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NavSource Online: Amphibious Photo Archive

USS LSSL-53
ex
 USS LCS(L)(3)-53 (1944 - 1949)


International Radio Call Sign:
November - Victor - Tango - India
 NVTI
Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons



Precedence of awards is from top to bottom, left to right
Top Row - Combat Action Ribbon (2-Iwo Jima, Okinawa)
Second Row - China Service Medal (extended) - American Campaign Medal - Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal (3)
Third Row - World War II Victory Medal - Navy Occupation Medal (with Asia clasp) - Philippines Liberation Medal
Individual Awards

Bronze Star (11- ENS. John Sterling, Jr., USNR, ENS. Stuart Robert Manegold, USNR, Robert Joseph Anderson SK3, Paul Emment DeMent S1/c, Kenneth Frank Hans S1/c Victor Deldon Klien F1/c, Charles Michael Manyak S1/c, George Thomas Opria S1/c, Roy Edwin Petty S1/c, Michael Romona Russo, Sr. S2/c, Wilmer Alvin Yaun, S2/c.
Purple Heart Curtis G. Leonard S1/c Iwo Jima
LCS(L)(3)-1 Class Landing Craft Support (Large)(Mark3):
  • Laid down, 27 June 1944, at Albina Engine and Machine Works Inc., Portland OR.
  • Launched, 22 August 1944
  • Commissioned USS LCS(L)(3)-53, 30 September 1944, LT. M. F. Steldt USNR in command
  • During World War II USS LCS(L)(3)-53 was assigned to the Asiatic-Pacific Theater:
    LCS(L)(3) Flotilla Three, CAPT. T.C. Aylward USN (23);
     LCS(L)(3) Group Seven, LCDR. F. P. Stone USNR;
     LCS(L)(3) Division Fourteen, and participated in the following campaigns:

    Asiatic-Pacific Campaigns
    Campaign and Dates Campaign and Dates
    Iwo Jima operation
    Assault and occupation of Iwo Jima, 19 February 1945     		Minesweeping Operations Pacific
    Formosa area, July 1945
    Okinawa Gunto operation
    Assault and occupation of Okinawa Gunto, 18 March to July 1945     		 

  • Following World War II USS LCS(L)(3)-53 was assigned to Occupation and China service in the Far East for the following periods:

    Navy Occupation Service Medal
    China Service Medal (extended)
    19 September to 26 October 194529 October 1945 to 20 January 1946
  • Decommissioned, date unknown
  • Laid up in the Pacific Reserve Fleet, Columbia River Group, Astoria, OR.
  • Redesignated Landing Ship Support Large USS LSSL-53, 28 February 1949
  • Struck from the Naval Register, date unknown
  • USS LCS(L)(3)-53 earned three battle stars for World War II service
  • Final Disposition, sold for scrapping, 8 January 1952, to Learner Company, Alameda, CA.
    Specifications:
    Displacement 250 t (lt), 387 t (fl)
    Length 158' o.a.
    Beam 23' 8"
    Draft
    5' 8" limiting and max draft
    loaded, 4' 9" fwd, 6' 6" aft
    Speed
    14.4 trial
    16.5k max at 650 shaft rpm
    14.5kts at 585 shaft rpm
    Armor 10-lb STS splinter shield to gun mounts, pilot house and conning tower
    Complement
    6 Officers
    65 Enlisted
    Endurance 5,500 miles at 12kts at 45" pitch (350 tons dspl.)
    Fuel/Stores
    635 Bbls Diesel (76 tons)
    10 tons fresh water
    6 tons lubrication oil
    8 tons provisions and stores at full load
    Fresh Water Capacity distill up to 1,000 gals. per day
    Armament
    bow gun, one single 40mm gun mount
    two twin 40mm AA gun mounts
    four single 20mm AA gun mounts
    four .50 cal machine guns
    ten MK7 rocket launchers
    Propulsion
    2 quad packs of 4 General Motors 6051 series 71 Diesel engines per shaft, BHP 1,600
    single General Motors Main Reduction Gears
    2 Diesel-drive 60Kw 450V. A. C. Ships Service Generators
    twin variable pitch propellers
    Specifications Sources:
    Ships' Data U.S. Naval Vessels, Navships 250-012, April 15 1945
    Baker, A.D. III. Allied Landing Craft of World War II, Annapolis: United States Naval Institute Press, 1989. 47
    Lawley, George & Sons Corporation. Instructions for LCS(L)(3) Class
    Lawley, George & Sons Corporation. Original Plans of LCS(L)(3)
    Click On Image
    For Full Size Image    		 Size Image Description Contributed
    By
    LCS(L)(3)-51 11k LCS(L) Group Seven at Pearl Harbor prior to deployment to Iwo Jima, circa December 1944-January 1945. From left to right:
    USS LCS(L)(3)-35
    USS LCS(L)(3)-34
    USS LCS(L)(3)-51
    USS LCS(L)(3)-32
    USS LCS(L)(3)-56
    USS LCS(L)(3)-55
    USS LCS(L)(3)-33
    USS LCS(L)(3)-5?
    USS LCS(L)(3)-53
    and Group flag ship USS LCS(L)(3)-31.    		 Michael Hollis for his father LTjg. Jack D.Hollis, USS LCS(L)(3)-31 and LCS(L) Group Seven staff.
    LCS(L)(3)-51 24k LCS(L) Group Seven at Pearl Harbor prior to deployment to Iwo Jima, circa December 1944-January 1945. From left to right:
    USS LCS(L)(3)-51
    USS LCS(L)(3)-32
    USS LCS(L)(3)-56
    USS LCS(L)(3)-55
    USS LCS(L)(3)-33
    USS LCS(L)(3)-5?
    LCS(L)(3)-53
    and Group flag ship USS LCS(L)(3)-31.    		 Michael Hollis for his father LTjg. Jack D.Hollis, USS LCS(L)(3)-31 and LCS(L) Group Seven staff.
    LCS(L)(3)-54 19k USS LCS(L)(3)-54, USS LCS(L)(3)-53 and USS LCS(L)(3)-31, probably during training exercises off Maui, T.H. prior to deployment, circa December 1944-January 1945. Michael Hollis for his father LTjg. Jack D.Hollis USS LCS(L)-31 and Comm Officer, LCS(L) Group Seven.
    LCS(L)-53 69k USS LCS(L)(3)-53, firing rockets, date and location unknown. National Association of
    USS LCS(L) 1-130
    LCS(L) (3)-14 47k Nested LCS(L)s;
    USS LCS(L)(3)-14, USS LCS(L)(3)-11, USS LCS(L)(3)-53, USS LCS(L)(3)-35 on the Whangpoo River, Shanghai, China, 1 January 1946.    		 National Association of
    USS LCS(L) 1-130
    LCS(L) (3)-13 145k LCS(L)(3)s laid up in reserve at Astoria, OR. summer 1946, include from left to right:
    USS LCI(L)(3)-116,
    USS LCI(L)(3)-16,
    USS LCI(L)(3)-54,
    USS LCI(L)(3)-13,
    USS LCI(L)(3)-9,
    USS LCI(L)(3)-2,
    USS LCI(L)(3)-90,
    USS LCI(L)(3)-53,
    		 Brayton Harris
    LCS(L)-53 984k USS LCS(L)(3)-53 under way in San Francisco Bay while returning home in 1946. ENS J. W. Middendorf USNR (later to be Secretary of the Navy, 1974-76) is the tall man on the bridge.
    Photo: from Middendorf's personal files.    		 Brayton Harris
    The History of LCS(L)(3)-53 was provided by the National Association of USS LCS(L) 1-130
    Commanding Officers
    01LT. Steldt, M. F., USNR30 September 1944 - ?
    Courtesy Wolfgang Hechler and Ron Reeves
    Crew Contact And Reunion Information Web Sites
    U.S. Navy Memorial Foundation - Navy Log
    Other Crew Contact and Reunion Information
    National Association of USS LCS(L) 1-130
    Dennis Steenbergen, Secretary
    7345 W. Lakeside Drive, Littleton, CO, 80125
    Phone 303-470-1187
    E-mail Dennis Steenbergen
    Additional Web Sites of Interest
    National Association of USS LCS(L) 1-130
    Additional Resources
    Rielly, Robin L. Mighty Midgets at War: The Saga of the LCS(L) Ships from Iwo Jima to Vietnam. Central Point, Oregon: Hellgate Press, 2000. (ISBN 1-55571-522-2)
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    This page is created and maintained by Gary P. Priolo
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    Last Updated 11 August 2017