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NavSource Online: Amphibious Photo Archive

USS LST-240


International Radio Call Sign:
November - Golf - Oscar - November
 NGON
Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons


Precedence of awards is from top to bottom, left to right
Top Row - American Campaign Medal
Bottom Row - Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal (2) - World War II Victory Medal - Navy Occupation Service Medal (with Asia clasp)
LST-1 Class Tank Landing Ship:
  • Laid down, 7 March 1943, at Missouri Valley Bridge and Iron Co., Evansville, IN.
  • Launched, 25 June 1943
  • Commissioned USS LST-240, 27 July 1943, LT. John K. Algeo, USN, in command
  • During World War II USS LST-240 was assigned to the Asiatic-Pacific Theater:
    LST Flotilla Five, CAPT. J.R. Clark;
     LST Group Fourteen, LCDR. K.L. DeForest USNR;
     LST Division Twenty-Eight and participated in the following campaigns:
    Asiatic-Pacific Campaigns
    Campaign and Dates Campaign and Dates
    Marshall Islands operation
    Occupation of Kwajalein and Majuro Atolls, 31 January to 8 February 1944
    Occupation of Eniwetok Atoll, 17 February to 2 March 1944     		Marianas Islands operation
    Capture and Occupation of Saipan, 15 June to 3 July 1944

  • Following World War II USS LST-240 was assigned to Occupation service in the Far East from 4 to 24 September 1945
  • Decommissioned, 3 May 1946
  • Struck from the Naval Register, 23 June 1947
  • USS LST-240 earned two battle stars for World War II service
  • Final Disposition, sold for scrapping, 1 June 1948, to Sun Shipbuilding and Drydock Co., Chester, PA.
    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 Source
    LST-240
    1016024003    		 234k A truck is loaded aboard USS LST-240 in the harbor at Ella Island, Tarawa, Gilbert Island Group, to be transferred to the new 7th Bomber Command headquarters on Kwajalein, Marshall Islands, 27 January 1944.
    US National Archives Identifier 193851864, US Army Air Corps photo # A634i7A.C.    		 David Upton
    LST-240
    1016024005    		 215k A loaded truck backing into USS LST-240, which moved the 7th Bomber Command Headquarters personnel and equipment from Tarawa to Kwajalein, 28 March 1944.
    US National Archives Identifier 193851855, US Army Air Corps photo # B51052A.C.    		 David Upton
    LST-240
    1016024004    		 219k A bulldozer is attempting to push the loaded USS LST-240 off the reef at Tarawa, Gilbert Islands. She was stuck all day and was unable to break free until the next morning, 28 March 1944.
    US National Archives Identifier 193851269, US Army Air Corps photo # 51055A.C.    		 David Upton
    LST-240
    1016024007    		 215k USS LST-240 arrives at Kwajalein from Tarawa with the 7th Bomber Command Headquarters personnel and equipment to set up a new headquarters, 28 March 1944.
    US National Archives Identifier # 193837112 US Army Air Corps photos #51060A.C.    		 David Upton
    LST-240
    1016024009    		 243k USS LST-128 and USS LST-240 moored at a ramp at Kwajalein, Marshall Islands in April 1944. These two LSTs lifted the 7th Bomber Command Headquarters personnel and equipment from Tarawa in the Gilbert Islands to Kwajalein in the Marshall Islands.
    US National Archives Identifier # 193836369 US Army Air Corps photo #63420A.C.    		 David Upton
    LST-240
    1016024002    		 321k A water distillation unit is unloaded from USS LST-240 at the dock area on Kwajalein, Marshall Islands, 5 April 1944. The equipment was transferred from Tarawa.
    US National Archives Identifier 193836375, US Army Air Corps photo # A63487A.C.    		 David Upton
    LST-240
    1016024006    		 169k USS LST-240 arrives at Kwajalein from Tarawa with the 8th Bomber Command Headquarters personnel and equipment to set up a new headquarters, 6 May 1944.
    US National Archives Identifier # 193837109    		 David Upton
    LST-240
    1016024008    		 268k USS LST-240 offloading the 8th Bomber Command Headquarters personnel and equipment at Kwajalein, 6 May 1944.
    US National Archives Identifier # 193837115    		 David Upton
    LST-240
    1016024001    		 203k Transferring cans of water from USS LST-240 to an Army DUKW alongside at Saipan, Marianas Islands in 1944.
    US Army Signal Corps photo # CPA-44-7203 now in the collections of the US National Archives    		 Jason Post
    USS LST-240
    Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships (DANFS)
    Commanding Officers
    01LT. Algeo, John Kennedy, USN27 July 1943 - 16 January 1944
    02LT. Bedichek, Bachman G., USNR16 January 1944 - 10 May 1944
    03LT. Wells, Kenneth P., USNR10 May 1944 - 13 November 1944
    04LT. Morgan, Daniel Hughe, USN13 November 1944 - 3 May 1946
    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 by David W. Almond and maintained by Gary P. Priolo
    All pages copyright NavSource Naval History
    Last Updated 16 April 2021