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NavSource Online: Amphibious Photo Archive

USS LST-943


International Radio Call Sign:
November - Victor - Tango - Xray
 NVTX
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)
Bottom Row - World War II Victory Medal - Navy Occupation Service Medal (with Asia clasp)
LST-542 Class Tank Landing Ship:
  • Laid down, 8 August 1944, at Bethlehem-Hingham Shipyard, Inc., Hingham, MA.
  • Launched, 9 September 1944
  • Commissioned USS LST-943, 30 September 1944, LT. Sydney Berde USNR in command
  • During World War II USS LST-943 was assigned to the Asiatic-Pacific Theater:
    LST Flotilla Twenty-Five, CAPT. H. E. Richter USN (24);
     LST Group Seventy-Three CDR. L D. York USNR;
     LST Division One Hundred Forty-Five and participated in the following campaigns:

    Asiatic-Pacific Campaigns
    Campaign and Dates Campaign and Dates
    Iwo Jima operation
    Assault and occupation of Iwo Jima, 20 to 23 February 1945     		Okinawa Gunto operation
    Assault and occupation of Okinawa Gunto, 2 to 10 April 1945

  • Following World War II USS LST-943 was assigned to Occupation service in the Far East for the following periods:

    Navy Occupation Service Medal
    20 September to 3 October 1945
    15 to 28 October 1945
    10 November 1945 to 16 April 1946
  • Decommissioned, 16 July 1946
  • Struck from the Naval Register, 25 September 1946
  • USS LST-943 earned two battle stars for World War II service
  • Final Disposition, sold for scrapping, 4 November 1947, to Moore Drydock Co., Oakland, CA.
    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 943 917k USS LST-943 at anchor, date and location unknown. Vern Silva for his father Louis R.Silva, PO3 USS LST-943
    LST 943 58k USS LST-943 at anchor, with LCT-1219 loaded on her main deck, date and location unknown. Nicholas Pudinoff, SK3/c USS LST-943
    LST 943 594k USS LST-943 beached, date and location unknown. Kevin Welch
    LST 943 89k USS LST-943 underway in San Francisco Bay, with LCT-1219 on board in 1946.
    US Naval History and Heritage Command Photo # NH 79589, courtesy of D.M. McPherson, 1974.    		 Robert Hurst
    LST 943
    1016094305    		 41k USS LST-943 conning tower. JIm McMeekin
    USS LST-943
    Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships (DANFS)
    Commanding Officers
    01LT. Berde, Sydney, USNR30 September 1944 - December 1945
    02LTjg. Kinsey Douglas K., USNRDecember 1945 - June 1946
    03LTjg. Eddy, Howard Boysen, USNJune 1946 - 16 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
    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
    All pages copyright NavSource Naval History
    Last Updated 7 July 2023