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NavSource Online: Amphibious Photo Archive

USS LST-481


International Radio Call Sign:
November - Golf - Quebec - Whiskey
 NGQW
Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons


Precedence of awards is from top to bottom, left to right
Top Row - Combat Action Ribbon (retroactive, Iwo Jima, Guam, Okinawa) - American Campaign Medal
Bottom Row - Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal (6) - World War II Victory Medal - Navy Occupation Service Medal (with Asia clasp)
Personnel Awards

Purple Hearts, (1 KIA, George Davis SC/3, 11 WIA)
LST-1 Class Tank Landing Ship:
  • Laid down, 4 September 1942, at Kaiser, Inc., Richmond, CA.
  • Launched, 2 December 1942
  • Commissioned USS LST 481, 15 May 1943, LT. George McGuire USN in command
  • During World War II USS LST-481 was assigned to the Asiatic-Pacific Theater:
    At Adak - LST Flotilla Three;
     LST Group Seven and
    At Guam - LST Flotilla Five;
     LST Group Thirteen, CDR. R. W. Cutler, USNR; / CDR. C. R. Lea, USNR
     LST Division Twenty-Five
     At Okinawa - LST Flotilla Twenty-One;
     LST Group Nine, CDR. S.A. Lief and participated in the following campaigns:

    Asiatic-Pacific Campaigns
    Campaign and Dates Campaign and Dates
    Gilbert Islands operation 12 November 8 December 1943 Marianas operation
    Capture and occupation of Guam, 21 to 28 July 1944
    Marshall Islands operation
    Occupation of Kwajalein and Majuro Atolls, 31 January to 8 February 1944     		Iwo Jima operation
    Assault and occupation of Iwo Jima, 19 to 25 February 1945
    Hollandia operation, 21 to 26 April 1944 Okinawa Gunto operation
    Assault and occupation of Okinawa Gunto, 1 to 10 April 1945

  • Following World War II USS LST-481 was assigned to Occupation service in the Far East for the following periods:

    Navy Occupation Service Medal
    23 to 26 September 1945
    20 October to 15 November 1945

  • Decommissioned, 28 February 1946, at Stockton, CA.
  • Struck from the Naval Register, 12 April 1946
  • USS LST-481 earned six battle stars for World War II service
  • Final Disposition, sold for scrapping, 28 April 1948 to Bethlehem Steel Co., Bethlehem, PA.
    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
    LST-481 1112k USS LST-481 unloading on the beach at Kiska, Alaska, 23 August 1943.
    US National Archives photo # III-SC 182866, Box 187, a US Army Signal Corps. photo now in the collections of the US National Archives.    		 Robert Kerr
    LST-481 72k USS LST-481 moored pierside at Mare Island Navy Yard, CA., 20 May 1943.
    US Navy photo # NH 99567-A from the collections of the US Naval Historical Center.    		 US Naval Historical Center
    LST-481 136k USS LST-481 moored aft of USS LST-485 at Mare Island Navy Yard, CA., 20 May 1943. In the foreground is USS Hovey (DMS-11). White outlines mark recent alterations to Hovey, among them, 20mm guns and minesweeping gear.
    US Navy photo # NH 99567 from the collections of the US Naval History and Heritage Command.    		 Robert Hurst
    LST-481 21k USS LST-481 in the South Pacific with LCT-1350 secured to her main deck. LST Home Port Web Site
    LST-481
    1016048105    		 270k An unidentified LST unloads a truck while beached alongside USS LST-481 during landing operations on Makin Island, Gilbert Islands, 28 November 1943.
    US National Archives Identifier 193851514, US Army Air Corps photo # 63235 AC, now in the collections of the US National Archives    		 David Upton
    LST-241
    1016024102    		 239k USS LST-241 with LCT(6)-1364 loaded on her main deck, USS LST-481 and USS LST-247 beached, 7 February 1945, in Apra Harbor Guam.
    US National Archives Identifier 295395832, COMSERRON 12 War Diary, 2/1-28/45 page 18.    		 David Upton
    USS LST-481
    Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships (DANFS)
    Commanding Officers
    01LT. McGuire, George, USN15 May 1943 - August 1944
    02LT. Bundy, William Harold, USNAugust 1944 - January 1945
    03LTjg. Boyer, William L., USNRJanuary 1945 - 24 August 1945
    04LTjg. Lowery, Fred B., USNR24 August 1945 - 20 November 1945
    05LTjg. Nichols, Harold L., USNR20 November 1945 - 28 February 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
    The USS LST 481
    History of LST Flotilla Seven
    Action Report - Landing of Occupation Forces, Nagasaki Japan, September 1945
    LST Home Port
    State LST Chapters
    United States LST Association
    Commander LST Group Nine (CTU 55.3.5), Letter of Commendation recommendation for LT. William L. Boyer, USNR
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    This page is created and maintained by Gary P. Priolo
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    Last Updated 12 November 2021