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NavSource Online: Amphibious Photo Archive

USS Curry County (LST-685)
ex
 USS LST-685 (1944 - 1955)


International Radio Call Sign:
November - Foxtrot - Mike - Romeo
 NFMR
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 - World War II Victory Medal - Navy Occupation Medal (with Asia Clasp)
LST-542 Class Tank Landing Ship:
  • Laid down, 21 December 1943, at Jeffersonville Boat and Machine Co., Jeffersonville, IN.
  • Launched, 18 February 1944
  • Commissioned USS LST-685, 7 April 1944, LT. Berens A. Nelson, USNR in command
  • During World War II LST-685 was assigned to the Asiatic-Pacific Theater:
    LST Flotilla Thirty-Seven, CAPT. Riley;
     LST Group One Hundred Eleven LCDR. A. H. Tutt;
     LST Division Two Hundred Twenty-Two
  • Following World War II USS LST-685 was assigned to Occupation service in the Far East from 15 October 1945 to 16 April 1946
  • Decommissioned, 22 July 1946
  • Placed in service, 13 January 1947, for Naval Reserve training out of Tompkinsville, N.Y
  • Inactived, 2 June 1950, at Green Cove Springs, FL.
  • Named Curry County (LST-685), 1 July 1955
  • Struck from the Naval Register, 1 November 1958
  • Sold for foreign merchant service
    In the 1959 issue of the "La Marina Mercante Argentina" edited by Instituto de Estudios de la Marina Mercante
    Argentina LST 685 is listed as Sulmar owned by Navemar S. A., Argentina. Signal (L Q M M)
    Official N. 4590 working between Argentine and Brazilian ports.
  • Final Disposition, fate unknown
    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 Source
    LCI(FF)-532 83k USS LC(FF)-532 moored alongside USS LST-685 in the harbor at Sasebo, Japan, while engaged in Occupation service, circa February-April 1946. Photos by Vernon Yeck USS LC(FF)-532 submitted by his daughter, Wendy (Yeck) Clark.
    LCI(FF)-532 50k
    Curry County 96k USS LST-685 underway in San Francisco Bay, circa early 1946.
    US Naval History and Heritage Command Photo # NH 79020, courtesy of Donald M. McPherson, 1974.    		 Mike Smolinski
    USS LST-685 / USS Curry County (LST-685)
    Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships (DANFS)
    Commanding Officers
    01LT. Nelson A. Berens, USNR7 April 1944 - 28 August 1945
    02LT. Wagner, Frederick E., USNR28 August 1945 - 8 November 1945
    03LTjg. Beebe, Phillip E., USNR8 November 1945 - June 1946
    04LTjg. Schofield, Wesley L., USNRJune 1946 - 22 July 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
    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 by David W. Almond and maintained by Gary P. Priolo
    All pages copyright NavSource Naval History
    Last Updated 17 January 2020