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NavSource Online: Amphibious Photo Archive

USS LST-696

International Radio Call Sign:
November - Foxtrot - Oscar - Quebec>
NFOQ

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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 (3) - World War II Victory Medal
Bottom Row - Navy Occupation Service Medal (with Asia clasp) - Philippines Presidential Unit Citation - Philippines Liberation Medal (2)

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During World War II LST-696 was assigned to the Asiatic-Pacific Theater:
LST Flotilla Eight, CAPT E. Watts, USN;
LST Group Twenty-Three, CDR. T.C. Linthicum, USN;
LST Division Forty-Six and participated in the following campaigns:

Asiatic-Pacific Campaigns
Campaign and Dates	Campaign and Dates
Western New Guinea operations Morotai landings, 15 September 1944	Luzon operation Lingayen Gulf landings, 4 to 18 January 1945
Leyte operation Leyte landings, 5 to 18 November 1944

Following World War II USS LST-696 was assigned to Occupation service in the Far East for the following periods:

Navy Occupation Service Medal
23 September to 25 November 1945
25 January to 14 February 1946
4 to 11 March 1946 1946
26 March to 23 April 1946

Final Disposition, sold for scrapping, 19 May 1948, to Bethlehem Steel Co., Bethlehem, PA.

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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

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Click On Image For Full Size Image	Size	Image Description		Source
	203k	USS LST-696 officers, 1 September 1945, location unknown. Photo courtesy of John Hendrickson.		Robert Hurst
	317k	USS LST-696 beached alongside USS LST-751, date and location unknown. Photo by George Calvert, S1/c LST-696, courtesy of R P Calvert.		Robert Hurst
	93k	USS LST-696 under way, circa 1945, location unknown. US Naval History and Heritage Command Photo # NH 84865. Courtesy of William H. Davis, 1976.		US Naval History and Heritage Command

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USS LST-696
Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships (DANFS)

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Commanding Officers
01	LT. Hayward, George Amos, USNR	26 May 1944 - 15 December 1945
02	LT. Wertheimer, Joel L., USNR	15 December 1945 - 11 February 1946
03	LTjg. Hollingsworth Jr., Louis Robert, USNR	11 February 1946 - 3 May 1946
04	LTjg. Hendrickson Jr., John Hunt, USNR	3 May 1946 - 21 May 1946
05	LTjg. Berman, Max, USNR	21 May 1946 - June 1946
06	LTjg. Meredith, Gordon D., USNR	June 1946 - 16 July 1946

Courtesy Wolfgang Hechler and Ron Reeves

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

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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

Last Updated 24 December 2020