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NavSource Online: Amphibious Photo Archive

USS LST-554


International Radio Call Sign:
November - Echo - Uniform - Juliet
 NEUJ
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 (4)
Bottom Row - World War II Victory Medal - Philippines Presidential Unit Citation - Philippine Liberation Medal (2)
LST-542 Class Tank Landing Ship:
  • Laid down, 30 January 1944, at Missouri Valley Bridge and Iron Co., Evansville, IN.
  • Launched, 18 March 1944
  • Commissioned USS LST-554, 27 April 1944, LT. Darrel V. Peacock, USN, in command
  • During World War II USS LST-554 was assigned to the Asiatic-Pacific Theater and participated in the following campaigns:

    Asiatic-Pacific Campaigns
    Campaigns and Dates Campaigns and Dates
    Western Caroline Islands operation
    Capture and occupation of southern Palau Islands, 6 September to 14 October 1944     		Luzon operations
    Lingayen Gulfs landings, 4 to 18 January 1945
    Leyte operations
    Leyte landings, 18 October to 6 November 1944     		Okinawa Gunto operations
    Assault and occupation of Okinawa Gunto, 1 to 11 April 1945

  • For the Okinawa Gunto operation USS LST-554 was assigned to:
    LST Flotilla Fourteen, CAPT. E. A. Seay USN (24);
     LST Group Forty, (flagship) CDR. G. Reith USN (24);
     LST Division Seventy-Nine
  • Decommissioned, 20 July 1946
  • Struck from the Naval Register, 25 September 1946
  • USS LST-554 earned four battle stars for World War II service
  • Final Disposition, sold for scrapping, 29 March 1948, to Kaiser, Inc., Vancouver, WA.
    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-554
    1016055403    		 197k USS LST-554 loaded with equipment of the US Army 1884 Engineer Aviation Battalion, approaches the beachhead on Angaur Island, Caroline Islands, 25 September 1944.
    US National Archives Identifier 193826772, US Army Air Corps photo # 70469A.C.    		 Jason Post and
    David Upton
    LST-554
    1016055404    		 256k A truck and trailer, loaded with equipment of the 1884th Engineer Aviation Battalion, goes down the ramp of USS LST-554 at the beachhead on Angaur Island in the Caroline Islands, 25 September 1944.
    US National ArchIves Identifier 193826778, US Army Air Corps photo #70471A.C.    		 David Upton
    LST-554
    1016055405    		 269k Infantrymen embark in USS LST-554 for the trip from Angaur Island to Peleliu Island in the Caroline Islands Group, 25 September 1944.
    US National ArchIves Identifier 193827044, US Army Air Corps photo # 70474A.C.    		 David Upton
    LST-554 97k USS LST-554 beached at Leyte, while unloading troops and equipment of the US Army 866 Engineer Aviation Battalion, circa early November 1944.
    US Army Signal Corps photo - 866 Engineer Aviation Battalion History, pg.62    		 Greg Cockburn
    LST-554 139k USS LST-554 at anchor in San Francisco Bay, CA., circa 1945-46.
    US Naval History and Heritage Command Photo # NH 79013    		 US Naval History and Heritage Command
    USS LST-554
    Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships (DANFS)
    Commanding Officers
    01LT. Peacock, Darrel Vern, USN27 April 1944 - 20 July 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
    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 22 March 2024