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NavSource Online: Amphibious Photo Archive

USNS T-LST-117
ex
 USS LST(H)-117 (1945 - 1952)
 USS LST-117 (1943 - 1945)


International Radio Call Sign:
November - Golf - Yankee - Sierra
 NGYS
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) - World War II Victory Medal
Bottom Row - Navy Occupation Service Medal (with Asia clasp) - Philippines Presidential Unit Citation - Philippines Liberation Medal (1)

USNS T-LST-117 was transferred to the Republic of Singapore
LST-1 Class Tank Landing Ship:
  • Laid down, 28 April 1943, at Jeffersonville Boat & Machine Co., Jeffersonville, IN.
  • Launched, 10 July 1943
  • Commissioned USS LST-117, 27 August 1943, LT. Stanley Pras, USN, in command
  • During World War II USS LST-117 was assigned to the Asiatic-Pacific Theater:
    LST Flotilla Five CAPT. G.B. Carter, USN;
     LST Group Fifteen CDR. V. K. Busck, USN;
     LST Division Seventy-Nine and
    LST Group Eight;
     LST Division Fifteen and participated in the following campaigns:

    Asiatic-Pacific Campaigns
    Campaign and Dates Campaign and Dates
    Marianas operation
    Capture and occupation of Guam, 21 to 28 July 1944     		Leyte operation
    Leyte landings, 20 October 1944

  • USS LST-117 was redesignated Landing Ship Tank (Hospital) LST(H)-117, 15 September 1945
  • Following World War II USS LST(H)-117 was assigned to Occupation service in the Far East from 26 October 1945 to 16 February 1946
  • Decommissioned, 16 February 1946 and laid up in reserve
  • Reverted to LST-117, 6 March 1952
  • Withdrawn from reserve and placed in service by the Military Sea Transportation Service (MSTS) as USNS T-LST-117, 31 March 1952
  • Loaned to Commander Naval Forces Far East (COMNAVFE) Shipping Control Authority for Japan (SCAJAP), date unknown, redesignated Q063
  • Returned to the Military Sealift Command, date unknown
  • Placed out of service, date unknown
  • Struck from the Naval Register, 10 June 1973
  • USS LST-117 earned two battle stars for World War II service
  • Transferred to the Republic of Singapore in 1973
  • Final Disposition, fate unknown
    Specifications:
    Displacement
    1,625 t.(lt)
    4,080 t.(fl) (sea-going draft w/1675 ton load)
    2,366 t.
    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-117
    LST-39
    1016003910
    NA 193853603    		 233k LSTs, including USS LST-117 and USS LST-39, beached at an advanced base in the Solomon Islands where they are loading the equipment of the US Army 12th Detachment, 20th Army Airways Communications System for transport to "Square Peg", the code name for the Green Islands, February 1944. Note the barrage balloons which will be part of the protection of the convoy as they proceed to the Green Islands.
    US National Archives Identifier # 193853603, US Army Air Corps photo # 67769A.C., and US National Archives Identifier # 193853606, US Army Air Corps photo # B-67769A.C.,    		 David Upton
    LST-39
    1016003912
    NA 193853606    		 217k
    LST 117 37k USS LST-117 at anchor off Saipan, Marianas Islands, date unknown. Photo by John H. Kellers GM3/c USS LCT-539
    LST 117 154k USS LST-117 at anchor possibly off Guadalcanal, date unknown.
    US National Archives photos.    		 Carl Vensel,for his father Donald Vensel and his twin brother Robert USS LST-117
    LST 117 100k
    LST 970 118k USS LST-117 beached at Leyte, Philippine Islands, after unloading her cargo along with USS LST-970 and USS LST-822, 12 September 1945. LT William (Bill) S. Barnes
    LST-486
    1016048607    		 10,728k From right to left; USS LST-269, USS LST-486, USS LST-270, USS LST-704 and USS LST-117 and three unidentified LSTs (all of LST Flotilla Three) spread along (from the left) Orange Two, Orange One, Blue Two, Blue One beaches of the initial landings on Leyte Island, Philippines. The date is 21 October 1944 between 0914 and 1051 hours. Within the next few hours the Japanese would rain down mortar and artillery fire onto these beaches.hitting LST-486 on main deck between frames 14 and 15, no casualties; LST-269 received two direct mortar hits killing two and wounding three; LST-704 received seven direct hits by mortar and artillery causing much damage and killing two, and wounding twenty-three with two dying later.
    Ref. LST-704 War Diary and COMLSTFLOT3 War Diary, U.S. Army Signal Corps Photo 254880 now in the collections of the US National Archives, Local ID 111-SCA-2857. National Archives ID 80662621.    		 David Upton
    USNS T-LST-117
    LST 117 118k USNS T-LST-117 at anchor off Wellington, N.Z, circa early 1970s. Photo by B.S. Nicoll.
    US Naval History and Heritage Command photo # NH 86196, Courtesy of Donald M. McPherson, 1977    		 US Naval History and Heritage Command
    USS LST-117
    Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships (DANFS)
    Commanding Officers
    01LT. Pras, Stanley, USN27 August 1943 - 23 August 1944
    02LTjg. Sharpe, Wesley L., USNR23 August 1944 - August 1945
    03LTjg. Thaman, Robert S., USNRAugust 1945 - December 1945
    04LTjg. Maschmeyer, Clifford H., USNRDecember 1945 - 16 February 1946
    Courtesy Wolfgang Hechler and Ron Reeves
    Crew Contact And Reunion Information
    U.S. Navy Memorial Foundation - Navy Log

    For more photos and information about USS LST-117 see;
  • LST Flotilla Five War Diary May 1944
  • Action Report LST 117 Tractor Group 53.16 June 17, 1944 & Report of Anti-Aircraft Action by Surface Ship, 17 June 1944
  • LST Flotilla Five War Diary July 1944
  • History of LST Flotilla Seven 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
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    Last Updated 9 June 2023