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NavSource Online: Amphibious Photo Archive

USS LST-816


International Radio Call Sign:
November - Hotel - Delta - Romeo
 NHDR
Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons


Precedence of awards is from top to bottom, left to right
Top Row - Combat Action Ribbon (Iwo Jima - 15 March to 14 April 1945) - American Campaign Medal
Bottom Row - Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal (2) - World War II Victory Medal - Navy Occupation Service Medal (with Asia clasp)
LST-542 Class Tank Landing Ship:
  • Laid down, 2 September 1944, at Missouri Valley Bridge & Iron Co., Evansville, IN.
  • Launched, 11 October 1944
  • Commissioned USS LST-816, 2 November 1944, LT. Charles Danziger, USNR in command
  • During World War II LST-816 was assigned to the Asiatic-Pacific Theater:
    LST Flotilla Twenty-Five, CAPT. H.E. Richter USN (24);
     LST Group Seventy-Four, CDR. J.G. Farnsworth;
     LST Division One Hundred Forty-Seven and participated in the following campaign:

    Asiatic-Pacific Campaigns
    Campaign and Dates Campaign and Dates
    Iwo Jima operation
    Assault and occupation of Iwo Jima, 15 March to 14 April 1945     		Okinawa Gunto operation
    Assault and occupation of Okinawa Gunto, 30 May to 18 June 1945

  • Following World War II USS LST-816 was assigned to Occupation service in the Far East for the following periods:

    Navy Occupation Service Medal
    9 to 25 September 1945
    16 October to 1 November 1945
    18 November 1945 to 10 April 1946

  • Decommissioned, 29 June 1946
  • Struck from the Naval Register, 31 July 1946
  • Final Disposition, sold for scrapping, 27 May 1948, to Bethlehem Steel Co., Bethlehem, PA.
  • USS LST-816 earned two battle stars for World War II service
    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-816 130k Sponsor Mrs Walter Smith, with her Maid of Honor Mrs Shook, Christen USS LST-816, 2 November 1944, Missouri Valley Bridge & Iron Co., Evansville, IN.
    Photos by Jack Rusche, Missouri Valley Bridge & Iron Co.    		 Bill Gonyo and
    Tommy Trampp
    LST-816 184k
    LST-816 72k USS LST-816 underway, date and location unknown. James W. Blake, Jr. for his grandfather, Clarence Willard Blake USS LST-816
    LST-816
    1016081604    		 119k USS LST-816 at anchor, probably in San Francisco Bay circa 1945-1946.
    US Naval History and Heritage Command photo NH 84697 from the Vallego Naval and Historical Museum.    		 Darryl Baker
    USS LST-816
    Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships (DANFS)
    Commanding Officers
    01LT. Danziger, Charles, USN2 November 1944 - 19 December 1945
    02LTjg. O'Keefe, Edward J., USNR19 December 1945 - 29 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
    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 25 October 2024