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NavSource Online: Amphibious Photo Archive

USS LST-565


International Radio Call Sign:
November - Echo - Whiskey - Bravo
 NEWB
Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons



Precedence of awards is from top to bottom, left to right
Top Row - China Service Medal (extended)
Second Row - American Campaign Medal - Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal (4) - World War II Victory Medal
Third Row - Navy Occupation Service Medal (with Asia clasp) - Philippines Presidential Unit Citation - Philippines Liberation Medal (2)
LST-542 Class Tank Landing Ship:
  • Laid down, 16 March 1944 at Missouri Valley Bridge & Iron Co., Evansville, IN.
  • Launched, 8 May 1944
  • Commissioned USS LST-565, 25 May 1944, LT. John S. Meddaugh, USNR, in command
  • During World War II USS LST-565 was assigned to the Asiatic-Pacific Theater and participated in the following campaigns:

    Asiatic-Pacific Campaign
    Campaign and Dates Campaign and Dates
    Leyte operation
    Leyte landings, 20 October 1944     		Manila Bay - Bicol operations
    Zambales-Subic Bay, 29 to 30 January 1945
    Luzon operation Mindoro landings, 12 to 18 December 1944 Okinawa Gunto operation
    Assault and occupation of Okinawa Gunto, 2 to 10 May 1945

  • For the Okinawa Gunto operation USS LST-565 was assigned to:
    LST Flotilla Fourteen, CAPT. E. Seay (24) USN;
     LST Group Forty-One, CDR. E. C. Parsons USNR;
     LST Division Eighty-Two
  • Following World War II USS LST-565 was assigned to Occupation and China service in the Far East for the following periods:

    Navy Occupation Service Medal
    China Service Medal (extended)
    20 September to 2 October 194511 March to 21 May 1946
    20 October to 14 November 1945 

  • Decommissioned, 13 June 1946
  • Struck from the Naval Register, 3 July 1946
  • USS LST-565 earned four battle stars for World War II service
  • Final Disposition, sold for scrapping, 21 June 1948
    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
    LST-565
    101656501    		 265k Three Coast Guardsmen, silhouetted at the stern of a Coast-Guard manned LST watch the convoy of LSTs including USS LST-565 and USS LST-605 making there way to Morotai in the Halmaheras. The convoy was part of General MacArthur's array of sea strength which stormed and captured Morotai." Note: LST-565 and LST-605 were not involved in the invasion of Morotai. They were a part of Flotilla Sixteen and were four days out of Pearl Harbor when the landings at Morotai began, 15 September 1944, and left Manus Island in Admiralty Islands, 11 October1944, eight days after the fighting ended.
    National Archives war diaries and ships muster rolls, National Archives Identifier 205586182. Local Identifier 26-G-2925, US Coast Guard photo # 2925.
    US National Archives WAR & CONFLICT BOOK #: 1162, Location: MOROTAI, HALMAHERAS INDONESIA (IDN)>i>    		 Joe Radigan, MACM USN Ret and David Upton
    USS LST-565
    Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships (DANFS)
    Commanding Officers
    01LT. Meddaugh, John S., USNR25 May 1944 - June 1945
    02LT. Meinschein, W. G., USNRJune 1945 - August 1945
    03LT. Gilsdorf, A. G., USNRAugust 1945 - December 1945
    04LTjg. MacKenzie, D. K., USNRDecember 1945 - March 1946
    05LTjg. McKee, Hugh, USNRMarch 1946 - 13 June 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 Homeport
    State LST Chapters
    United States LST Association
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    This page is created and maintained by Gary P. Priolo
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    Last Updated 16 July 2021