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USS LCI(G)-439
ex
 USS LCI(L)-439 (1944)


International Radio Call Sign:
November - Kilo - Whiskey - Quebec
 NKWQ
Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons


Precedence of awards is from top to bottom, left to right
Top Row - Combat Action Ribbon (retroactive) - Navy Unit Commendation - American Campaign Medal
Bottom Row - Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal (5) - World War II Victory Medal - Philippines Liberation Medal (2)
LCI-351 Class Landing Craft Infantry (Large):
  • Laid down 29 April 1943, at New Jersey Shipbuilding Corp., Barber, N.J.
  • Launched, 21 July 1943
  • Commissioned USS LCI(L)-439, 6 August 1943
  • Designation changed to Landing Craft Infantry (Gunboat) LCI(G)-439, 15 January 1944
  • During World War II LCI(L)-439 / LCI(G)-439 was assigned to the Asiatic-Pacific Theater and participated in the following campaigns:
    Asiatic-Pacific Campaigns
    Campaigns and Dates Campaigns and Dates
    Marshall Islands operation;
    Occupation of Kwajalein and Majuro Atolls, 31 January to 8 February 1944    		 Luzon operation;
    Lingayen Gulf landings, 9 January 1945
    Marianas operation;
    Capture and occupation of Guam, 21 to 28 July 1944    		 Okinawa Gunto operation;
    Assault and occupation of Okinawa Gunto, 24 March to 1 June 1945
    Leyte operation;
    Leyte landings, 20 October 1944    		  

  • Decommissioned, date unknown
  • Struck from the Naval Register in 1946
  • USS LCI(G)-439 earned five battle stars for World War II service in addition to the Navy Unit Commendation as a member of LCI(G) Flotilla 3 (31 January to 28 July 1944) for Occupation of Kwajalein and Eniwetok Atolls in the Marshall Islands and Capture and occupation of Saipan, Guam and Tinian in the Marianas
  • Final Disposition, sold, 2 December 1946, fate unknown
    Specifications:
    Displacement 246 t.(light), 264 t. (landing), 419 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
    4 Officers
    24 Enlisted
    LCI(G) Complement
    5 Officers
    65 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
    five single 20mm guns, one bow mounted, one each port and starboard forward of wheelhouse, one each port and starboard aft of wheelhouse
    on some LCIs two .50 cal machine guns were added
    LCI(G) Armament
    two single 40mm guns
    four single 20mm guns
    six .50cal machine guns
    ten MK7 rocket launchers
    Fuel Capacity 130 tons, lube oil 200 gal.
    Propulsion two sets of 4 GM diesels, 4 per shaft, BHP 1,600
    twin variable pitch propellers
    Click On Image
    For Full Size Image    		 Size Image Description Source
    LCI(G)-455 147k Nine LCIs including USS LCI(G)-439 and USS LCI(G)-455 moored together, date and location, unknown. Jim Garber for his father George Garber RdM/2c USS LCI(G)-455
    LCI(G)-455 147k
    LCI-439 70k USS LCI(G)-439 crew members being initiated into "Neptune's Realm", while crossing the Equator in the Pacific, late 1943. Photo courtesy of Milton Schnitzlein.
    Photo from the LCI National Association's Newsletter "The Elsie Item", January 2007 issue.    		 Ardie Hunt
    LCI-439 299k USS LCI(G)-439 in convoy with the rest of her flotilla, viewed from the stern of USS LCI(G)-407, date and location unknown.
    US National Archives photo.    		 Jerry Gilmartin MMC(SW) USN Ret. Secretary AFMM LCI 713, Curator PT-658 Save the PT Boat Inc, courtesy Dennis Blocker LCI National Association Historian
    LCI-78 69k From left to right ;
    USS LCI(G)-78,
    USS LCI(G)-407,
    USS LCI(G)-473,
    USS LCI(G)-366
    USS LCI(G)-77
    USS LCI(G)-948
    USS LCI(L)-38
    USS LCI(G)-546
    USS LCI(G)-440
    USS LCI(G)-439     moored in a nest at Pearl Harbor, July 1945.
    Photo from the LCI National Association's Newsletter "The Elsie Item", June 1996 issue.    		 Ardie Hunt
    The history for USS LCI(L)-439 / LCI(G)-439 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 9 May 2014