Please report any broken links or trouble you might come across to the Webmaster. Please take a moment to let us know so that we can correct any problems and make your visit as enjoyable and as informative as possible.

NavSource Online: Amphibious Photo Archive

Contributed by Mike Smolinski

Elk River (IX-501)
ex
USS LSM(R)-501 (1945 - 1955)

Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons

Precedence of awards is from top to bottom, left to right
Top Row - Navy Meritorious Unit Commendation
Bottom Row - American Campaign Medal - World War II Victory Medal - National Defense Service Medal

LSM(R) 501 Class Landing Ship Medium (Rocket):

Laid down, 24 March 1945, at Brown Shipbuilding Co, Houston, TX.

Launched, 21 April 1945

Commissioned USS LSMR-501, 27 May 1945, LTjg. Richard W. Elicker, USNR in command

During World War II USS LSM(R)-501 was assigned to the Asiatic-Pacific Theater:
LSM(R) Flotilla Eighteen, CAPT. C. F. Macklin USN
LSM(R) Group Forty-Three
LSM(R) Division One Hundred Five

Decommissioned, 1 August 1946, at Astoria, OR.

Laid up in the Pacific Reserve Fleet, Columbia River Group

Named Elk River and redesigned as Miscellaneous Unclassified (IX-501), 1 October 1955

Converted to a Deep Submergence Support Ship at Avondale Shipyards, Inc., Westwego, LA., and at San Francisco Bay Naval Shipyard, Hunters Point

"Special" in service, January 1969

"Active" in service, January 1973

Relegated to barracks craft, October 1986

Struck from the Naval Register,13 August 1999

Final Disposition; sunk as a target, 24 February 2001

LSM(R) Specifications:
Displacement 758 t.(light), 993 t. (attack) 1,175 t. (fully loaded)
Length 206' 3"
Beam 34' 6"
Draft light, 5' 4" (mean), attack 6' 9" (mean), fully loaded 7' 9" (mean)
Speed 13 kts.
Complement 6 officers, 137 enlisted

Armament

one single 5"/38 dual purpose gun mount

two twin 40mm AA gun mounts

four twin 20mm AA gun mounts

ten twin continuous loading 5" SS rocket launchers

four 4.2" mortars

Armor 10-lb. STS on conning station, pilot-house, radio room, radar plot, and rocket control, 10-lb. ASPP around 40 and 20mm gun mounts and directors

Endurance 3,000 miles @ 13kts

Propulsion

two General Motors 16-278A (non-reversing with airflex clutch) Diesel engines, direct drive with 1,440 BHP each @ 720rpm
Ship's Service Generators
four Diesel-drive 100Kw 450V A.C.
two Diesel-drive 20Kw 120V D.C.

twin screws 2,800 shp

Click On Image For Full Size Image	Size	Image Description	Contributed By
USS LSM(R)-501
	88k	Model of *LSM(R)-501* built by Gibbs & Wilcox Co. The model never left the Naval Academy in Annapolis, MD. It is currently on display at Rickover Hall.	USS LSM / LSMR Association
	88k	*LSM(R)-505, LSM(R)-501, LSM(R)-503* and an unidentified LSMR moored in a nest, date and place unknown.	Innocent Hoel to the USS LSM / LSMR Association
Elk River (IX-501)
	90k	Elk River (IX-501) in the at Avondale Shipyards, Inc. while being converted to a Deep Submergence Support Ship, date unknown.	Richard S. Fish to the USS LSM / LSMR Association
	80k	Elk River (IX-501) in drydocked while undergoing conversion to a Deep Submergence Support Ship, date and place unknown.	USS LSM / LSMR Association
	85k	Elk River (IX-501) dockside in 1967, location unknown.	USS LSM / LSMR Association
	27k	Elk River (IX-501) under way, date and location unknown.	Gunter Krebs
	68k	Elk River (IX-501) moored pierside, date and location unknown.	Richard Miller BMCS USNR Ret.
	77k	Overhead view of Elk River (IX-501) underway, off Long Beach, CA., in November 1967 in support of the SEALAB III Project. Note the command and medical vans on her main deck. US Navy photo # NH 43550 from the collections of the US Naval Historical Center.	USS LSM / LSMR Association
	73k	Elk River (IX-501) pierside at Naval Station Long Beach, CA., in November 1967 in support of the SEALAB III Project. Note the command and medical vans on her main deck. The project transfer capsule is on the pier. US Navy photo # K-81513.	USS LSM / LSMR Association
	78k	Elk River (IX-501) in support of the SEALAB III Project off San Clemente Island, CA. A Personnel transfer capsule is lowered into the open well deck of the ship during a certification dive of the Mark II Diving System, November 1967. US Navy photo # K-81530.	USS LSM / LSMR Association
100650116	47k	An artist's impression showing the U.S. Navy *SEALAB III* at a depth of 200 m and the support ship *USS Elk River* (IX-501)*, 1968. U.S. Navy photo from "All Hands" magazine, October 1968, p.6.*	Robert Hurst
	38k	Elk River (IX-501) moored pierside at Naval Air Station North Island, San Diego, CA. in 1993. A Ted Stone photo.	USS LSM / LSMR Association
	101k	Elk River (IX-501) at sea, date and location unknown. US Navy photo.	Robert Hurst
	70k	Elk River (IX-501) moored pierside at Naval Station San Diego in March 1997. Photo by CWO3 Al Tarantino, USN (Ret.)	USS LSM / LSMR Association
	79k	Elk River (IX-501)'s superstructure while moored pierside at Naval Station San Diego in March 1997. Photo by CWO3 Al Tarantino, USN (Ret.)	USS LSM / LSMR Association
	154k	Elk River (IX-501)'s underway, date and location unknown	Tommy Trampp