possibly taken at Tinian or Saipan Photo by LTjg. (E) Jack D. Curlee,
    Engineering Officer USS LST-78
    LST-78/343 90k USS LST-78 beached alongside USS LST-343 possibly at Okinawa, circa May-June 1945 Photo by LTjg. (E) Jack D. Curlee,
    Engineering Officer USS LST-78
    LST-78 93k Photo taken from tank deck of USS LST 78 through the open bow doors, possibly at Okinawa, circa May-June 1945 Photo by LTjg. (E) Jack D. Curlee,
    Engineering Officer USS LST-78
    LST-78 44k USS LST-78 anchored in San Francisco Bay or the San Joaquin River preparing for decommissioning and lay up in the Pacific Reserve Fleet, Stockton Group, circa February-March 1946. Submitted by Steve Curlee for Robert V. Hendricks, USS LST-78
    USS LST-78
    Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships (DANFS)
    Commanding Officers
    01LT. Smits, Cornelius Johannes, USNR8 July 1943 - 1944
    02LTjg. Miller, E. W., USNR1944 - February 1945
    03LT. Enge, John, USNRFebruary 1945 - ?
    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
    Crew Photos
    History of LST Flotilla Seven
    The USS LST Ship Memorial
    LST Homeport
    State LST Chapters
    United States LST Association
    West Loch Disaster, Pearl Harbor, T.H.
    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 created and maintained by Gary P. Priolo
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    Last Updated 25 June 2021