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NavSource Online: Amphibious Photo Archive

USS LST-704


International Radio Call Sign:
November - Foxtrot - Quebec - Juliet
NFQJ
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 (2) - World War II Victory Medal
Bottom Row - Navy Occupation Service Medal (with Asia clasp) - Philippines Presidential Unit Citation - Philippines Liberation Medal (1)

Personal Awards

Purple Hearts (2 KIA, 23 WIA [2 later died] 21 October 1944)
LST-542 Class Tank Landing Ship:
  • Laid down, 27 April 1944, at Jeffersonville Boat & Machine Co., Jeffersonville, IN.
  • Launched, 3 June 1944
  • Commissioned USS LST-704, 27 June 1944, LT. Wollen H. Walshe, USNR, in command
  • During World War II USS LST-704 was assigned to the Asiatic-Pacific Theater and participated in the following campaigns:

    Asiatic-Pacific Campaigns
    Campaign and Dates Campaign and Dates
    Leyte operation
    Leyte landings, 20-21 October 1944
    Okinawa Gunto operations
    Assault and Occupation of Okinawa Gunto, 1 to 9 April

  • Following service in the Southwest Pacific Area USS LST-704 was assigned to:
    LST Flotilla Three, CDR. A. A. Ageton USN (23);
    LST Group Eight;
    LST Division Sixteen
  • Following World War II USS LST-704 was assigned to Occupation service in the Far East from 15 October to 27 December 1945
  • Decommissioned, 19 June 1946
  • Struck from the Naval Register, 25 September 1946
  • USS LST-704 earned two battle stars for World War II service
  • Final Disposition, sold for scrapping, 26 May 1948, to Basalt Rock Co., Inc., Napa, CA.
    Specifications:
    Displacement
    1,625 t.(lt)
    4,080 t.(fl) (sea-going draft w/1675 ton load)
    2,366 t.
    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
    9 officers, 120 enlisted
    Troop Accommodations
    14 officers, 131 enlisted
    Boats 6 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-990 123k USS LST-990, USS LST-704, USS LST-746 and three or four additional LSTs beached at Leyte, date unknown. Paul Webber from the collection of Lou Hall (deceased) 124th Infantry Regiment, 31st Infantry Division.
    LSM-115 55k USS LSM-115 beached alongside USS LST-704, date and location unknown. Robert Morris, CO USS LSM-115
    LST-486
    1016048607
    10,728k From right to left; USS LST-269, USS LST-486, USS LST-270, USS LST-704 and USS LST-117 and three unidentified LSTs (all of LST Flotilla Three) spread along (from the left) Orange Two, Orange One, Blue Two, Blue One beaches of the initial landings on Leyte Island, Philippines. The date is 21 October 1944 between 0914 and 1051 hours. Within the next few hours the Japanese would rain down mortar and artillery fire onto these beaches.hitting LST-486 on main deck between frames 14 and 15, no casualties; LST-269 received two direct mortar hits killing two and wounding three; LST-704 received seven direct hits by mortar and artillery causing much damage and killing two, and wounding twenty-three with two dying later.
    Ref. LST-704 War Diary and COMLSTFLOT3 War Diary, U.S. Army Signal Corps Photo 254880 now in the collections of the US National Archives, Local ID 111-SCA-2857. National Archives ID 80662621.
    David Upton

    USS LST-704
    Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships (DANFS)
    Commanding Officers
    01LT. Walshe, Wollen H. USNR27 June 1944 - 18 August 1945
    02LT. Dunlap, John B. USNR18 August 1945 - 30 November 1945
    03LTjg. McQueen, John Edd USN30 November 1945 - 19 June 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 and maintained by Gary P. Priolo
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    Last Updated 10 December 2021