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NavSource Online: Amphibious Photo Archive

USS LST-817

International Radio Call Sign:
November - Hotel - Echo - Delta
NHED

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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
Bottom Row - Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal (1) - World War II Victory Medal - Navy Occupation Service Medal (with Asia clasp)

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During World War II USS LST-817 was assigned to the Asiatic-Pacific Theater:
LST Flotilla Twenty-Five, CAPT. H.E. Richter USN (24);
LST Group Seventy-Four, CDR. J.G. Farnsworth;
LST Division One Hundred Forty-Seven and participated in the following campaign:

Asiatic-Pacific Campaign
Campaign and Dates
Okinawa Gunto operation Assault and occupation of Okinawa Gunto, 2 April to 18 June 1945

Following World War II USS LST-817 was assigned to Occupation service in the Far East for the following periods:

Navy Occupation Service Medal
20 September to 10 October 1945
25 October to 5 November 1945

Final Disposition, sold for scrapping, 25 May 1948, to Basalt Rock Co., Inc., Napa, CA.

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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
	66k	USS LST-817 loading out at Navy Base Seattle, circa 3 February 1945, prior to departing for the upcoming invasion of Okinawa. US Army Signal Corps photos now in the collections of the Seattle NARA.		Tracy White
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	64k
	89k
	29k	USS LST-817 prior to the invasion at Okinawa		Maynard A. Altizer for his father David H. Altizer S1/c USS LST-817
	38k	USS LST-817's crew watching gunnery practice, date and location unknown.		Maynard A. Altizer for his father David H. Altizer S1/c USS LST-817
	39k	USS LST-817 approaching Okinawa the evening before D-Day, looking forward over the main deck loaded with equipment for the invasion forces.		Maynard A. Altizer for his father David H. Altizer S1/c USS LST-817
	25k	USS LST-817 and USS LST-811 on the beach at Okinawa, date unknown.		Maynard A. Altizer for his father David H. Altizer S1/c USS LST-817
	27k	USS LST-817 on the beach at Okinawa on D-Day+2.		Maynard A. Altizer for his father David H. Altizer S1/c USS LST-817
	27k	USS LST-817 on the beach at Okinawa on D-Day+5, during an enemy air attack.		Maynard A. Altizer for his father David H. Altizer S1/c USS LST-817
	29k	Army troops on the main deck of USS LST-817 while in transit from Iwo Jima to Okinawa, date unknown.		Maynard A. Altizer for his father David H. Altizer S1/c USS LST-817
	27k	USS LST-817 engine room, date unknown.		Maynard A. Altizer for his father David H. Altizer S1/c USS LST-817
	32k	One of USS LST-817's LCVP's in the davits, date and location unknown.		Maynard A. Altizer for his father David H. Altizer S1/c USS LST-817
	25k	USS LST-817 after the war, date and location unknown.		Maynard A. Altizer for his father David H. Altizer S1/c USS LST-817
	190k	YG-33 taking on rubbish from USS LST-817 and USS LST-726 at Apra Harbor, Guam, 1945. US National Archives photo 80-G-353157 a US Navy photo now in the collections of the US National Archives.		Mike Green

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USS LST-817
Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships (DANFS)

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Commanding Officers
01	LT. McInnes, Robert K., USNR	7 November 1944 - March 1946
02	LTjg. Degges Jr., James E., USNR	March 1946 - June 1946
03	LTjg. Scott, J. A., USNR	June 1946 - August 1946
04	LTjg. Earl, Howard Douglas, USN (USNA 1945)	August 1946 - 31 January 1947

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
Action Report - Landing of Occupation Forces, Nagasaki Japan, September 1945
The USS LST Ship Memorial
LST Home Port
State LST Chapters
United States LST Association

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This page is created and maintained by Gary P. Priolo

Last Updated 15 February 2019