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NavSource Online: Amphibious Photo Archive

USS League Island (AKS-30)
ex
 USS League Island (AG-149) (1949 - 1951)
 USS LST-1097 (1945 - 1949)


International Radio Call Sign:
November - Alpha - Tango - Quebec
 NATQ
Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons



Precedence of awards is from top to bottom, left to right
Top Row - American Campaign Medal
Second Row - Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal (1) - World War II Victory Medal - National Defense Service Medal
Third Row - Korean Service Medal - United Nations Service Medal - Republic of Korea War Service Medal (retroactive)
LST-542 Class Tank Landing Ship:
  • Laid down, 22 November 1944, at Jeffersonville Boat & Machine Co., Jeffersonville, IN.
  • Launched, 16 January 1945
  • Commissioned USS LST-1097, 9 February 1945, LT. Earl J. Lane, USNR in command
  • During World War II USS LST-1097 was assigned to the Asiatic-Pacific Theater:
    LST Flotilla Thirty-Two, CAPT. D.J. Sweeny;
    LST Group Ninety-Six, CDR. J.M. Dod USNR;
    LST Division One Hundred Ninety-One and participated in the following campaign:

    Asiatic-Pacific Campaigns
    Campaign and Dates
    Okinawa Gunto operation
    Assault and occupation of Okinawa Gunto, 21 May to 30 June 1945

  • Decommissioned, 19 December 1946, at Portland, OR.
  • Laid up in the Pacific Reserve Fleet
  • Named and redesignated Miscellaneous Auxiliary, League Island (AG-149), 27 January 1949
  • Recommissioned, 3 January 1951
  • Converted to a General Stores Issue Ship 17 January to 2 March 1951 at Bethlehem Pacific Coast Steel Corp., Oakland, CA.
  • Redesignated (AKS-30), 18 August 1951
  • During the Korean War USS League Island operated in the war zone from 7 July 1951 to 27 July 1954 but did not participated in any combat operations
  • Decommissioned, 14 December 1956, at Astoria, OR.
  • Laid up in the Pacific Reserve Fleet
  • Struck from the Naval Register, 1 April 1960
  • Sold for scrapping, 24 April 1961, to Hatch & Kirk Co., Seattle, WA.
  • Resold for merchant service, date unknown
  • Final Disposition, sunk at Bahrain in 1976, raised in March 1980 and cut down to become a barge for operation in the Persian Gulf
  • USS LST-1097 earned one battle star for World War II service
    LST 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
    USS LST-1097
    LST-1097
    1016109707    		 316k LST-1097 moored while fitting out at with other LSTs at her builders yard, Jeffersonville Boat & Machine Co., Jeffersonville, IN., circa January-February 1945. Bill Glass
    LST-1097 72k USS LST-1097 anchored in Kerama Retto, Ryukyu Islands, Japan, in June 1945, at the close of the Okinawa campaign. She is painted in a green color design of the Measure 31-32-33 series
    US Marine Corps photo # (USMC 130125) by E.H. Moriaty.    		 Hyperwar US Navy in World War II
    LST-1097 42k USS LST-1097 moored at Pearl Harbor, date unknown. Hyperwar US Navy in World War II
    LST-1097 51k USS LST-1097 underway on the Mississippi River in February 1945. Hyperwar US Navy in World War II
    USS League Island (AG-149)
    LST-1097 49k USS League Island (AG-149) underway, date and location unknown.
    US Navy photo from "All Hands magazine, September 1951 issue    		 Joe Radigan MACM USN Ret.
    Merchant Service
    LST-1097 38k Ex-LST-1097 sunk, down at the bow at Bahrain, early-1980. (In 1976 she had sailed from Singapore to Bahrain with a load of cement. The cement was discharged and the ship laid up and eventually she sank.) Kevin Patience
    LST-1097 57k Ex-LST-1097 raised and under tow, Bahrain, March 1980 Kevin Patience
    USS LST-1097 / League Island (AG-149) / (AKS-30)
    Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships (DANFS)
    Commanding Officers
    01LT. Lane, Earl J., USNR9 February 1945 - 4 March 1945LST-1097
    02LT. Baynard, Jesse Lee, USNR4 March 1945 - December 1945LST-1097
    03LT. Wagener, Paul R., USNRDecember 1945 - March 1946LST-1097
    04LTjg. Stuart, Marshall J., USNRMarch 1946 - June 1946LST-1097
    05LTjg. Jimenez, J. W., USNRJune 1946 - 1946LST-1097
    06LT. Vint, Vinton Claude, USN1946 - 19 December 1946LST-1097
     Decommissioned19 December 1946 - 30 January 1951 
    07LT. Duppenthaler, Roswell E.3 January 1951 -?AG-149
    08LCDR. Chessman, Wesley Edison, USN1955 - 14 December 1956AGS-30
    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
    All pages copyright NavSource Naval History
    Last Updated 16 February 2024