Please report any broken links or trouble you might come across to the Webmaster. Please take a moment to let us know so that we can correct any problems and make your visit as enjoyable and as informative as possible.

NavSource Online: Amphibious Photo Archive

USS LST-801


International Radio Call Sign:
November - Hotel - Alpha - Hotel
 NHAH
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 (1) - World War II Victory Medal - Navy Occupation Service Medal (with Asia clasp)

USS LST-801 was sold to Argentina and named ARA Cabo Buen Tiempo (BDT-13)
542-Class Tank Landing Ship:
  • Laid down, 6 September 1944, at Jeffersonville Boat and Machine Co., Jeffersonville IN.
  • Launched, 14 October 1944
  • Commissioned USS LST-801, 8 November 1944, LT. Herbert G. Whitehead, USNR, in command
  • During World War II USS LST-801 was assigned to the Asiatic-Pacific Theater:
    LST Flotilla Twenty-Five, CAPT. H.E. Richter USN (24);
     LST Group Seventy-Five, CDR. G. W. Stringer USN (28);
     LST Division One Hundred Fifty and participated in the following campaign:

    Asiatic-Pacific Campaigns
    Campaign and Dates
    Okinawa Gunto operation
    Assault and occupation of Okinawa Gunto, 26 March to 30 June 1945

  • Following World War II USS LST-801 was assigned to Occupation service in the Far East for the following periods:

    Navy Occupation Service Medal
    9 to 25 September 1945
    19 December 1945 to 1 January 1946
    11 January to 14 February 1946
    4 to 10 March 1946

  • Decommissioned, 18 July 1946
  • Struck from the Naval Register, 18 August 1946
  • USS LST-801 earned one battle star for World War II service
  • Sold, 29 December 1947, to Pablo N. Ferrari & Co. and named Don Antonio
  • Resold in 1947 to the government of Argentina and designated ARA BDT No.5
  • Named ARA Cabo Buen Tiempo (BDT-13) in 1963
  • Final Disposition, disposed of by the Argentine Navy in 1969, 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 Contributed
    By
    USS LST-801
    LST-78/244/801 56k USS LST-801 outboard of USS LST-78. Both LSTs are secured to the starboard side of an unidentified water tanker. To the port side of the tanker is USS LST-244. Photo circa 1945, possibly taken at Tinian or Saipan Photo by LTjg. (E) Jack D. Curlee,
    Engineering Officer LST-78
    LST-801 159k USS LST-801 homeward bound entering San Francisco Bay, circa July 1946.
    US Naval History and Heritage Command photo # NH 82168    		 US Naval History and Heritage Command
    ARA BDT-5 (later ARA Cabo Buen Tiempo (BDT-13)
    LST-801
    1016080102    		 86k ARA BDT-5 underway, date and location unknown.
    Histarmar     		Robert Hurst
    USS LST-801
    Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships (DANFS)
    Commanding Officers
    01LT. Whitehead, Herbert G., USNR8 November 1944 - December 1945
    02LTjg. Lewis, Leon Garfield, USNRDecember 1945 4 June 1946
    03LTjg. Roth Jr., Paul E., USNR4 June 1946 - 18 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
    Comments, Suggestions, E-mail Webmaster.
    This page is created and maintained by Gary P. Priolo
    All pages copyright NavSource Naval History
    Last Updated 6 January 2023