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NavSource Online: Amphibious Photo Archive

USS LST-637

International Radio Call Sign:
November - Foxtrot - Hotel - Mike
NFHM

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 (3) - World War II Victory Medal
Bottom Row - Navy Occupation Service Medal (with Asia clasp) - Philippines Presidential Unit Citation - Philippines Liberation Medal (2)

LST-542 Class Tank Landing Ship:

Laid down, 24 May 1944, at Chicago Bridge & Iron Co., Seneca, IL.

Launched, 18 August 1944

Commissioned USS LST-637, 5 September 1944, LT. C. E. Helfrich, USNR, in command

During World War II USS LST-637 was assigned to the Asiatic-Pacific Theater and participated in the and participated in the following campaigns:

Asiatic-Pacific Campaign
Luzon operation Lingayen Gulf landings, 4 to 18 January 1945	Borneo operation Tarakan Island operation, 27 April to 5 May 1945 Brunei Bay operation, 10 to 12 June 1945
Consolidation and capture of Southern Philippines Visayan Island landings, 18 March and 29 March to 5 April 1945

Following World War II USS LST-637 was assigned to Occupation service in the Far East for the following periods:

Navy Occupation Service Medal
15 September to 5 October 1945
20 to 30 October 1945

Decommissioned, 29 March 1946

Struck from the Naval Register, 5 June 1946

USS LST-637 earned three battle stars for World War II service

Final Disposition, sold to the Ships & Power Equipment Corp., Barber, N.J., 18 December 1947, and subsequently scrapped

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
1016057305	298k	USS LST-637 and USS LST-573 unloading at Panay, Philippine Islands, across earth ramps built by bulldozers, 18 March 1945 US National Archives Album 111-SCA-Album 2986 - US Army Signal Corps photo #SWPA-SC-45-20696	Vincent M. Solinap
	87k	USS LST-637 at anchor off Morotai, fully loaded and waiting to get underway with the rest of the invasion fleet for the four day trip to Tarakan Island, Borneo, 27 April 1945. Australian War Memorial photo # 090897.	Australian War Memorial
	57k	USS LST-637, USS LST-590 and an unidentified LST at Morotai, Halmahera Islands, Netherlands, East Indies, 29 May 1945. From a crowded waterfront that only six months earlier had been a deserted tropical beach hundreds of heavily laden Royal Australian Air Force vehicles were embarked at Morotai before the invasion fleet sailed for Labuan, British North Borneo. Australian War Memorial photo # OG2802.	Australian War Memorial
	78k	USS LST-637 beach at Morotai, Halmahera Island, Netherlands East Indies, 30 May 1945, while Australian and US soldiers load an LVT named Scotch & Soda into an unidentified LST in preparation for the landings at Tarakan, Borneo. Australian War Memorial, Photo No. 018425	Mike Green
	171k	USS LST-637 and two unidentified LST's load troops, equipment and supplies before departure for Tarakan, Borneo	Submitted by Adrain K 'for educational purposes' Source-"Pictorial History of Australia at War 39-45", 5 Volumes. 1959
	213k	Brown Beach, Brunei Bay Borneo, June 10-12, 1945. USS LST-942, USS LSM-638, USS LST-637, and the remaining 14 LST's of the Brown Assault Unit offload their men and equipment. *LST-942* delivered elements of the RAAF 4th Airfield Construction Battalion.	Brian Miller

USS LST-637
Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships (DANFS)

Commanding Officers
01	LT. Helfrich, Carl E., USNR	5 September 1944 - 6 April 1945
02	LT. Vielhaber, Robert A., USNR	6 April 1945 - 1 March 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 Homeport
State LST Chapters
United States LST Association

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This page is created and maintained by Gary P. Priolo

Last Updated 11 March 2022