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NavSource Online: Amphibious Photo Archive

Lost to enemy action, 21 December 1944

USS LST-472


International Radio Call Sign:
November - Golf - Delta - Charlie
NGDC
Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons



Precedence of awards is from top to bottom, left to right
Top Row - Combat Action Ribbons (retroactive, 11 August - 24 September 1943 and 21 December 1944) (2)
Second Row - Navy Unit Commendation - American Campaign Medal - Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal (6)
Third Row - World War II Victory Medal - Philippines Presidential Unit Citation - Philippines Liberation Medal (1)


LST-1 Class Tank Landing Ship:
  • Laid down, 31 October 1942, at Kaiser Inc., Vancouver, WA.
  • Launched 7 December 1942
  • Commissioned USS LST-472, 13 March 1943, LT. William O. Talley Sr., USN, in command
  • During World War II USS LST-449 was assigned to the Asiatic-Pacific Theater:
    LST Flotilla Five, CAPT. G. B. Carter, USN
    LST Group Thirteen, CDR R.W. Cutler, USN
    LST Division Twenty-Five and participated in the following campaigns:

    Asiatic-Pacific Campaigns
    Campaigns and Dates Campaigns and Dates
    New Georgia operation
    New Georgia-Rendova-Vangunu occupation, 4 July 1943
    Hollandia operation, 21 to 28 April 1944
    Treasury-Bougainville operation
    Occupation and defense of Cape Torokina, 10 to 13 November and 3 to 4 December 1943
    Western New Guinea operations
    Toem-Wakde-Sarmi area operations, 26 to 28 May 1944
    Biak Island operation, 6 to 10 and 12 to 16 June 1944
    Noemfoor Island operation, 2 to 4 and 6 to 11 July 1944
    Cape Sansapor operation, 4 to 10 and 12 to 18 August 1944
    Morotai landings, 15 September 1944
    Bismarck Archipelago operation
    Green Island landing, 15 to 19 February 1944
    Luzon operation
    Mindoro landings, 12 to 18 December 1944

  • Final disposition, sunk during action with the enemy off Mindoro Island, Philippines, 21 December 1944 (Probably hit by Kamikaze on the 15th of December and did not sink until 21 December 1944)
  • Struck from the Naval Register 19 January 1945
  • USS LST-472 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 Contributed
    By
    LST-472
    1016047205
    261k USS LST-472 at anchor, bow doors open, date and location unknown. Jim Lowman for his father LT. Zelvin Lowman LCI(L)-877
    LST-472
    1016047208
    125k USS LST-472 on fire after being struck by a Japanese Kamikaze plane on D-Day, 21 December 1944 at Mindoro Island. Philippines Islands. Jim Lowman for his father LT. Zelvin Lowman LCI(L)-877
    LST-472
    1016047202
    188k Crew and paratroopers assemble on the bow awaiting orders to abandon ship, after USS LST-472 was hit by a Kamikaze attack at Mindoro Island, on D-Day, 21 December 1944. Photo taken from USS PCER-851.
    Photo from "LST Scuttlebutt", March/April 1997, p.46.
    Photograph by Y2c Dan Murphy (danbmurphy.com)
    Jerry DuRuz and Daniel Pratt grandson of Dan Murphy
    LST-472 82k USS LST-472 after Kamikaze attack at Mindoro Island, 19 December 1944.
    NARA photo # 80-G-294601 a US Navy photo now in the collections of the US National Archives.
    Gerd Metthes
    LST-742
    1016047203
    53k U.S. Navy ships fighting fires on USS LST-472, after she was hit by a Kamikaze off the Mindoro landing beaches, 15 December 1944. Photographed from on board USS PCE-851. The bow of USS O'Brien (DD-725) is at right, with fire fighting parties spraying water on the burning ship. USS Hopewell (DD-681) is seen nearly bow-on in the center background, largely shrouded by smoke. O'Brien is painted in Camouflage Measure 32, Design 9D.
    US Navy photo # NH 103030 from the collections of the US Navy History and Heritage Command, collection of Admiral Thomas C. Kinkaid, USN.
    Photograph by Y2c Dan Murphy (danbmurphy.com)
    Daniel Pratt for his grandfather Dan Murphy
    LST-472
    1016047206
    158k U.S. Navy ships fighting fires on USS LST-472, after she was hit by a Kamikaze off the Mindoro landing beaches, 15 December 1944. USS O'Brien (DD-725), left and right, USS Hopewell (DD-681). Jim Lowman for his father LT. Zelvin Lowman LCI(L)-877
    LST-472
    1016047207
    154k USS LST-472 on fire after she was hit by a Kamikaze off the Mindoro landing beaches, 15 December 1944. U.S. Navy ships alongside fighting the fire include USS O'Brien (DD-725), USS Hopewell (DD-681) and USS PCE-851.
    LST-742
    1016047204
    358k Survivors from the burning USS LST-472 that had been taken off by the destroyers are transferred to USS PCER-851 for transportation. USS LST 472 was hit by Japanese suicide plane while conducting operations at Mindoro Island, Philippines, on D-Day.
    US National Archives photo # 80-G-294576, a US Navy photo now in the collections of the US National Archives
    Photograph by Y2c Dan Murphy (danbmurphy.com)
    Marc Levine and Daniel Pratt grandson of Dan Murphy

    USS LST-472
    Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships (DANFS)
    Commanding Officers
    01LT. Talley Sr., William Odell, USN13 March 1943 - 21 December 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
    LST Flotilla Five War Diary July 1944
    History of LST Flotilla Seven
    The USS LST Ship Memorial
    LST Homeport
    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
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    This page is created and maintained by Gary P. Priolo
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    Last Updated 9 June 2023