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NavSource Online: Amphibious Photo Archive

USS LST-826


International Radio Call Sign:
November - Hotel - Lima - Oscar
 NHLO
Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons


Precedence of awards is top to bottom, from 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)
LST-542 Class Tank Landing Ship:
  • Laid down, 6 October 1944, at Missouri Valley Bridge & Iron Co., Evansville, IN.
  • Launched, 14 November 1944
  • Commissioned USS-LST-826, 7 December 1944, LT. John G. Mahler USNR in command
  • During World War II USS LST-826 was assigned to the Asiatic-Pacific Theater:
    LST Flotilla Twenty-Three, CAPT. W.W. Weeden Jr. USN;
     LST Group Sixty-Eight, CDR. G. H. Dana USN (20);
     LST Div One Hundred Thirty-Seven and participated in the following campaign:

    Asiatic-Pacific Campaign
    Campaign and Dates
    Okinawa Gunto operation
    Assault and occupation of Okinawa Gunto, 1 May to 7 June 1945

  • Following World War II USS LST-826 was assigned to Occupation service from 2 September to 3 December 1945
  • Grounded at Okinawa, declared to be beyond economical salvage, 9 October 1945
  • Decommissioned, 3 December 1945
  • Struck from the Naval Register, 3 January 1946
  • USS LST-826 earned one battle star for World War II service
  • Final Disposition, sold in May or November 1947, to the Oklahoma-Philippines Co., for scrapping
    In November 1945 CNO directed that the hulk be sunk or destroyed, but this was not done and she became one of around
    15 Okinawa typhoon wrecks that were finally sold for scrap in two batches in May and November 1947 by the State Department's Foreign Liquidations Commission. USS LST-826 and a sister, USS LST-823, along with USS Nestor (ARB-6), three floating docks and some smaller craft, were included in the May batch and were purchased by the Oklahoma-Philippines Co. in what was referred to as the "Berry sale." The date of her scrapping is not known.
  • USS LST-826 earned one battle star for World War II service
    Specifications:
    Displacement
    1,625 t.(lt)
    4,080 t.(fl) (sea-going draft w/1675 ton load)
    2,366 t.
    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
    LST-826 95k USS LST-826 moored, date and location unknown. Howard Longstreth for his father Howard R. Longstreth Sr. F1/c, USS LST-826
    LST-826 71k USS LST-826 at anchor off Okinawa, with LCT-1423 lashed to her main deck, 1945. Howard Longstreth for his father Howard R. Longstreth Sr. F1/c, USS LST-826
    LST-826 49k USS LST-826 at anchor off Okinawa, with LCT-1423 lashed to her main deck, 1945. Howard Longstreth for his father Howard R. Longstreth Sr. F1/c, USS LST-826
    LST-826 80k USS LST-826 off Okinawa in 1945.
    Photo by James Rowan EM3, USS PCER-855     		Rick Rowan
    LST-826 61k USS LST-826 at anchor off Okinawa. Smoke pots on the stern of LCVPs were used to draw a protective screen around U.S. ships at anchor.
    US Navy photo from "All Hands" Magazine, August 1945 issue.    		 Joe Radigan MACM USN Ret.
    LST-826 77k USS LST-826 moored, date and location unknown. Howard Longstreth for his father Howard R. Longstreth Sr. F1/c, USS LST-826
    LST-926 60k USS LST-926 center, USS LST-598 at left. and USS LST-826 at right beached, in the South Pacific, circa 1944-45. Tom Smith
    LST-926 53k USS LST-926 center, USS LST-598 at left. and USS LST-826 at right beached, in the South Pacific, circa 1944-45. Tom Smith
    LST-926 42k USS LST-926 center, USS LST-598 at left. and USS LST-826 at right beached, in the South Pacific, circa 1944-45. Tom Smith
    LST-826 75k USS LST-826 at Okinawa 7 November 1945 after being grounded by Typhoon "Louise" on 9 October 1945.
    US Navy photo    		 Howard Longstreth for his father Howard R. Longstreth Sr. F1/c, USS LST-826
    YP-520 87k Wrecks in Buckner Bay, Okinawa, November 1945
    Photographed about a month after Typhoon Louise ravaged that port in October 1945. The vessel in the center of the photograph is USS YP-520, originally the tuna clipper Conte Grande. To the right is USS Cinnabar (IX-163), a concrete-hulled stores issue barge. Above Cinnabar is the after portion of USS LST-826, and in the distance beyond USS YP-520 are YF-606 (on the left) and YF-626.
    US Navy photo # NH 105659 from the collections of the US Naval History and Heritage Command, collection of Dr. Richard Raymond Gratton (1915-1990), donated by his daughter, Barbara Gratton Stillwater, 2008.     		Marc Levine
    LST-826 151k USS LST-826 beached, stern-first, in Buckner Bay, Okinawa, after Typhoon Louise ravaged that port in October 1945. Photographed circa late October 1945. Considered beyond economical salvage, this ship was stricken from the Naval Register in January 1946 and sold in May 1947.
    US Naval History and Heritage Command, Photo No. NH 101693. Courtesy of Dr. Herbert F. Gabriel, DDS, 1987.    		 Mike Green
    USS LST-826
    Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships (DANFS)
    Commanding Officers
    01LT. Mahler, John G., USNR7 December 1944 - 3 December 1945
    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
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    This page is created and maintained by Gary P. Priolo
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    Last Updated 10 March 2017