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NavSource Online: Amphibious Photo Archive

USS LST-475


International Radio Call Sign:
November - Papa - November - November
 NPNN
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 (7) - World War II Victory Medal
Bottom Row - Navy Occupation Service Medal (with Asia clasp) - Philippines Presidential Unit Citation - Philippines Liberation Medal (2)
LST-1 Class Tank Landing Ship:
  • Laid down, 14 November 1942, at Kaiser, Inc., Vancouver, WA.
  • Launched, 16 November 1942
  • Commissioned USS LST-475, 20 March 1943, LCDR. Thomas D. Blake, USNR, in command
  • During WWII USS LST-475 was assigned to Asiatic-Pacific Theater:
    LST Flotilla Seven, CAPT. R. M. Scruggs, USN;
     LST Group Nineteen, CDR. James E. Van Zandt, USNR and participated in the following campaigns:

    Asiatic-Pacific Campaigns
    Campaign and Dates Campaign and Dates
    Eastern New Guinea operation
    Lae occupation, 4 to 6 and 9 to 11 September 1943
    Saidor occupation, 2 to 11 January 1944     		Leyte operation
    Leyte landings, 13 to 27 October and 5 to 18 November 1944
    Bismarck Archipelago operation
    Cape Gloucester, New Britain, 26 to 29 December 1943 and 22 to 25 January and 30 January to 2 February 1944     		Luzon operation
    Lingayen Gulf landings, 4 to 15 January 1945
    Hollandia operation, 21 to 26 April 1944 Borneo operation
    Balikpapan operation, June-July 1945
    Western New Guinea operation
    Noemfoor Island operation, 11 to 18 July 1944
    Cape Sansapor operation, 31 July, 6, 8 to 14 and 16 to 22 August 1944
    Morotai landings, 15 September 1944     		 

  • Following World War II USS LST-475 was assigned to Occupation service in the Far East from 4 September to 21 October 1945
  • Decommissioned, 24 April 1946
  • Struck from the Naval Register, 5 June 1946
  • USS LST-475 earned seven battle stars for World War II service
  • Final Disposition, sold, 31 October 1946, to Suwannee Fruit and Steamship Co., Barber, N.J., fate unknown
    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-475 115k USS LST-475 while under construction at Kaiser, Inc., Vancouver, WA. She was built in record time, 71 hours and 50 minutes from keel laying to launching. LCDR. Robert D. Shaner, USNR Ret. USS LST-475
    LST-475 92k
    LST-475 77k
    LST-466
    US Naval History and Heritage Command
    Photo # USMC 69080    		 125k Cape Gloucester Invasion, December 1943. Loading LSTs at Oro Bay, New Guinea, on December 24, 1943, in preparation for the Cape Gloucester landings two days later. Photographed by Brenner. LSTs present include (from left to right):
    USS LST-202,
    USS LST-466,
    USS LST-468,
    USS LST-475,
    USS LST-474, and
    USS LST-18. Note Marines marching by Jeep in foreground.
    US Naval History and Heritage Command Photo # USMC 69080 and Photo from "A Photographic History of World War 2", Colliers, 1946.    		 US Naval History and Heritage Command
    Dan Wilmes
    LST-18/202.245
    Photo from "A Photographic History of World War 2", Colliers, 1946     		315k
    LST-475 56k USS LST-475, USS LST-474, USS LST-594 and other amphibious vessels beached in the Philippines, August 1945. Note crew members swimming in the surf near the bow of USS LST-474. Thomas Clevenger 1SG (ret), US Army for his father-in-law LT. Vasco Luchi USNR, USS LST-582, courtesy Ed Novak Electricians Mate USS LST-582
    LST-475 165k USS LST-475 beached at Yokohama while off-loading an Army airfield support unit, 13 September 1945. The first LST landing after the surrender was signed on 2 September 1945. LCDR. Robert D. Shaner, USNR Ret. USS LST-475
    LST-475 66k USS LST-475 beached on Pier 3 in Manila Harbor taking on army troops returning to the West Coast in late 1945. Skip Premo for his brother-in-law LCDR. Robert D. Shaner, USNR Ret. USS LST-475
    LST-471 887k Christmas 1945 and New Years 1946 greetings from Commander LST Group Nineteen, CDR James E. Van Zandt USNR to the ships of the Group: USS LST-466
    USS LST-245
    USS LST-467
    USS LST-171
    USS LST-181
    USS LST-469
    USS LST-470
    USS LST-471
    USS LST-468
    USS LST-473
    USS LST-475 and
    USS LST-474    		 Bill James for his father William James USS LST-471
    LST-475 238k USS LST-475 leaving San Francisco behind in February 1946 while outbound to New Orleans for decommissioning LCDR. Robert D. Shaner, USNR Ret. USS LST-475
    USS LST-475
    Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships (DANFS)
    Commanding Officers
    01LCDR. Blake, Thomas D., USNR20 March 1943 - December 1943
    02LT. Whitsett, Murray S., USNRDecember 1943 - November 1944
    03LT. Sadowski, Edward D., USNRNovember 1944 - August 1945
    04LT. Nelson, J. F., USNRAugust 1945 - March 1946
    05LTjg. Zlotnik, P., USNRMarch 1946 - 24 April 1946
    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
    History of LST Flotilla Seven
    The USS LST Ship Memorial
    LST Home Port
    State LST Chapters
    United States LST Association
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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 25 June 2021