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NavSource Online: Amphibious Photo Archive

USS Gibson County (LST-794)
ex
USS LST-794 (1944 - 1955)

International Radio Call Sign:
November - Golf - Zulu - Golf
NGZG

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Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons


Precedence of awards is from top to bottom, left to right
Top Row - China Service Medal (extended) - American Campaign Medal
Bottom Row - Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal (1) - World War II Victory Medal - Navy Occupation Service Medal (with Asia clasp)

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USS LST-794 was manned by the US Coast Guard during World War II

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During World War II USS LST-794 was assigned to the Asiatic-Pacific Theater:
LST Flotilla Twenty-Nine, CAPT. C. H. Peterson USCG (25);
LST Group Eighty-Seven, CDR. E. Anderson USCG;
LST Division One Hundred-Seventy-Three and participated in the following campaign:

Asiatic-Pacific Campaign
Campaign and Dates
Okinawa Gunto operation Assault and occupation of Okinawa Gunto, 1 April to 29 June 1945

Following World War II USS LST-794 was assigned to Occupation and China service in the Far East for the following periods:

Navy Occupation Service Medal	China Service Medal (extended)
2 September to 16 December 1945	2 September to 16 December 1945

Struck from the Naval Register, 1 November 1958

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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		Contributed By
1016079409	55k	LST-794 launching, 16 September 1944, Dravo Corp., Pittsburgh, PA. Dravo Corp. photo from USS LST Ship Memorial, Inc. LST Shipyard Collection		Tommy Trampp
	65k	USS LST-794 at anchor with LCT-1392 secured to her main deck, date and location unknown. USS LST-794 transported the LCT from New Orleans and launched the landing craft at Okinawa on 2 April 1945.		Steve McMinn
	49k	Starboard bow view of USS LST-794 with LCT-1392 secured to her main deck, date and location unknown.		Steve McMinn
	74k	USS LST-794 underway in heavy seas, probably enroute to the Pacific combat area with LCT-1392 secured to her main deck.		Russ Padden
	85k	USS LST-794 crew offloading 5" ammo cannisters from LCT-1392 prior to launching her at Iwo Jima. This ammo was later used to resupply destroyers on picket duty off Okinawa.		Steve McMinn
	89k	USS LST-794 beached with bow doors open, date and location unknown.		LST-794 web site
	63k	USS LST-794 stern view, date and location unknown.		LST-794 web site
	42k	USS LST-794 beached with bow doors open, date and location unknown.		LST-794 web site
	68k	USS LST-794 beached off-loading tanks, date and location unknown.		LST-794 web site
	85k	From front to back, USS LST-796, USS LST-794, USS LST-843, unidentified LST, and USS LST-1030 beached, date and location unknown while disembarking troops.
	82k	USS LST-794, under way in San Francisco Bay, circa late 1945, location unknown. US Naval History and Heritage Command Photo #NH 83642. Courtesy of D. M. McPherson, 1975.		Mike Smolinski

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USS LST-794 / USS Gibson County (LST-794)
Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships (DANFS)

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Commanding Officers
01	LT. Cain, William C., USCGR	16 October 1944 - 1945
02	LT. Gross Jr., George C, USCGR	1945 - 20 February 1946
03	LTjg. Goodman, George E., USCGR	20 February 1946 - 27 March 1946
04	LTjg. David Clifford C., USNR	27 March 1946 - 2 June 1946
05	LTjg. Kempton, Robert S., USNR	2 June 1946 - 9 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
Welcome to the U.S.S. LST 794
LST Home Port
State LST Chapters
United States LST Association

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Last Updated 29 January 2021