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USS LCI(R)-72
ex
 USS LCI(L)-72 (1942 - 1945)


International Radio Call Sign:
November - Delta - Bravo - Delta
 NDBD
Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons


Precedence of awards is from top to bottom, left to right
Top Row - Combat Action Ribbon (retroactive) - American Campaign Medal - Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal (8)
Bottom Row - World War II Victory Medal - Philippines Presidential Unit Citation - Philippines Liberation Medal (2)
LCI-1 Class Landing Craft Infantry (Large):
  • Laid down, 15 September 1942, at Consolidated Steel Corp., Orange, TX.
  • Launched, 25 October3 1942
  • Commissioned USS LCI(L)-72, 31 December 1942
  • During World War II USS LCI(L)-72 / LCI(R)-72 was assigned to the Asiatic-Pacific Theater and participated in the following campaigns:

    Asiatic-Pacific Campaigns
    Campaign and Dates Campaign and Dates
    Bismarck Archipelago operation
    Cape Gloucester, New Britain, 26 to 27 December 1943     		Leyte operation
    Leyte landings, 12 October to 29 November 1944
    Eastern New Guinea operation
    Saidor occupation, 2 to 3 January 1944     		Luzon operation
    Lingayen Gulf landing, 4 to 18 January 1945
    Hollandia operation
    Aitape Humboldt Bay-Tanahmerah Bay, 21 to 25 April 1944     		Consolidation and capture of the Southern Philippines
    Palawan Islands landings, 28 February to 3 March 1945
    Visayan Island landings, 18 to 19 March 1945
    Cotabato, Mindanao Island landing, 17 to 23 April 1945
    Western New Guinea operation
    Toem-Wakde-Sarmi area operation, 17 May 1944
    Biak Island operation, 27 to 28 May and 29 May to 1 June 1944
    Morotai landings, 15 September 1944     		Borneo operation
    Tarakan Island operation, 27 April to 5 May 1945

  • USS LCI(L)-72 was redesignated Landing Craft Rockets LCI(R)-72, 10 July 1945
  • Decommissioned in 1946
  • Struck from the Naval Register, 26 February 1946
  • USS LCI(L)-72 / LCI(R)-72 received eight battle stars for WWII service
  • Final Disposition, sold 2 December 1946, fate unknown
    Specifications:
    Displacement 216 t.(light), 234 t.(landing); 389 t.(loaded)
    Length 158' 5 1/2"
    Beam 23' 3"
    Draft Light 3'1½" mean, Landing, 2' 8" forward, 4' 10"aft, Loaded, 5' 4" forward 5' 11" aft
    Speed
    16 kts (max.)
    14 kts maximum continuous
    LCI(L) Complement
    3 Officers
    21 Enlisted
    LCI(R) Complement
    3 Officers
    31 Enlisted
    LCI(L) Troop Capacity
    6 Officers
    182 Enlisted
    LCI(L) Cargo Capacity 75 tons
    Armor 2" plastic splinter protection on gun turrets, conning tower and pilot house
    Endurance 4,000 miles at 12 kts, loaded, 500 miles at 15 kts; and 110 tons of fuel
    LCI(L) Armament
    four single 20mm guns one forward, one amidship, two aft
    two .50 cal machine guns
    LCI(R) Armament
    one 40mm bow mounted gun mount
    four 20mm guns
    two .50 cal machine guns
    six 5" rocket launchers
    Fuel Capacity
    Diesel 935 Bbls
    lube oil 200 gal
    Propulsion
    two sets of 4 General Motors 6051 series 71 Diesel engines, 4 per shaft
    single General Motors Main reduction gears
    two Diesel-drive 30Kw 120V D.C. Ship's Service Generators
    twin variable pitch propellers, 2,320shp
    Click On Image
    For Full Size Image    		 Size Image Description Contributed
    By
    LCI(L)-74
    1015007404    		 399k USS LCI(L)-74, USS LCI(L)-72 and USS LCI(L)-71 moored together with other LCIs at Saidor, New Guinea in January 1944.
    Life Magazine. TimeLife_image_116344113 by Myron Davis.    		 David Upton
    LCI(L)-70 857k USS LCI(L)-72, USS LCI(L)-340 and USS LCI(L)-342 beached at Aitape, New Guinea, circa 16 May 1944, while loading men of the 1st Battalion 163rd Infantry bound for Tor River New Guinea. as part of the Western New Guinea campaign. Dave Kerr
    LCI(L)-72 264k USS LCI(L)-72 landing US soldiers on a partially camouflaged Japanese-built jetty to the shore of Biak Island during landing operations, 27 May 1944.
    US Army Signal Corps Photo # 28744-FA    		 Brian Miller
    LCI(R)-72 1350k USS LCI(L)-72 firing on Morotai in the Moluccas, 15 September 1944.
    US Army Signal Corps photo # SC 194499 by: C. Perry from the collections of the US National Archives.    		 Dave Kerr
    LCI(L)-72 148k Aboard USS LCI(L)-72 Jock Lowery MOMM1/c surveys the damage the ship sustain at Leyte, P.I., 20 October 1944. Ardie Hunt for his father
    Arden L. Hunt SM3/c USS LCI(R)-72
    Sonoma 142k USS Sonoma (ATO-12) on fire after being hit by a Japanese kamikaze bomber, 24 October 1944, at San Pedro Bay, Leyte Gulf. USS Chicksaw (ATF-83) and USS LCI(L)-72 are assisting in the fire fighting futile effort while USS LCI(L)-337 is coming alongside to help evacuate casualties.
    US National Archives, Photo No. 80-G-325818, a US Navy photo now in the collections of the US National Archives.    		 Mike Green
    LCI(L)-72 99k USS LCI(L)-72 crew on D-Day, Panay Island, Philippines, 17 March 1945. Ardie Hunt for his father
    Arden L. Hunt SM3/c USS LCI(R)-72
    LCI(L)-72 60k USS LCI(L)-72 at Tarakan Island, Dutch East Indies, D-Day, 1 May 1945. Ardie Hunt for his father
    Arden L. Hunt SM3/c USS LCI(R)-72
    The history for LCI(L)-72 / LCI(R)-72 is from USS LCI "Landing Craft Infantry", Vol. II. Paducah, Kentucky: Turner Publishing Company, © 1995. (ISBN 1-56311-262-0)
    Crew Contact And Reunion Information
    U.S. Navy Memorial Foundation - Navy Log
    Additional Resources and Web Sites of Interest
    USS Landing Craft Infantry National Association
    Back to the Navsource Photo Archives Main Page Back To The Amphibious Ship Type Index Back To The Landing Craft Infantry (LCI) Photo Index
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    This page is created and maintained by Gary P. Priolo
    All pages copyright NavSource Naval History
    Last Updated 16 April 2021