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NavSource Online: Amphibious Photo Archive

Lost to enemy action, 7 December 1944

USS LSM-318


International Radio Call Sign:
November - Victor - Juliet - Whiskey

NVJW
Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons


Precedence of awards is from top to bottom, left to right
Top Row - Combat Action Ribbon (retroactive, Ormoc Bay, 7 Dec. 1944) - American Campaign Medal - Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal (1)
Bottom Row - World War II Victory Medal - Philippines Presidential Unit Citation - Philippines Liberation Medal (1)

Individual Awards

Purple Hearts (7 December 1944, Ormoc Bay, (4-KIA, Chester R. Smith SM3/c, Joe R. Baeta MoMM2/c, Robert R Harms, F1/c, Lloyd C, Russell SC1/c)
LSM-1 Class Landing Ship Medium:
  • Laid down in April 1944 at Pullman Standard Car Manufacturing Company, Chicago, IL.
  • Launched in June 1944
  • Commissioned USS LSM-318, 3 August 1944, LT. Perry W. Rairden, Jr., USN in command
  • During World War II USS LSM-318 was assigned to the Asiatic-Pacific Theater and participated in the following campaign:

    Asiatic-Pacific Campaign
    Campaign and Dates
    Leyte operation
    Leyte landings, 19 to 29 November 1944
    Ormoc Bay landings, 7 December 1944

  • While departing from Ormoc, 7 December 1944, USS LSM-318 was hit by a Japanese Kamikaze suicide plane, set afire and sunk
  • USS LSM-318 earned one battle star for World War II service
  • Struck from the Naval Register, date unknown
    Specifications:
    Displacement 520 t.(light), 743 t. (landing) 1,095 t.(fully loaded)
    Length 203' 6" (ovl)
    Beam 34' 6"
    Draft
    light, 3' 6" forward, 7' 8" aft
    fully loaded, 6' 4" forward, 8' 3" aft
    Speed 13.2 kts. (max.), (928 tons displacement)
    Complement
    5 officers
    54 enlisted
    Armament
    one twin bow mounted 40mm gun
    four single 20mm gun mounts
    Vehicle/Boat Capacity 5 medium or 3 heavy tanks, or 6 LVT's, or 9 DUKW's
    Fuel Capacity
    Diesel 1,225 Bbls
    Troop Accommodations
    2 officers
    46 enlisted
    Armor 10-lb. STS splinter shield to gun mounts, pilot house and conning station
    Endurance 4,900 miles @ 12kts.(928 tons displacement)
    Propulsion
    two Fairbanks Morse (model 38D81/8X10, reversible with hydraulic clutch) Diesel engines, direct drive with 1,440 BHP each @ 720rpm
    Ship's Service Generators
    two Diesel-drive 100Kw 450V A.C.
    one Diesel-drive 20Kw 120V D.C.
    twin propellers, 2,800shp

    Click On Image
    For Full Size Image
    Size Image Description Contributed
    By
    LCM-258
    101425814
    244k LSMs including USS LSM-258 and USS LSM-318 carrying the 2nd wave of the US Army 77th Division moving into a beach near Ormoc, Leyte Island, Philippine Islands, 7 December 1944.
    US National Archives Identifier 80662843 - US Army Signal Corps photo # 199456
    David Upton
    LSM-318 59k USS LSM-318 on fire and sinking at Ormoc Bay, Philippine Islands, 7 December 1944, after being struck by a Japanese Kamikaze Plane. James Cimpl to the USS LSM / LSMR Association
    LSM-318 59k Illustrated story of the attack and sinking of USS LSM-318 during the Leyte Gulf operation in an article from the "Pullman-Standard Log Calumet" Harbor Shipyard newspaper, Vol. 3 No. 4, February 16 1945 Tommy Trampp

    The history extract for USS LSM-318 is from LSM-LSMR Amphibious Forces, Vol. II. Paducah, Kentucky: Turner Publishing Company, © 1997. (ISBN 1-56311-389-9).
    Commanding Officer
    01LT. Rairden Jr., Perey Wallace, USN3 August 1944 - 7 December 1944
    Courtesy Wolfgang Hechler

    Crew Contact And Reunion Information
    U.S. Navy Memorial Foundation - Navy Log

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    Last Updated 31 May 2024