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NavSource Online: Amphibious Photo Archive

USS LST-202

International Radio Call Sign:
November - Zulu - Echo - Yankee
NZEY

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 (5) - World War II Victory Medal
Bottom Row - Navy Occupation Service Medal (with Asia clasp) - Philippines Presidential Unit Citation - Philippine Liberation Medal (1)

USS LST-202 was manned by the US Coast Guard during World War II

LST-1 Class Tank Landing Ship:

Laid down, 15 July 1942 at the Chicago Bridge & Iron Co., Seneca, IL;

Launched, 16 March 1943;

Commissioned USS LST 202, 9 April 1943, LT Benjamin Ayesa, USCGR, in command

During World War II USS LST-202 was assigned to the Asiatic-Pacific Theater:
LST Flotilla Seven;
LST Group Twenty-One;
LST Division Forty-Two and participated in the following campaigns:

Campaign and Dates	Campaign and Dates
Asiatic-Pacific Campaigns
Bismarck-Archipelago operations Cape Gloucester, New Britain, 26 to 30 December 1943, 3 to 7, 11 to 14, 23 to 27 January, 15 to 10, 21 to 25 February 1944 Admiralty Islands landings, 29 February to 4 March and 7 to 11 March 1944	Western New Guinea operations Toem-Wakde-Sarmi operation, 17 to 18, 21 to 23 May 1944 Noemfoor Island operation, 9 to 14 July 1944 Cape Sansapor operation, 30 July, 2, 4 to 10, 12 to 18, 20 to 26 August 1944 Morotai landings, 15 September 1944
Eastern New Guinea operation Saidor operations, 15 to 17, 19 to 21 January, 4 to 7 February 1944	Leyte operation; Leyte landings, 13 to 27 October 14 to 29 November 1944
Hollandia operations, 21 to 28 April, 1 to 7, 9 to 14 May 1944

Following World War II USS LST-202 was assigned to Occupation service in the Far East from 15 October to 3 November 1945

Decommissioned, 11 April 1946

Struck from the Naval Register, 28 August 1946

USS LST-202 earned five battle stars for World War II service

Final Disposition, sold for scrapping, 16 April 1948, to the Bethlehem Steel Co., Seattle, WA.

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
US Naval History and Heritage Command Photo # USMC 69080	125k	Cape Gloucester Invasion, December 1943. Loading LSTs at Oro Bay, New Guinea, on December 24, 1943, in preparation for the Cape Gloucester landings two days later. Photographed by Brenner. LSTs present include (from left to right): USS LST-202, USS LST-466, USS LST-468, USS LST-475, USS LST-474, and USS LST-18. Note Marines marching by Jeep in foreground. US Naval History and Heritage Command Photo # USMC 69080 and Photo from "A Photographic History of World War 2", Colliers, 1946.	US Naval History and Heritage Command Dan Wilmes
Photo from "A Photographic History of World War 2", Colliers, 1946	315k		US Naval History and Heritage Command Dan Wilmes
	271k	USS LST-204 (background) beached at Cape Gloucester, New Britain as US Army soldiers struggle to off load a jeep through the surf and sand from USS LST-202, 27 December 1943. Photo from "A Photographic History of World War 2", Colliers, 1946	Dan Wilmes
	60k	USS LST-202 and USS LST-204 (background) beached at New Britain, while off loading tanks and other equipment, 27 December 1943. US Coast Guard photo # 3058, from the collections of the US Coast Guard Historian's Office.	Mike Green
	1094k	USS LST-202 (background) and USS LST-204 beached at Cape Gloucester, New Britain, 27 December 1943, as a wounded Marine from the 7th Marine Regiment is carried aboard USS LST-204. US Army Signal Corps photo #SC 186796, 12 May 1944.	Dave Kerr
	98k	US Army troops wading ashore from USS LST-202 on the beach at Cape Gloucester, New Britain in January 1944.	Ron Reeves
	965k	LSTs, including USS LST-466 and USS LST-202, lined up on the beach at Cape Sudest, New Guinea, awaiting loading for the Admiralty Islands action, 12 March 1944. US National Archives photo # III-SC 271517, Box 504, a US Army Signal Corps photo, by T/4 Henry C. Manger, now in the collections of the US National Archives.	Dave Kerr
	80k	USS LST-202 under attack, date and location unknown. US Coast Guard photo from the US Coast Guard Historian's Office.	Mike Green
	1112k	A staff conference aboard USS LST-202 while enroute to the Vogelkop Peninsula at Dutch New Guinea. CDR. R.S. Malven USNR, General Headquarters Observer, BGEN Charles E. Hurtis, CG 6th Div Artillery, COL. Charles H. Swartz, Field Artillery executive officer, 6th Div Artillery, LCDR Thomas N. Kelley, USCGR, CO *LST-202, 30 July 1944. US National Archives photo # III-SC 261034*, a US Army Signal Corps. photo by LT. Schuman, now in the collections of the US National Archives.	Dave Kerr
1016020216	357k	USS LST-202 beached while unloading on the north coast of Dutch New Guinea during the Wakde-Sarmi Operation in May 1944. US National Archives Identifier 205586919, Local Identifier 26-G-2298, US Coast Guard Photo # 2298.	David Upton
	953k	Invasion task force as seen from USS LST-202 in Maffin Bay, Dutch New Guinea, 30 July 1944. US National Archives photo # III-SC 261039, a US Army Signal Corps. photo by, now in the collections of the US National Archives.	Dave Kerr
	848k	Various vehicles; Buffaloes, Ducks, Tractors, and a truck carrying a Piper Cub plane are put ashore from USS LST-202 on Red Beach, at Cape Opmarai, Dutch New Guinea, 30 July 1944. US National Archives photo # III-SC 261053, a US Army Signal Corps. photo by LT. Schuman, now in the collections of the US National Archives.	Dave Kerr
1016020213	527k	Surf's up as USS LST-202 unloads supplies at Cape Gloucester on New Britain Island for American forces of occupation. circa 26 December 1943. US National Archives Identifier 205584302, Local Identifier 26-G-3077, US Coast Guard Photo # 3077, by Schestzer.	David Upton
1016020215	284k	Marines and Coast Guard Sailors push a "jeep" ashore from USS LST-202 at Cape Gloucester, New Britain from USS LST-202 at Cape Gloucester on New Britain Island for American forces of occupation. circa 26 December 1943. US National Archives ID 205584246, Local Identifier 26-G-3063, US Coast Guard Photo # 3063, by Schestzer.	David Upton
1016020214	284k	An M4 Sherman Tank rolls down the ramp of USS LST-202 at Cape Gloucester on New Britain Island, circa 26 December 1943. US National Archives ID 205584249., Local Identifier 26-G-3070., US Coast Guard Photo # 3070, by Schestzer.	David Upton
1016020212	721k	USS LST-202 delivers a big load of supplies to American forces of occupation. The cargo includes everything from army trucks to toothpicks, being delivered at Cape Gloucester on New Britain Island, circa 30 December 1943. (Definitely a different beach than that in photo #1016020213) US National Archives ID 205584228, Local Identifier 26-G-3407, US Coast Guard Photo # 3407, by Schestzer.	David Upton
	360k	USS LST-18, USS LST-245, *LST-202* and USS LST-467 landing troops and material, on the beach at Leyte, P.I., on D-Day 20 October 1944. US Navy photo	Raymond Cvetovich, Ph.D.
	79k	From left to right USS LST-67, USS LST-66, USS LST-18, USS LST-245, and USS LST-202 landing troops and material on the beach at Leyte, P.I., D-Day 20 October 1944. from the US Coast Guard Magazine "The Coast Guard and the Pacific War".	Don Leal USS LST 67 & USS LST 19
	832k	�An LST Opens Its Jaws�, a painting by Coast Guard Combat Artist John S. Gretzer depicting a tank and an ambulance rolling down the ramp of USS LST-202 and through the shallow surf onto the beach. US Coast Guard photo # 0324441	Robert Smith, Archivist US Navy Memorial

USS LST-202
Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships (DANFS)

Commanding Officers
01	LT. Ayesa, Benjamin USCGR	9 April 1943 - ?
02	LT. Edge, Robert R. USCGR	no dates
03	LCDR. Kelley, Thomas N. USCGR	no dates
04	LT. Gaillard, Harold H. USCGR	no dates
05	LT. Elliot, Robert B. USCGR	? - 11 April 1946


Courtesy US Coast Guard Historian's Office

Crew Contact And Reunion Information
U.S. Navy Memorial Foundation - Navy Log

Additional Resources and Web Sites of Interest
History of LST Flotilla Seven
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

Last Updated 27 August 2021